tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224430792024-03-07T21:37:40.174-05:00Unbalanced LiteracyLiving proof that it's possible to invest twelve years in an inner city middle school without ending up on the front page of the Daily News. So far.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-60046357424333582972009-09-09T22:51:00.005-04:002009-09-09T22:58:20.445-04:00Day 2I am already exhausted, and achy. I'm not old, not even middle aged, but I feel my age right now. There was a time when I could lug boxes and stretch to hang banners and hop on and off chairs, and while I can still do those things, I feel it the next day. Clearly I am not 25 anymore. If I had time, I'd start going to yoga again.<br /><br />Choosing not to loop with my former students might be the best decision I've made recently. I passed the classrooms of my old students, and saw one whole class already being reprimanded by the assistant principal, with a few knuckleheads already removed pending parent contact. My new students, on the other hand, were very good and while I know that we're in the honeymoon phase, I get a very different vibe that makes me feel optimistic.<br /><br />And it's almost Thursday already. Despite my low-level euphoria, I can't wait for the weekend. I am worn.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-3579023949069746812009-09-08T21:15:00.003-04:002009-09-08T21:21:37.634-04:00Day One, Post 100This will be nothing significant, but I want to get into the habit again, of at least writing something, even if it's not worth reading. (Sorry.)<br /><br />Today was pretty productive. For the first time ever I was very organized in how I put my materials and other stuff away, and it paid off. I also knew exactly how I wanted to organize everything (and even made a floorplan) so I was able to get a lot done. There is still work to be done, but the room looks great, maybe even the best I've ever done in (gulp) thirteen years. The little tweaks will come in time.<br /><br />Somehow we got an A on our progress report. I told Mister that I hate to knock good results, and I hate to knock our school. But I don't think I'm impressed. I think we were helped by the fact that the people who graded our tests were asleep at the wheel. (You know, kids who can barely read getting 2s and even 3s.) We're apparently in the top 20% of the city, or something like that. But I still wouldn't send Beany here. I am looking forward to seeing how my incoming kids compare on my assessments to their state assessments.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to meeting the kids, but tomorrow's going to come too quickly.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-48419110034845119742009-08-27T21:47:00.004-04:002009-08-27T22:02:25.357-04:00Updates on Various<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAd_ZkL8rGYb7Gx1LTngwizPG_FcbPV88cxZjwirdG2adUGmOHCwuRYBwOEHwLq5BBT7XW-JdhXg25qXMLLD5WeWbzhUP6nNajvUGhL8h8a-O2cO9iONj5F0-4_uKU9mhfII4q/s1600-h/100_1977.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374826805734442994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAd_ZkL8rGYb7Gx1LTngwizPG_FcbPV88cxZjwirdG2adUGmOHCwuRYBwOEHwLq5BBT7XW-JdhXg25qXMLLD5WeWbzhUP6nNajvUGhL8h8a-O2cO9iONj5F0-4_uKU9mhfII4q/s320/100_1977.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>In brief, since <em>Project Runway</em> is on in 13 minutes and it's about the only show I watch anymore. (And thanks to Schoolgal for thinking of me again; I wonder if anyone's even reading anymore? I hate that I let this blog get so neglected.)</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>Summer:</strong> I can't believe it's almost over, but it's been wonderful. Mister, Beany and I took several short trips and packed a lot into our time spent locally as well. It's been great to not have any real pressure on us, beyond cleaning/laundry/raising a kid, all which are relatively a breeze.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>Beany:</strong> She is amazing. I can't believe that she's almost two and a half already. She's not a baby any more, she's a little girl. I am happy and sad about this. </div><br /><br /><strong>School:</strong> I think this past year may have been one of my worst ever. Usually I want to move up with my kids from sixth grade to seventh and eighth. Though I swore after '07-'08 that I would never loop from six to eight again, I thought that staying with the same kids from sixth to seventh might be nice. But not these kids. I was happy to see them go. I never had kids who were so rude, entitled, unwilling to follow rules and policies, mean to each other, unmotivated. And I have always and only worked in the South Bronx so it's not like I left the 'burbs for the city all of a sudden. In almost every other year, most of the kids were nice, put in some effort, were respectful and adhered to expectations. This year (or I guess I should say last year) I found that the diligent, nice, respectful kids were in the minority. In my homeroom, there were maybe ten kids who didn't make me want to rip out my fingernails one by one. I had one really good month and then it went downhill quickly.<br /><br /><strong>Other:</strong> I told Mister that I was going to give this one more year. If things don't improve, I don't know what I will do. I think about quitting, though, and fantasizing about working in Borders where I will have a 15 minute commute and the chance to be around books all day. Of course, there's no better time to plan a career change than when the economy's in the shitter.<br /><br />And that's all for now.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-18418479320359480152009-01-15T14:47:00.004-05:002009-01-15T14:50:21.836-05:00Who says kids lack manners and grammar skills?Alternate Title: <strong>Ewwwwwwwwww...</strong><br /><br /><em>Dear Ms. ***** I have to tell you something private.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>There was a condom on the back door nob. And you touched it. So I think you should wash you should wash your hands or do something. That is why nobody goes through the back door. </em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Sorry.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>From: Girl #1 and Girl #2.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>p.s. you are welcome.</em>MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-59901457835132284292008-12-17T20:13:00.003-05:002008-12-17T20:30:26.302-05:00FindingsMy new incentive system has worked well in one class and not so well in the other. I wish that I'd kept some data of the "before" and "after" (because I don't have enough data to deal with already) because this data would actually mean something to me. I do know that at least three kids who got fifty-fives in the first marking period now have averages of 75 to 80 because they have been doing all of their homework and classwork. I have fewer kids coming late; there are only a couple of holdouts. And I haven't had to give out a pen or pencil; that situation was really making me want to tear my hair out from frustration.