At the beginning of the #StartOver math course, I had to let my students know that behind the high pitched voice and the smile that can't be taken seriously was the teacher who felt that her priority was in informing their parents of everything. These things don't happen because I say that is who I am.
I had to show them.
This meant I had to stop in the middle of class when no one was working, walk over to my desk and start calling parents-in front of the class. Half the class don't want to stress out their parents or deal with consequences at home, so they start working. The other half waits to see if I will hang up, then call their parent next. A few students stand strong and refuse to work til the last minute.
This type of drama needs to be produced maybe once a year or not even at all in other classes. But when you have a group of students who are used to not working for a year or more, this drama has to be played out often. I learned before day 10 was over that I needed to leave time each period for dramatic productions such as calling parents in front of the class. That meant teaching less, calling more. I had a good rationale. It's better to pause teaching and call parents than to talk into the air while all my students are on social media. It's better to call parents than accept the fact that none of my students will share their thoughts in the classroom. But the effectiveness of anything wears off after repeated use.
I stopped calling parents during class after week 4. It was turning into a routine and some students were getting tired of it. I started calling more parents after school and on weekends. I had a good rationale. Wasting class time is not effective. I'm producing this drama for less than half the class now. It's better to call parents after school since it's only about 4 students from each course.
Now I'm looking to start week 7. Two weeks went by without me calling parents in front of students during class time. A started walking out of class 3 minutes before class is over and he definitely walks in 10 minutes after the bell rings. About 10 percent of my class is paying attention and sharing their thoughts with me during my lecture/project days (Monday and Tuesday). When I asked A to sit down and work, he said, "you haven't even been calling parents for a while now." I responded by saying, "oh you think so?"
Actually the night before, I was texting/calling a parent because I was doing my routine calls home and K's mom was at the emergency room. The poor girl is quiet and keeps to herself. And she is failing all her classes except for one. I wanted to call the mom to see if there is anything I can do to help her since I can't seem to be able to connect with her in class. Mom was at the emergency room because K was sick. Mom told me she wants to talk to K's counselor to see if there is another option for K's schooling. I told her that is a good idea. I felt bad for not being a counselor. All I could do was wish her the best and hang up. It was 10:10pm when I last spoke with mom.
On day 29, there was a SST meeting for L. L is so cute. I have to say this because he is so extremely cute. He is funny too. But he does absolutely no work. And he has no ability to control himself. He gets in trouble at school because he throws things. And in my previous blog, I did mention that he kept calling a girl "Skin her". That girl is now no longer in my class. The administrators decided to protect her by changing her class. I called mom several times and when I emailed her, I finally got a response from her. I was really shocked. You would think that L's mom either doesn't care or doesn't like the school system or doesn't know how to control the child. All those prejudices were broken for me when I met the mom. She was soft-spoken, smart, positive about the school system and had strategies to discipline her child. It's just that L is his own person.
Sometimes, us teachers complain about parents. Because we think that our worst performing students are the product of parents who don't care. L's mom has to work. She doesn't get home til after 6pm. She has a job where she can't pick up her phone. That's why she responds via email late at night. She didn't get L a phone because she didn't want him to be on it at school. She told him not to take the laser pointer to school but he did. Behind her back. Then got in trouble with me.
Actually, now that I think about it, of all the parents I ever called, only 2 were hateful and blamed the school instead of their children. Everyone else were grateful I called even if Google Translate did a horrible job of translating English to Spanish for me. And the phone calls sometimes translated to the change in the child's behavior. But not always.
I thought about it. High School is the last education system the children have to pass through before they hit adulthood. I thought about this society I live in. There are people who follow the golden rule. The law need not be there for these people. They follow a higher calling. Then there are people who need the law. Without it, they might do some harm to others, mostly because they didn't know. Then there are a few who try their best to find loopholes so they can do what they want and get away with it. Finally, there is a system where people who cannot be controlled by the law are contained, away from the general population (prisons, jail etc).
At school, we have rules. A minority of our students love school and they come early and stay til late. They email teachers for feedback and can't wait to participate in school events. Most others come to school and follow rules because they have to. Then there's students who sneak away and share drugs or display graffiti in the bathrooms or destroy school property and get away because they were never caught. Then there's the few who are caught and they have to go through consequences set by the school.
