11th Week: TCAPs Testing Week

This week was a testing week for the 9th and 10th graders at Poudre High School and the last year ever that the TCAPs (Transitional Colorado Assessment Program) will be given. The TCAPs provide the state with assessment data from each school district to determine how well a school is doing based on those scores. The unfortunate part of the testing is that TCAPs don't provide the student with any incentives to do well or to even show up. The TCAPs are solely for statistics purposes; they do not go on the student's transcripts or help the student in their grades in any way. Students are asked to do well as a reflection of the school, but in this narcissistic world, there needs to be more.

commons.wikimedia.org

The TCAPs took up three days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The tests were given in the mornings, and the schedule for the week was changed to accommodate the tests. It was the week after Spring Break, so the staff and the students were feeling a bit ragged trying to get into the swing of things. Upper class students (juniors and seniors) weren't required to be at school in the mornings because of the testing, so they often didn't make it to class at all. Many of our classes had half the students there.

For me personally, the week was long. Proctoring a test is not fun, and we had more free time than usual built into the schedule. It was great to get caught up on planning and grading. I also provided Mr. Long with an observation opportunity, so I only have one more observation to complete for both Mr. Long and Mrs. Hixon. Whew. The semester is flying by. My teacher work sample is about finished, I only have two more seminars, and two more observations. I need to be finished by May 1st with everything, so I'll start reviewing everything this week and next week and finish a week early.

It's also job hunting time. I've been looking at school districts in the area as well as school districts in Texas. As of now, there are no business teaching positions in any of the districts that I have seen. Disappointed and overwhelmed, I'm going to keep searching and stay positive that something will come up.

Teacher Humor Before Spring Break

We had CSU Seminar last night, and our instructor showed this video from Saturday Night Live. I wanted to share here because... Well, it's funny because there are elements of it that are so true... Characters that look like our students in one way or another.

Because I said I would...

On Wednesday, we had a guest speaker at Poudre High School. Alex Sheen, the founder of "Because I said I would," was brought to campus by the AVID group. They raised money through grants and other fundraising to make his visit possible.

Alex Sheen is 28 years old, and he speaks around the country and raises money for people with special needs. He seems to be an ordinary guy, but he has made some amazing dreams come true. His "TedTalk" was both sad and inspiring all at the same time. His message was born from the death of his father. He wanted to remember his father for who he was and not for who he was not, and he was a person of his word who always kept his promises.

This message is so important because our society is suffering from "disposable-itis". We dispose of almost anything that doesn't suit us anymore, including friends. Outdated phones and computers are one thing, but people are not disposable. Just because someone does something that you don't like, doesn't mean that you can't be friends with them anymore. We are all different and have different needs, and we all must live together in this world. Learning to communicate and keep promises is paramount to our making it in this small world.

Social Media has played a role in this "disposable-itis", but we all have the opportunity to change that around. Even though social media gives us the opportunity to be "flaky", we don't have to give into this. As we make dates with friends or promises to family, we must keep them whether we feel like it or not. Just because you had a long day at work, doesn't excuse you from being a good friend, mother, daughter, or husband. You must follow through and be the person you said you would be.

Alex touched on much bigger issues than I am in my blog, but I really believe that it is the small things that make us who we are. It is about getting up from your comfy chair and consoling your friend going through a divorce. It is about putting off an hour of your television time to call your mother. It is also about putting down the cell phone and being present with a friend or family member who needs you.

Teaching high schoolers the importance of making a decision or a promise and sticking to it is probably one of the most valuable things that we can do. I'm not sure that one assembly and a guest speaker can do it, but Alex definitely inspired me to join his cause in my own classrooms and get my own students to make commitments to their studies and even take that out into their lives. When you tell someone you are going to do something, it is important for your character to follow through. After high school, it will be even more important to learn these lessons in order to get along in the world.

4th Week: Comfort Zone

My fourth week student teaching has been much more comfortable. I am feeling more settled, and I'm beginning to find a rhythm with my classes and my students. I still have my challenges with classroom management, but it is getting easier as I try new things and stay consistent.