<br /><br />I am not a fan of teaching after lunch. Usually, it would take me ten minutes to get the kids quiet, at least. Then they would be so hyped up that it was hard to get anything done. Now, it's like walking into a different room. Most of the kids have books out and are reading and it's actually quiet. I began throwing bonus points at the groups who did this on their own because they took it upon themselves to make sure that they all had books and began to read as soon as the previous teacher left. And the behavior is also significantly better. Usually the noise would be coming from all over the place, making it hard to pin down which kids were actually talking. Now, I have entire groups that are completely silent while other groups are noisy, so those noisy groups don't get their conduct point. It's been interesting to see which kids have thrived and which kids haven't done as well as I'd hoped. Some of the kids are really stepping up, leading, organizing, supporting the others, and that's really gratifying to see, that they are getting something out of this that might actually be useful in the real world.<br /><br />It's not perfect, but it's made a huge difference. In the other class, where the idea was less-than-successful, the math teacher and I had grouped the kids by ability. There are about six kids who are really strong academically and they are well-behaved, so they were sitting together. There is one group of kids who are seriously behind, and we wanted them together to facilitate differentiation. But when I tried to move to the new system, only the strongest group did well; the others were a mess. I think they'd been better behaved before. The math teacher gave them new seats, which are slightly better. I'm doing the reward (a field trip to see <em>The Tale of Despereaux</em> and lunch) with those kids on an individual basis. This allows me to exclude the girl who made a point to say loudly, "Mr. Science is the only cool teacher." Because she knew that I am now emotionally mortally wounded over not being the cool teacher. Tomorrow during lunch, I am going to hurl myself dramatically off the roof for all to see. If I survive, then next month I am going to make another attempt with that class to implement my system.<br /><br />Of course, it's not perfect. Interestingly, I noticed that the two groups who so far have the most points are single-gender. One group is all girls and the other group is all boys. There are two mixed-gender groups who have both had multiple meetings with me (at their request) and at the heart of the problem in both was boy-girl conflict. So I'm thinking about doing something I've never done before: grouping by gender. I am going to keep the successful groups intact but make some changes to the others.<br /><br />Overall, I do feel really good about the results. It's helped me stay more on top of grading, because the kids are very eager to know how many points they got. As soon as I have a prep, I check all the classwork and homework and it's not hanging over my head. And a couple of kids in particular have really amazed me. I think that they really don't want the other members of their groups to be upset with them, and that's motivating them to do for themselves, knowing that they are helping the others.<br /><br />If only I could stay in my much-improved bubble all the time...MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-50780260200152360602008-12-17T20:12:00.001-05:002008-12-17T20:41:22.064-05:00Middle School LogicIn the last two days, I've confiscated an iPod (because the girl put it away when asked, but then took ten steps away from me and took it out again) and a phone (from a girl who was texting during my class). I learned something very important: when you take something from a student, it automatically belongs to someone else. Thus, it is expected that you will return the item immediately to the guilty party because the person you took it from was not the owner.<br /><br />Of course, this is the mindset of the middle schooler. Naturally, I laughed the laugh of the evil, not-cool teacher, and walked away.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-18578421424479488582008-12-05T20:01:00.001-05:002008-12-05T20:10:47.246-05:00Is diagnosing teacher burnout like determining recession?Two Christmas vacations from now, will I be on a long-awaited, child-free vacation with my husband, drunk on daquiris, and realize that I've been living burnout for most of the last decade?<br /><br />Supporting Detail One: I've been misspelling simple things. As an English teacher, and an often-maligned city teacher, I'm always very mindful of using language correctly. And I'm a good speller by nature, so when I make these errors I know that I'm in need of serious rest. The test prep books that were chosen (by someone else who doesn't even use them, of course) really suck, so I printed all the old ELA exams for my grade from the state website. I'm using them for practice and assessment, and after I labeled one of the sections I realized that I'd written "ASSMENT" instead of "ASSESSMENT." Though I can't say for sure if I can attribute that error to tiredness or if it reflected my real feelings about testing.<br /><br />Supporting Detail Two: During seventh period today, the only day and time of the week that I believe in Satan, I found myself wondering, <em>If I fall out the window "accidentally" is that considered an on-the-job injury?</em><br /><br />Supporting Detail Three: Now that I've been able to log on to Acuity, I actually find it useful. This is the weakest example of the three, because I still have lots of valid reason to bitch about Acuity.<br /><br />TGIF.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-26825307193553266682008-12-01T20:15:00.005-05:002008-12-01T20:31:19.214-05:00A Post, Just For The Hell Of ItMy new reward system went into effect today. It worked better with my morning class than my afternoon class, but that's typical. Teaching in the afternoon is nearly impossible.<br /><br />I had fewer late students this morning, which was also a positive, but it's also occured to me that it's ridiculous that I have to jump through all these hoops to get the kids to do the things that they are supposed to do.<br /><br />I've been a good little soldier and have been attempting to use more data. Of course, it took me about three weeks to be able to log on to Acuity. No one could figure out why, but then I realized that my old DOE e-mail account is somehow lost in cyberspace, replaced with a newer one I had no idea about with both my maiden and married names. In the meantime, I still haven't been able to log on to ARIS.<br /><br />I suppose that the millions the Tweedians coughed up for these programs wasn't enough.<br /><br />More importantly, I wish I knew when I was supposed to have time to look at all this data. While I don't think it's the be-all, end-all that the brainwashed educrats think it is, I do think it can be useful. But we get no time to look at it, or think about what it says, other than the fact that Johnny can't read because he doesn't come to school have the time and does nothing when he's there.