In my dream world, every school has the same allotment of students who are in each of the categories I mentioned earlier. And we all have a great system to help these children who love school shine even more brightly. That would mean rigorous courses, service learning, a lot of community service hours to help out the less fortunate etc. For most of the general student population, we would provide the same thing we provide to our students who love school. But for the students who are not performing either because they are sick physically, emotionally or mentally, we need to have a system to help them. High School is not the same as real life experienced by adults. We cannot expel or suspend them. What would these children do after a suspension or an expulsion when they become an adult? But we also cannot mix these students with the general student population.
Looking at my site, I know we have counseling, ATS(Alternative To Suspension) and independent work. Many of my students are not in my class on a given day because they either have to go for drug counseling, psychological counseling, ATS or do independent work. These programs are great. But while they are gone receiving these services, they are falling more and more behind with work in the classroom. So when they return from ATS, counseling or independent work, they face failure in the classroom anyway. These students are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Back to my dream world, what if we had a system where counselors, program managers, administrators and a few dedicated teachers from each subject form a team? We would need psychologists as well. This team will only do one thing. Help students keep up with required curriculum as well as provide necessary training to navigate through the school system and provide counseling as needed. And the system here will not be set up like a classroom. It would be like a rotating system so anyone can come in whenever necessary and leave whenever necessary. Kinda like mainstreaming the students with IEPs. I know there are schools that does just this. But that is not what most families are exposed to. Parents have to research to find a school that does just this. What if every public school had this system?
So if a child got in trouble for selling drugs and using drugs, they can enter this program. And instead of being pulled out of their classes for ATS and counseling sessions, they can stay in the program. There are credentialed teachers for different subjects who will help them with work individually or in small groups and they can get counseling and other support as necessary. This way they can get their credits and get the support they need as well. When they feel like they are ready, or when the adults feel the student is ready, the student can then be reintegrated into the general student population where the focus is on service learning and helping others.
Back to reality. It's not the parent's fault my students are behind in math. It's not the middle school or the elementary school's fault that my students behave the way they do. It is not because my students are dealing with poverty they are the way they are. All schools should have a good system to support all these children before they become adults. I read a few months ago that more and more educators are running for political offices. Maybe they will help a little. I learned that we spend more money on prisons and helping low income families than in education as a society. Maybe revamping our school system will help society. In my classroom, I have to get back to producing the big scene of calling parents in class so my students who need the whip can get back in place.
Thanks to this #StartOver classes, I remembered why I started teaching. It wasn't because a teacher impacted me. It wasn't because I love children. It wasn't because I love math or computer science. I wanted to teach at the high school level because I felt like if I could catch the struggling mini-adults in high school, maybe they would be a productive person in society as a full-grown-adult, where it's more difficult to find support for their problems.
I love my job more than ever before. And I feel so much affection for my 70 #StartOver students. But I also feel like there needs to be change. I've been going to conferences and fan-girling over people who I think could change education in the classroom. Now I want to change my direction. I want to think of the school as a whole system. And remember the fact that my students could struggle as adults. And I want to create a system that would help them as adults when they leave my school. I feel powerless as I think about this. There is so much to learn. So I will take my first step. I don't have a clear idea what my first step is. But that's why I blog. Is there anyone out there who want to join forces with me?
Now I'm looking to start week 7. Two weeks went by without me calling parents in front of students during class time. A started walking out of class 3 minutes before class is over and he definitely walks in 10 minutes after the bell rings. About 10 percent of my class is paying attention and sharing their thoughts with me during my lecture/project days (Monday and Tuesday). When I asked A to sit down and work, he said, "you haven't even been calling parents for a while now." I responded by saying, "oh you think so?"
Actually the night before, I was texting/calling a parent because I was doing my routine calls home and K's mom was at the emergency room. The poor girl is quiet and keeps to herself. And she is failing all her classes except for one. I wanted to call the mom to see if there is anything I can do to help her since I can't seem to be able to connect with her in class. Mom was at the emergency room because K was sick. Mom told me she wants to talk to K's counselor to see if there is another option for K's schooling. I told her that is a good idea. I felt bad for not being a counselor. All I could do was wish her the best and hang up. It was 10:10pm when I last spoke with mom.
