Station Rotations #StartOver Day 7

View from my classroom

During first period (Computer Science Discoveries) I thought I saw J walking with a group of friends outside. I have a view of the street from my room. I saw him walk over to the apartment area. He came back to school before first period was over. I was trying to decide if I should call his dad or write a referral. I was glad I was mulling over my options since when J walked into class 4th period, he was not wearing the blue sweatshirt I saw outside. And the boy outside didn't have a Durag on his head. J had one on today. Uh oh. Maybe it wasn't J. Maybe I thought I saw J, but it was someone else. Maybe I have a prejudice against this child. I feel bad about my prejudice, and thankful that I decided to wait it out instead of going straight into action.

Today is station rotations(here are my tasks).  I love that my students are more on task in this class than in my normal Algebra 1 class last semester. This is where I realize that careful planning of tasks for each of the stations and being strict when it comes to producing work helps with the implementation of station rotations. Also the fact that I have very responsible peer tutors overseeing the rest of the class when I am focusing on my teacher-led station (Station 4). If students had to go to the restroom or had questions for anything like needing a pencil, my peer tutor was there like a superhero. I was pretty impressed with a few students who were in my Algebra 1 class last semester but failed and is now in my restart class. Unlike last semester, they are really trying hard and going above and beyond. I'm trying to figure out what the magic is behind their change in work ethic. I know I did a good news call home for one. The other one received a bribe from that RSP lady in second period. She said she'll buy him a bag of hot Cheetos if he stays quiet and only reply to my questions. Oh my! It made a huge difference!

If you click on the link I provided above, you will see that out of the 6 stations, 2 are for Imagine Math. This is an online math program that students have to work on, required by my District. I tell my students to complete 2 lessons a week. Right now (they don't know this) they are working on 6th grade standards (dividing fractions).

Station 1 worked on adding using Exploding Dots by James Tanton. I plan on going through the whole series to see if his method helps my students understand Algebra better. Some students said his method was better for addition than the traditional method. But others thought it caused them more work. My students wanted to know which version they have to use on the test. I told them whatever method gives them the right answer is what I want.

Station 2 is memorizing the 6 times table and playing games. Normally, I will have students record themselves playing so I have proof but I realized I didn't spend a period getting them to add the Screencastify extension to their Chromebook and record something just so I know they can do it. So I'm going to have to do that Friday since tomorrow is their first test (Tests are every other Thursdays in my class). I know that some of you might say it's not worth my time getting the students to memorize their times tables. But really, if you have seen what I saw the past few days, you will agree with me that students do have to know the times table to do simple tasks such as dividing fractions. I will provide multiplication charts for their test tomorrow since I don't believe students should be penalized for not knowing their multiplication facts when they know how to solve the problem. But I stand firm on a few goals for my students whether they pass or fail my class: 1. the times table 2. adding integers 3. being organized 4. having a good work ethic.

Station 5 is where students will be copying notes so when I teach the lesson tomorrow, all they have to do is fill the blank spaces. Teachers waste so much time waiting for students to copy notes while lecturing. This is my solution that I got from Joe (Remember that other teacher at another site within my District who is teaching the same course, but not as a block?).  Having students pre-copy notes is such a great idea. For my regular classes, this station would be a pre-lesson explore task where they ask Google who is Pythagoras or why we flip the inequality symbol and have them create a Google slide. But I am not there yet with this set of students. I have six stations and if students have to do something challenging, they would request my attention or refuse to do the work. Copying notes gives them something simple to do that doesn't require my help and it makes the lesson go faster the day after.

Station 4 is my station. I had students solve questions that will be on the test. I helped them when they struggled. Most struggled.  I focused on number 3 and 4 which is dividing fractions. Sixteen minutes was barely enough time for me to work with all 6 students, but that would have to do for now.

Now that students have been in my class for 7 days, they are used to my procedures. When they walk into my classroom, they know they have to go into Canvas and pull out their notebook. From there, they click on the corresponding date and everything they need is right there.

I am very proud of myself because my goal for this semester was being organized and one thing I wanted to commit to doing was taking notes in my notebook first so I can tell how much space my students will need in their notebook. I've been taking notes in my notebook first, then using Genius Scan to scan the page using my phone and uploading them to Canvas. This way, students know how it should look and I know exactly how much space my students need. Prior to this semester, students were always complaining because they ran out of space in their notebook or I didn't give them enough notes on each page (AVID students usually do this).

Today I'm nervous about tomorrow's test. We will learn adding fractions during the first period then test during the later period. I hope that I will see good results, but what I observed during station rotations state otherwise. I didn't make good or bad phone calls today.

from my hike Monday with the kids

I wanted to spend time with my son. He didn't make honor roll. He got a 3.42 GPA last semester. You need a 3.5 to be on honor roll. My daughter got gold honor roll which is for students with a 4.0 GPA. They are only in middle school. Not that honor roll matters to me, but I know that my son is beyond capable. AND it should be easier to get good grades in middle school. So it drives me crazy to see how lazy he is. I figured he needs more love so I listened to all his jokes and tickled him and talked to him about the importance of making grades. Prejudice and stereotypes make it difficult for non-Caucasians to get good jobs, I explained to him. We want a better society that is mindful of equity, but change takes time so we need to be proactive and get good grades, go to good schools, be social etc. Big companies won't pass you on if you got specs. If it's a smaller company, they can hire someone else they feel "comfortable" with over you. "Comfortable" meaning they talk like the hiring committee and look like the hiring committee. He may be too young for this message, but nevertheless, it is important. 

What I didn't write yesterday was that of those 6 kids who ditched, I called one child's aunt. He showed up to both classes today. He mentioned in passing that his aunt talked to him about my call. I decided I will make time either tomorrow or Friday to call the parents of the students who skipped class yesterday.

I feel like I have no life because I spend so much time with these two classes. I am ending the day unhappy because it's day 7 and counselors keep sending new kids my way. I know that until the last day of school the counselors will be dumping kids in my class. I will work hard this semester, and remain positive and proactive but I will NEVER volunteer after this semester. I was wrong. My District did not get things right. Randomly placing kids in my class will not help anyone. I wonder how this helps my students who really need structure since every time a new kid comes in, I have to reintegrate that kid into my classroom culture and that takes time. And the new kids are ditching already. But for now, this is what I volunteered for. So I will do what I signed up for.