<br /><br />Each week I'm tempted to boycott our weekly common conferences. It's wasted time, really. There hasn't been a concrete agenda in weeks. And the programs were done in such a way that not all the teachers on a grade are at the meetings, because many of them are teaching. Last year, as difficult as it was, I found solace in the other teachers on my team. We all taught the same kids, and while a focus on instruction would have been more beneficial, at least we were able to discuss the kids who were challenging us the most and come up with ideas and solutions. We were truly a team. I don't have that this year, even though I am fortunate to have a great working relationship with the math teacher for the grade. We're a team of two, at least.<br /><br />Otherwise, I feel like I am totally on my own. The curriculum guidance is non-existent, and we're always being hammered on using the data and using technology without any real conversations about how to implement these things.<br /><br />Today I started my full-blown, hard-core test prep. It bores the shit out of me, but at least I don't have to think quite so much. So maybe this month I will be able to figure out ARIS. If, of course, I'm able to log on.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-66657669618203131902008-11-23T19:41:00.003-05:002008-11-23T19:50:05.750-05:00Alarming InformationWe had parent-teacher conferences last week. (Did I mention this already? The weekend has not been nearly as restorative as it should be.)<br /><br />So. One of the things I want to tackle with my new system is lateness. It's a huge problem, and nothing that I did helped. A few of the kids are working on twenty latenesses for the year. Nothing is being done at the administrative level either. Lunch detention didn't make a difference; it just meant that the kids were late AND bitching and moaning about how unfair I am.<br /><br />Even though I'd spoken to parents over the phone, I made a point to emphasize the issue during conferences, and I was stunned at the number of parents who explained that their kids were late because they, the parents, didn’t always get them up in time. On Friday, one chronically late student was later than usual with a note from his mother, explaining that she overslept, and was unable to get him up. Keep in mind that I teach sixth graders, and many of them are responsible for walking younger siblings to and from school. They have their own apartment and house keys. Hell, I didn't have a house key all through high school, something that still makes me the object of ridicule among some of my friends. But my mother no longer woke me up when I was in sixth grade; I was on my own.<br /> <br />So, these children who have iPods and cell phones that are more sophisticated than mine don’t own that other very high-tech gadget, the alarm clock.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-80157342498686222022008-11-20T19:59:00.002-05:002008-11-20T20:03:30.978-05:00The Year So FarI was so excited to teach sixth grade this year. My last group of sixth graders was wonderful; granted, they devolved into snotty, entitled, hormone-charged brats by eighth grade, but when they were sixth graders, I loved them. Generally, I like the age group and I developed several units that they found engaging, units I'd tweak, improve and reuse. <br /> <br />So at this point, with about a quarter of the year finished, I’d say that I’m disappointed. While I do have a tendency to look back with rose-colored glasses, I don’t think I’ve ever been this continually frustrated with my students. Overall, their behavior is not good; calls to parents and lunch detention haven’t helped. They don’t listen at all. I have lost track of the number of times that I’ve asked them to do something simple, like take out materials, hang up jackets, go back to their seat. They look at me and continue doing whatever they were doing and I have to ask at least once more.<br /><br />Of course some of the kids are wonderful, hard-working and well-behaved. But there are more who don’t fit into that category. As for the parents, they seem to fall into two extremes: helpful or not. I’ve been using an online grading program this year, and it’s been a life-saver. There’s a component for parent access, so I was able to get several e-mail addresses so that I can send them grades and behavior logs. I’m more optimistic about those parents, but then there are parents who know that their kids are struggling, either with behavior or work, and they don’t want to get involved. <br /> <br />I need to do something. A few weeks ago my husband mentioned an article in the <em>New York Times</em> sports section about Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother, who is a college basketball coach. The article mentioned Robinson’s policy of punishing late players by making the whole team run sprints. He said that they were all punished to remind them that they were accountable to each other. <br /> <br />It got me thinking about accountability, and these kids, and how they’re really not accountable to the system. Their parents aren’t either. Teachers are the only ones who really get the heat when the scores are bad. And that’s a problem for a lot of reasons. Granted, the kids get bad grades, but most of them don’t seem bothered by them. They know they will go to summer school and get passed on to the next grade, especially the kids who are already multiple holdovers.<br /><br />I thought about making the whole class do lunch detention the next time a few kids were bad. Then a light bulb went off in my head, reminding me of how pissed I get when my school implements things on the fly, and in a half-assed way. So for the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about how I can make these kids accountable to each other. <br /> <br />I think I’ve hammered out a decent plan. It still needs tweaking, and I won’t bore anyone with details, but I have hope. Instead of the whole class, the kids will be in small groups of four or five kids, and they will be accountable to their group for work, behavior and punctuality. They’ll get points for doing what they’re supposed to do. I know that I’ll have to build in some lessons about teamwork and what to do about the kids who absolutely won’t come on board. They will all be working towards a point goal instead of competing against each other. I’m aiming this more at those middle kids, the ones who aren’t doing terribly but aren’t working to their full potential. So far this year I haven’t taken any trips, because the kids just haven’t deserved them, but trips will be the monthly reward.<br /><br />Once the ELA is over I think I will also enjoy myself more. I’m about to cast everything aside and do nothing but test prep until the test. I don’t feel great about it, and it will bore the shit out of all of us, but I feel backed into a corner. It’s pretty clear that test scores are the only thing that matter. Thank goodness that at least a few of my kids really do have genuine curiosity and a desire to learn. I’m sure as hell not cultivating it. By my standards, I’m not doing the job I want, but if the kids pass the test, at least the Tweedians will be happy with my performance.