I have been forced to get out of my comfort zone this week. Monday was a full day. Carol Ann, my CSU Supervisor, came to my 5th Hour Entrepreneurship class to observe my SWOT Analysis lesson, which went delightfully well. The students participated and kept their phones put away. It was a pleasurable class, and I would do it all over again. I used the same class to practice the Market Research Lesson that would be observed on Wednesday in 6th Hour, and it also went well. Students were receptive to the lesson and worked diligently on their projects. I had a few chatty students, but with high school students, I think that is to be expected. One thing that I did differently that worked really well was to ensure that the students weren't logged on to the computers during class. Because they weren't logged in to the computers, there was less distraction.

The 6th Hour Entrepreneurship class, however, has been more of a challenge. There are very strong personalities in this class, so that's the first struggle. I find myself trying to find new ways to communicate with students and find new activities that may help them to engage and learn. Many are distracted by their cell phones and by the computers, so I'm constantly trying to keep them focused and on task. This was the class that was difficult during my observation. Most were unresponsive to my lecture and didn't participate when called upon during discussion. Again, I'm looking for new strategies to reach these students so that they will learn.

Monday was also our first Colorado State University Seminar. Marc Buffington, a Poudre High School Social Studies teacher, is the leader of the seminar. There are fourteen university students in the group. We all introduced ourselves and then talked a little about Response to Intervention (RTI) from an educational perspective. This service allows teachers to report a student that is failing or may not be doing as well as he/she thinks that they should. In reporting these students, educators and counselors can intervene if necessary and put the students on a comprehensive schedule to help them reach their goals. We went through real-life scenarios in groups. Our group read about a girl who had failed the 10th grade. She was missing a lot of class and had some pressure from gangs, but she did want to finish high school. The RTI team put her on an attendance contract and had her favorite teacher mentor her through the rest of high school, and she was able to graduate with A's and B's. In this case, RTI really helped a student to accomplish her goals. While this process doesn't always work, it does give teachers and counselors insight into a students' life and how to help ease some of their frustration along the way.

Mr. Long, my mentor teacher, has been giving lessons all week based on activities that relate to the objectives for the class. One of the activities was a paper airplane making activity in Economics. There were required to create paper airplanes as a group that would fly through a hula hoop. There were three or four rounds. Another activity was a Play-Doh activity in International Business. The students were divided into four or five groups, where some of the groups were Less Developed Countries and others were in Industrialized Countries. They were given specific products to make with prices on them. There were three rounds and some of the groups were able to change into an Developing Country or even an Industrialized Country. These products were made with Play-Doh. The final activity was the Pizza Productivity lesson in Economics. There were four or five rounds; the students were divided into groups of five. Each round was a little different in the way that they made the pizzas. Each round was judged by the teachers for quality, so pizzas were thrown out for not being perfect. There were some formulas that they had to calculate in order to determine the cost of each pizza and how much profit was earned. It was fun and inspiring to see all of the students participating and excited to work on these activities.

Mental Illness Stigma in High School

I wasn't planning on having any side posts from the ones that I post at the end of each week, but this is something that has been bothering me. I met with a student this week, and he wrote in his description that one of his weaknesses was that he worries a lot. So, I asked him if he has any anxiety about certain situations, and he was very reluctant to use the word anxiety. He doesn't have anxiety; he just worries a lot.

This bothered me because while his worrying or anxiety may not necessarily be a problem, how many other students are not coming forward with mental illness because of the stigma that we have created around it? A student would rather classify him or herself as sad or worrying too much to avoid being labeled, but essentially, not allowing them to get help that they may need to learn to cope with these emotions in a positive way.

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to look after the students and to report any behavior or conduct that is of concern; however, what about the students that are just on the fringe? The students that may not seem to have any problems, but don't feel like they can talk about them because being perfect is also part of the game. As high school students, they have to be perfect in order to get in the right college, play sports, learn a foreign language, play the piano, make their parents proud, and the long list of responsibilities that they have on their plates as they get to their last year of high school.

As I continue through my semester of student teaching, I want to continue to learn about how I can help these kids. While I do have high expectations for students in my class, I do give them plenty of time in class to complete their assignments. This will be something I will continue to look out for and find resources that can help me and the students to learn to deal with their problems in a healthy way.