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-38443861807089666842008-11-13T20:27:00.002-05:002008-11-13T20:32:51.228-05:00TodayI have a student, Jay, who has been a perpetual thorn in my side all year. He’s pretty bright, but makes it a point to not do his work. This in itself is obviously a concern, but his behavior is also a problem. There have been times when the principal and assistant principal have been in the room to talk to the class about something, and he just goes on as if he’s the only one who matters. Their obvious anger with him doesn’t seem to bother him. His mother was also just in on Monday.<br /><br />On Thursdays I have an eighth period prep, and with the way our school’s extended day is structured, I sometimes don’t have any kids then either (shh…don’t tell Joel and Mikey!) Thus I have a good chunk of uninterrupted time where I can work in the relative peace and quiet of my room, something I don’t get too often. But today, I was so angry with several of them, including Jay, that I didn’t let them go to their last period tech class, which they love. And since detention, or punishment, or whatever the hell it’s called, sometimes turns into a free-for-all, I gave them a “reflective essay” to write. Very New-Age of me, don’t you think? I should buy a Yanni CD to play during writing time. <br /><br />This is what Jay wrote<br /><em>The reason why I do not do my work is because I do not have a lot of self esteem and I know I can do my work but I chose not to. Another reason is because I don’t know why I don’t pay attention it is not because I am mentally slow or anything. It’s just some teachers don’t give me enough credit.</em><br /><br />Another kid, DJ, wrote:<br /><em>The things that make me act up in my life is I’m hardly around my father. I live with my mom only 2 days each weekend and I can’t keep still. It’s hard for me to control myself…I don’t know when it’s time to stop playing, I’ve been like this since I was in 2nd grade and I am still like this I just can’t help myself.</em><br /><br />Jay and I talked for a few minutes; all the kids who were there talked about what they’d written. It makes me feel bad that so many of them have such difficult situations in their lives that they don’t want to discuss. I never press things but it really does explain a lot. Those kids, who’d made me see red just a few minutes before, had me feeling a lot of empathy for them. Most of us who work in city schools regularly ruminate about the problems these kids have in their lives, which are often brought in to the classroom, but, for me anyway, it’s easy to let that awareness fall to the side. Especially when the word of the day, every day, is “test.” Or, really, “test test test test test test.”<br /><br />I don’t, for one second, suggest letting them slide when they do wrong, but I think talking with them more regularly in a “risk free environment” (gag) might help. I’ve been all but banging my head against cinderblocks, trying to think of ways to get them to behave. I call parents, lecture them, request conferences, do lunch detention, take away the few-and-far-between fun things that come up, to no avail. Today felt like the first time I made any headway with a couple of them.<br /><br />Naturally, I was feeling especially good about the progress I made with Jay, which means that he inevitably left the room with the rest of the class and pushed another kid down the stairs. Now I think I see him more as a master manipulator, because he did have me feeling badly for him and guilty that I hadn't tried the kinder, gentler thing earlier in the year. From all smiles to assault in just a matter of minutes.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-56042268575347035112008-11-11T19:26:00.000-05:002008-11-11T19:27:46.544-05:00We want Joel to go, but not to DC...<a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/campd227/petition.html">SIGN</a> this petition. Pass it on.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-58612679144983902442008-11-11T14:40:00.003-05:002008-11-12T09:50:15.453-05:00How to piss off a loyal fan...<em>I became a fan of <strong>Morning Joe</strong> on MSNBC back when I was on maternity leave. Since we had today off, and Beany got up before the sun, I was able to see the show. There was a clip with DC Mayor Adrian Fenty talking about school reform, and afterwards all the hosts engaged in a little teacher-union bashing. Inherent in that, of course, is teacher-bashing. Finding myself super-pissed, I devoted some of today to writing this response, neglecting the pile of dirty laundry that probably rivals Sarah Palin's entire RNC-funded haul.</em><br /><br />I wish, before you and your co-hosts launched into your diatribe about evil teachers’ unions, that you’d done a little more research, and maybe you could have talked to a real teacher or two. For brevity’s sake, I can only scratch the surface of my experiences and thoughts, but I know that there are many educators who would agree with me.<br /><br />I am a veteran New York City teacher who has worked in the South Bronx since 1996. While admittedly I only caught a snippet of your interview with DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, I am well versed in the reforms that Chancellor Michelle Rhee is attempting to implement in that city’s schools. The regime of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein has been attempting to make similar reforms, with mixed results (but don’t tell them; they are masters at spinning numbers to make it look like our kids are doing better than they really are.)<br /><br />The public (and journalists and politicians) love to point fingers at unions, at teachers, to explain the abysmal performance of our schools. Unfortunately, blame and accusations take up time and energy that could be better invested in our kids. The reality is that the blame is on all of us: teachers, administrators, parents, even the students themselves. Unions protect bad teachers; there’s no doubt about that. But in my experience, most of us work very hard every day under challenging conditions. It’s hard, but not impossible, to remove bad teachers. Our teacher’s union has a little-used plan that works with teachers who need to be out of the profession, helping transition them to other careers. Unfortunately, principals rarely follow through on the process, though to be fair, they are overworked too.<br /><br />Teacher unions are not evil. There have been a few years when I have had 36 and 37 kids in a class; during my first year, I had 40 bilingual students, no materials and no qualifications to teach bilingual kids. The UFT is constantly fighting to lower class size, as smaller classes are proven to be a factor in success. I can’t say I had the kind of success I wanted when my students and I were crammed into the room like sardines, with kids sharing books.<br /><br />Since Joel Klein became Chancellor, we are constantly judged on test scores, which is unfair. I am an English Language Arts teacher. The test my students will take in January will be given over two days. These two days will inform the media, the parents, the kids, the administrators, if I am doing a good job or not. Ironic, isn’t it, that I’m not the one taking the test? Yet in the past I have had to answer for less-than-stellar scores while kids and parents have not. On any given day, I have about 10% of my students late or absent. I have several children who come to school without pens and pencils. This year I have eight sixth graders who are reading two to three years below grade level. Though I will do the best I can, the reality is that I can’t get them to make years of progress in a few months.<br /><br />At some point, the parents and the students themselves have to step up. My school of almost 500 students has an average of ten parents at every PTA meeting and half of those attending are the organization’s officers. At our twice-yearly parent conferences, I see fewer than half of my students’ parents. The parents who I really need to see the most are often the least likely to show up.<br /><br />Teachers in NYC and DC are under attack from politicians who are bent on reform at any cost. Unfortunately, in NYC, Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg chose to implement their reforms against teachers, instead of for children. Children should come first, but teachers are the key to making that happen, and our input was completely cast aside. And when I say input, I don’t mean more time for coffee breaks; I’m referring to input on curriculum and instruction, on assessment, on behavior management. Expectations are high for us to raise scores, but support is nearly non-existent. Many administrators are so intent on keeping their jobs that they resort to threatening and bullying staff and students. Obviously, respect for us is at an all-time low; I don’t even have the right to park my car in front of my school anymore, so some of the time I used to use for planning is now spent driving around, looking for a space.<br /><br />Since Joel Klein became Chancellor, we have been working a longer day and longer year, something we agreed to in our contract. And while we got more money, most of us don’t consider more money for more time to be a raise.<br /><br />Every group has its bad apples. There are teachers in classrooms that don’t belong there. However, the constant attacks upon those of us who try to do our best do not serve to motivate us. This is something that Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have not figured out either. And the unions, with their power, seem to have lost sight of their true purpose: to fight for teachers so we can make things better for kids.<br /><br />A week ago today I voted for Barack Obama with pride and excitement that I have never experienced. I hope that he includes real teachers in these crucial conversations that we need to have. I hope, in the future, that you do the same.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-14254062781857326722008-11-03T20:33:00.000-05:002008-11-03T20:34:24.768-05:00Too Much of NothingI’ve started to write several times over the past few weeks, but have been obviously unsuccessful. October was a rough month, as a teacher and as a mom. I can summarize the mom aspect in two words: “toddler” and “bedtime”. <br /><br />The teacher aspect is more complex. I’ve been feeling a little lost and a lot overwhelmed, and while I was able to make some headway with some of these challenges, it’s not all peachy. I found myself with a bunch of new students in late September, which caused a lot of upheaval for all of us. Since then, several of those students have been moved to special needs classes. In one class, I had sixth graders whose reading levels ranged from second grade (barely) to seventh grade. I had the equivalent of an entire special needs class in a regular ed class, without the benefit of a para. Fortunately, another teacher who works with the class is wonderful and began the referral process. It turned out that a lot of the new kids had IEPs and never should have been placed in regular ed classes. At the moment I have four kids who are really, really behind, but there were about ten at one point, and I think two of them will be moved to special ed soon. I went to Borders and bought third grade reading workbooks, and tracked down every high interest/low level book I could find. I’m not making much headway. As part of the end-of-marking-period assessment, I had them take the multiple choice part of an old sixth grade ELA. Two of them got two questions right out of 26, one got six and one got 7. <br /><br />Thinking about these four kids is making my head spin. I think I’m done with this post. Luckily, America seems to be a great place for opportunity: from unlicensed plumber to Congressional candidate AND country music star! I need to find a similar path, but I have to be able to remain a Democrat.<br /><br />Go Obama!MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-20525613279435106122008-10-07T20:44:00.001-04:002008-10-07T20:47:12.948-04:00Note to Self: C.Y.A.I want to do a good job, I really do. But it seems like the universe wants to chip away at my motivation until there is nothing left. The year began with promise, smaller classes with kids who were behaved enough so that I could build on that and move on to the real business of teaching. After three weeks, I got several more students, who are, for lack of a better term, unclassified special needs students. I can work with the kids who are academically behind, but the kids who don’t know how to behave are a different story. I have already talked to and met the parents of the most difficult students, and while a couple of them are showing some improvement, the ones I had the most trouble with have not improved at all.<br /><br />I have two choices: I can continue to invest time, effort, more discipline, whatever I have, into these kids, into trying to get to know them and understand them in the hopes that I will somehow reach them and motivate them. Or I can put the time into carefully documenting all the bad behavior and the lack of work, making sure to give copies of everything to the principal, the assistant principal, the counselors, the parents.<br /><br />Now that I am going to be rated on my students’ performance on their standardized tests, I am obviously going to chose the second option. There’s no time for actual interest in the problem kids, no time for actual interest in any of the kids. It has been reduced to a numbers game, one I have to play.<br /><br />The idea of saying to hell with real teaching and plunging full-time into test prep is very, very tempting. It doesn’t matter if the kids learn; it matters that they are able to take tests.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-20791949944413977982008-10-02T19:04:00.003-04:002008-10-02T19:12:20.350-04:00Joke's on me...I recently wrote about my relucatance to put in writing any goals related to <a href="http://missmalarkey.blogspot.com/2008/09/latest.html">test scores</a>.<br /><br />Silly me. I should have known that 'lil Joely and his minions (this means you, Randi) would find a way to get me anyway, along with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/education/02teachers.html?ref=education">everyone else who teaches math and ELA to fourth through eighth graders.</a>MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-53060712949825805802008-09-28T19:25:00.000-04:002008-09-28T19:27:15.715-04:00The StoryI don’t know what I prefer: the rudeness that characterized last year’s eighth graders or the immaturity that so far describes the sixth graders. I wish there was a “none of the above” option. So much time is devoted to navigating ridiculousness:<br /><br /> “He took my pen!”<br />“No I didn’t! She took MY pen!”<br /> “She touched my desk!”<br />“He touched my desk first!”<br />“He’s looking at me!”<br />“No I’m not! She’s mad ugly!”<br /><br />And so on.<br /><br />This is the sort of thing I have been dealing with since Day 2, and it came to a head on Friday, which was the most difficult day I’ve had all year. That’s an ominous thought after only nineteen or so days of school (I only know this fact because I had to talk to a student about her attendance, and point out that she’d already been absent for half the school year. She didn’t understand why I thought that was a problem.)<br /><br />My morning was not terrible, though I was surprised at the number of kids who were absent. We were working on the second draft of a writing activity. I’d collected the first drafts from the kids who’d finished, and told the kids who did not finish in class to finish at home. After I returned the drafts, six kids complained that I hadn’t returned their drafts. I panicked, and went through all my other folders, went through my binder, everything. I didn’t find any additional drafts, and I got pretty upset. Organization is still something I struggle with, but I very seldom lose anything, which is a big reason why I have little motivation to change. I function well within my dysfunction.<br /><br />The combination of my record of not losing things paired with what I already know about the specific kids who claimed that I had their work made me suspicious. So I sat down with those kids, one at a time (because, you know, I had nothing better to do) and made them go through all their stuff. All the kids but one found the drafts that “I” had. And the one whose work I didn’t find claimed that it was collected by another student, who is not one of my collection monitors. I assume he lost his. Do I need to say that I was furious? I’d felt so guilty about the possibility that I’d lost their work and I spent a lot of time going through all the work I had, and I had to spend a lot of time with each of those kids to find the work that they claimed I had. And of course none of them had made a dent in the assignment.<br /><br />As frustrating as the morning was, the afternoon was much, much worse. I really don’t know why anyone has to teach on Friday afternoons. It’s so hard to accomplish anything. The time could be spent better on team-building activities or technology projects or…anything else. If I didn’t have a husband and child, I would be willing to allow the students to perform practice lobotomies on me. But that would really only get me through one Friday afternoon; the upside is that afterwards I really wouldn’t give a shit anymore, would I?<br /><br />The class I have on Friday afternoon is my most talkative, and it also got most of the students from the dissolved class. I got tired of trying to talk over them to explain the activity, so I moved all the quiet kids into one corner, got them started, and went around and gave zeroes to the rest of the students. Once I’d issued the zeroes, they started working. Not the best approach, but I didn’t know what else to do. I refuse to raise my voice; I think less is more.<br /><br />Naturally, a spat broke out between a boy and a girl, and it got physical. There were no punches thrown, but they were tussling back and forth. My AP walked in as it was happening and was obviously not amused. After the class I called both parents, plus the parents of two other students who are doing no work and causing disruptions. There are many more parents that I need to call, but I think I need to deal with just a couple at a time. It’s hard enough to confer with parents since they often show up when they can, as opposed to when we have preps. So I end up with one foot in the hallway and one foot in the classroom, and it’s not effective. Though I do think I need to bring up to administration that something has to be done about the way we meet with parents. The kids get really antsy when no adult is in the room, even when multiple adults are in earshot. As a result I often wonder what goes through the parents’ heads when they see these other kids and I wonder what they think about my ability and effectiveness.<br /><br />I am not looking forward to tomorrow, not that this tidbit is surprising. I’ve been looking at websites on character education, and I think tomorrow I am going to backtrack and not do my usual lesson. Instead, I am going to see if I can put together an activity that focuses on respect for fellow students, because I think this is a huge part of my problem. The kids have no respect for each other; they have no respect for themselves, so they are not going to respect me or the learning that needs to happen.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-84559744734493954592008-09-26T22:04:00.002-04:002008-09-26T22:07:33.199-04:00Oy.If there was ever a day that would drive me to drink, it was today.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-89651167206021717532008-09-24T21:08:00.002-04:002008-09-24T21:16:18.454-04:00The LatestYesterday I wrote my “goals” for the year. We were expected to explain in detail what we wanted to accomplish with our students this year, including specifics about scores, and how much we were going to raise them.<br /><br />I really, really thought about writing something snarky because I don’t think anyone’s going to read it. In June we had to write year-end reflections, and I wrote some pretty scathing things. Well, maybe scathing is an exaggeration, but I’m a reforming wimp, so it took a lot to make some of those comments. Nothing was ever said to me. So I was thinking about writing, “My goal is to make better use of time. This means that I will discard anything that remotely reeks of bullshit, like ‘my goals for the year.’”<br /><br />So, I decided to be professional. But committing to raising scores in any measureable way is not something I feel comfortable with even though it was strongly suggested that we do just that. There’s no way I was going to write something like “My goal is to raise each student’s ELA scale score by ten percent” or “I will move all the Level 2 students to Level 3 and maintain all Level 3s or move them to Level 4.” In my mind, I DO aspire to these things for my students. But in the current climate I’d have to be an absolute moron to put in writing anything that could be held against me later on. I decided to aim for having all the kids read 25 books by the end of the school year because there is a more tangible result, one that the kids can see month to month. And it’s something feasible for me too.<br /><br />Actually, I did resort to a teeny, subtle bit of snark. I explained that my goal was feasible because it was one that I could accomplish with the students, but without additional support. My other justification for not committing to anything score-related has to do with the help, or lack of, that I've had in the past. Last year I asked for support on several occasions, and got nothing except criticism about the lack of increase in the scores at the end of the year. Relevant, useful, professional support is really lacking, so I have to plan on really being alone in this. Most of the meetings we have seem to center on materials and what we're doing to assess the kids. Assess up the ass, that's our motto.<br /><br />Improving the scores is going to get harder tomorrow anyway. It seems that my lovely small classes will no longer be. I should have known that it was too good to be true, even after I cornered my principal to grill him about the possibility of getting more kids. He promised that it wouldn’t happen, and I know if it was up to him this would remain the case. It turns out that he has to add another special needs class, even though we have almost twice as many kids as the other school in the building, a school with more physical space and roughly the same number of teachers. This school is led by a Principal’s Academy person. It defies logic why we have to do this. Each of my classes will get about 5 more kids.<br /><br />I’m so upset. I’m going to do my best to make these kids feel welcome, but even the smaller classes were a challenge because the kids are so chatty. Lunch detention does not seem to be helping; calling parents doesn’t seem to be helping. At least one of the kids I’m getting back cursed out all the teachers pretty regularly last year. If and when that happens, I decided that I am going to throw the fit of all fits because I just let these things get heaped on top of me. I understand that many of these kids have problems; I’m guilty of making excuses for them too. But I’m a teacher, not a counselor, and it seems like more obstacles keep getting thrown in my way.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-60837106056520921122008-09-24T21:04:00.003-04:002008-09-24T21:08:09.117-04:00Me too.From the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/09/23/2008-09-23_voice_of_the_people_for_september_23_200.html?page=1">paper</a> I refuse to buy. (I get a free copy at school.)<br /><br /><em>This is education? </em><br /><br /><em>Whitestone: I really don't know how to express my disgust for the </em><a title="New York City" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City"><em>N.Y.C.</em></a><em> public school system anymore. There are 1,395 teachers sitting in "reserve." Yet last week, my son, in his new middle school, spent three periods (40 minutes each) in the auditorium watching "The Incredibles" because his teacher was absent. <strong>I'm truly at a loss for words.</strong></em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Denise Meyn</em>MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-62899365393323455872008-09-24T21:02:00.001-04:002008-09-24T21:03:57.106-04:00My handbag collection is another parking casualty...I came to another realization this morning when I was getting out of my car and collecting my daily luggage. I carry a lot of stuff back and forth every day. My tote bag, my purse, my lunch bag. I feel like I should be stronger than I am, lugging around a toddler as much as I do, but I’m puny. And it occurred to me that I am going to have to somehow pare down once I lose my parking pass. The neighborhood I work in is not great. There have been muggings and purse snatchings near the school, and I feel vulnerable walking, weighted down by all my stuff. There are very few non-DOE spots near my school; I’ve been scoping things out every morning. At the moment my ton of daily crap doesn’t worry me because I usually get a decent spot, but if I have to walk a few blocks I need to travel lighter. Most likely I will ditch the purse, which makes me sad because I love to rock a cool handbag, and try to take less work home, which won’t be an issue. I’ll have to arrive at school at 5 am to get parking, so I’ll have plenty of time to do it then.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-21539842877023850342008-09-23T20:30:00.002-04:002008-09-23T20:34:06.459-04:00Teacher as DictatorYesterday there was an announcement made about class elections, and how all homeroom teachers needed to hold them for president and vice president by today.<br /><br />I am embracing fascism in my classroom this year. Democracy of any sort is not for children in middle school. Ironically, when I was in graduate school, we had to talk about classroom management in small groups and come up with a plan. I think in the mid-90s we were still calling it by its proper name, “discipline.” My group decided that we would make a class constitution. With the students. By the students. For the students.<br /><br />We must have been high off the fumes that were swirling about from the construction on the new library wing. We were obviously all pre-service teachers, because if we’d had even a modicum of experience, we would have known that dictatorship is the only option.<br /><br />Thus, I chose the President and Vice President myself. These elections always devolve into popularity contests and finish with some kid crying in the hall because he somehow figured out that he only got one vote, his own. Then I feel helpless and end up with snot on my shirt. And the last kid who deserved the spot gets it and proceeds to make demands of me, such as deciding that I should supply them with cookies twice a week.<br /><br />I chose a boy as President who is mostly well behaved, does all his classwork and homework, and is always quick to help out when needed. I would have selected a girl, but the most qualified one is not well-behaved enough. But I did make her the Vice-President, told her that I thought she had a lot of potential, which is true. She lost both of her parents in a short span of time, but is super-bright and seems to be in a loving home. I already saw a difference in her conduct; hopefully it’s not temporary.<br /><br />My decision also came from my frustration with the way things are done in my school- lots of good ideas, executed in half-assed fashion because someone wants it done right away, instead of done right. I have no issue with the idea of class presidents, but I was aggravated at the way it was announced with the expectation that it would be done pronto. So the administration is tacitly supporting a fascist dictator, me. I just can’t get my subjects to stop talking long enough to know that they are under my thumb.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-9035984592087338332008-09-21T21:19:00.002-04:002008-09-21T21:29:41.141-04:00I wonder...I refuse to spend money on newspapers that bash teachers, so I seldom buy the <em>Daily News</em>. I do read it from time to time, as I did today while at my parents’ house. (They are excellent grandparents, so I forgive their purchase. Anyway, Mom likes coupons.)<br /><br />As I was flipping, I spotted an article on the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/09/21/2008-09-21_department_of_education_has_more_teacher.html">Absent Teacher Reserves</a> . According to the piece, the Department of Ed hired 5,400 new teachers this year, despite the fact that about 1,400 veteran teachers are without permanent assignments, and over two hundred new hires have no placements.<br /><br />It’s very unusual for me to agree with anything Randi Weingarten says; it’s a pleasant surprise to see her speaking out at all, even though she wasn’t nearly as forceful or angry as she should be. But she is right that in a year when money is tight and budgets were cut, it’s ridiculous that so many new people would be hired. There are qualified, experienced people waiting for positions.<br /><br />The article made reference to a study by <a href="http://www.tntp.org/index.html">The New Teacher Project</a> that found that more than 100 teachers in the pool did not look for jobs. I assume, then, that 1,300 people DID look for jobs. No one can convince me that those 1,300 people are not qualified. Interestingly, the New Teacher Project was founded by Michelle Rhee before she went to DC to turn that system on its ear like BloomKlein on steroids with a suspicious beef against experienced teachers. The fact that The New Teacher Project did this study makes me wonder if they want to further the idea that those of us who have years of experience, and came in through traditional means, are part of the problem. Are they sharing any of their expertise in "the recruitment, selection, cultivation, preparation and placement of alternate route and traditionally certified teachers" with teachers in the ATR?<br /><br />Frankly, if I saw 1,300 people looking fruitlessly for jobs, I might not bother to look myself. Getting jobs for these teachers should have been a priority before anyone else was hired.<br /><br />It’s often implied in the media that teachers in the ATR deserve to be there. And this is where I get frustrated with people who like to complain about tenure. I don’t think that they realize that principals have it in their power to get rid of bad teachers. The process is pretty cumbersome, granted, but if someone is that ineffective and unfit to be in the classroom, there would be no shortage of documentation.<br /><br />So where is the documentation supporting the placement of these 1,400 teachers in the ATR pool?MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-69269479449931598692008-09-16T20:27:00.003-04:002008-09-16T20:30:33.687-04:00I've lost my voice already......and instead of having tea with lemon, I had a huge glass of traminette from our most recent Finger Lakes trip.<br /><br />So in lieu of a real post, I leave you with this:<br /><br />A <a href="http://dailygotham.com/node?page=1">Gift</a> for Sarah Palin.<br /><br />I sent mine off a few minutes ago.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22443079.post-22267761557889071122008-09-04T19:22:00.004-04:002008-09-04T19:36:37.463-04:00RequestAfter three days, I can safely say that I have no real complaints.<br /><br />I hope that doesn’t change.<br /><br />Of course, every morning when I get to work I wonder what it’s going to be like to park in a few weeks, and other than my initial quick post, I never really elaborated on my feelings (angry feelings, in case no one picked up on that). To me, the decision just seems so mean-spirited. I really see it as another slap at the veteran teachers, though maybe that's a stretch. I realize that my own experience is limited to the two schools I’ve worked in, but it seems that most of the newer teachers live in the city and use public transit; I am in a school with mostly older teachers who have been in the system a while, and nearly the entire staff drives. When I lived in Queens I usually drove, but I did have to take the bus and subway from time to time. Moving to the suburbs made that nearly impossible.<br /><br />I just really don’t get why giving us parking passes posed such a problem. The mayor talked about wanting to reduce the carbon footprint, but I think people are going to be spending a lot more time driving around, looking for a space.<br /><br />What adds to my anger is my trip past Yankee Stadium on the way home, when people are parked all over the medians and sidewalks during home games. I’ve never seen a ticket on a car, and I’ve never seen a traffic agent writing a ticket. In fact, the last time I drove by I saw two agents talking amidst a sea of illegally parked car, not appearing to be in a rush to ticket anyone.<br /><br />I can’t believe I spent all this time and energy writing about parking.<br /><br />My bigger, really important concern is about my classes. They are very small. My homeroom has 25 on the roster, though only 21 have shown up. I can’t speak for the number of kids on register in the other two classes I teach, but about 20 have shown up in each class thus far. Because the classes are so small, I've already been able to collect a lot of information on them. I've done a reading assessment on several of them, and I have been able to just watch them while they worked on their baseline pieces, which has provided me with a lot of information. I have a couple kids who scored Level 3 on the ELA in fifth grade, but one of them actually can't write a sentence and the other one can't seem to get more than a couple sentences on his paper, even though he's had lots of time. I have a little girl who rides the school bus (which is unusual for a child who's not in a special education class) and gets resource room services, but she's probably the most attentive and focused child in the class. I have three boys who just tested out of ESL but who write better than most of the kids who are native English speakers. I also have three boys who are three grade levels behind in reading. I am hoping to be able to do reciprocal teaching with them very soon; I have some kids who'd be great teachers and that would free me up to work with those kids who need the help the most. Of course, if I get more kids, that will be more of a challenge.<br /><br />So I get really optimistic and excited about all the different ideas I have for teaching them, but then I worry that one of those classes will be dissolved and the other two classes will become huge. Then I worry about how I would be able to work with all the kids, especially those kids who really need help. I almost don’t want to spend too much time organizing them into reading groups or planning too far ahead. I’m starting novels in both classes tomorrow; I hope I don’t have to backtrack and start over because I have a bunch of new kids. I’m trying to tell myself that if it happens, I’ll be ok, but I will be pissed. My principal may also have to excess someone if that class has to be dissolved.<br /><br />So if you believe in the Class Size Fairies, please put in a good word for me.MsMalarkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367332719752183036noreply@blogger.com1