On day 29, there was a SST meeting for L. L is so cute. I have to say this because he is so extremely cute. He is funny too. But he does absolutely no work. And he has no ability to control himself. He gets in trouble at school because he throws things. And in my previous blog, I did mention that he kept calling a girl "Skin her". That girl is now no longer in my class. The administrators decided to protect her by changing her class. I called mom several times and when I emailed her, I finally got a response from her. I was really shocked. You would think that L's mom either doesn't care or doesn't like the school system or doesn't know how to control the child. All those prejudices were broken for me when I met the mom. She was soft-spoken, smart, positive about the school system and had strategies to discipline her child. It's just that L is his own person.
Sometimes, us teachers complain about parents. Because we think that our worst performing students are the product of parents who don't care. L's mom has to work. She doesn't get home til after 6pm. She has a job where she can't pick up her phone. That's why she responds via email late at night. She didn't get L a phone because she didn't want him to be on it at school. She told him not to take the laser pointer to school but he did. Behind her back. Then got in trouble with me.
Actually, now that I think about it, of all the parents I ever called, only 2 were hateful and blamed the school instead of their children. Everyone else were grateful I called even if Google Translate did a horrible job of translating English to Spanish for me. And the phone calls sometimes translated to the change in the child's behavior. But not always.
I thought about it. High School is the last education system the children have to pass through before they hit adulthood. I thought about this society I live in. There are people who follow the golden rule. The law need not be there for these people. They follow a higher calling. Then there are people who need the law. Without it, they might do some harm to others, mostly because they didn't know. Then there are a few who try their best to find loopholes so they can do what they want and get away with it. Finally, there is a system where people who cannot be controlled by the law are contained, away from the general population (prisons, jail etc).
At school, we have rules. A minority of our students love school and they come early and stay til late. They email teachers for feedback and can't wait to participate in school events. Most others come to school and follow rules because they have to. Then there's students who sneak away and share drugs or display graffiti in the bathrooms or destroy school property and get away because they were never caught. Then there's the few who are caught and they have to go through consequences set by the school.
In my dream world, every school has the same allotment of students who are in each of the categories I mentioned earlier. And we all have a great system to help these children who love school shine even more brightly. That would mean rigorous courses, service learning, a lot of community service hours to help out the less fortunate etc. For most of the general student population, we would provide the same thing we provide to our students who love school. But for the students who are not performing either because they are sick physically, emotionally or mentally, we need to have a system to help them. High School is not the same as real life experienced by adults. We cannot expel or suspend them. What would these children do after a suspension or an expulsion when they become an adult? But we also cannot mix these students with the general student population.
Looking at my site, I know we have counseling, ATS(Alternative To Suspension) and independent work. Many of my students are not in my class on a given day because they either have to go for drug counseling, psychological counseling, ATS or do independent work. These programs are great. But while they are gone receiving these services, they are falling more and more behind with work in the classroom. So when they return from ATS, counseling or independent work, they face failure in the classroom anyway. These students are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Back to my dream world, what if we had a system where counselors, program managers, administrators and a few dedicated teachers from each subject form a team? We would need psychologists as well. This team will only do one thing. Help students keep up with required curriculum as well as provide necessary training to navigate through the school system and provide counseling as needed. And the system here will not be set up like a classroom. It would be like a rotating system so anyone can come in whenever necessary and leave whenever necessary. Kinda like mainstreaming the students with IEPs. I know there are schools that does just this. But that is not what most families are exposed to. Parents have to research to find a school that does just this. What if every public school had this system?
So if a child got in trouble for selling drugs and using drugs, they can enter this program. And instead of being pulled out of their classes for ATS and counseling sessions, they can stay in the program. There are credentialed teachers for different subjects who will help them with work individually or in small groups and they can get counseling and other support as necessary. This way they can get their credits and get the support they need as well. When they feel like they are ready, or when the adults feel the student is ready, the student can then be reintegrated into the general student population where the focus is on service learning and helping others.
Back to reality. It's not the parent's fault my students are behind in math. It's not the middle school or the elementary school's fault that my students behave the way they do. It is not because my students are dealing with poverty they are the way they are. All schools should have a good system to support all these children before they become adults. I read a few months ago that more and more educators are running for political offices. Maybe they will help a little. I learned that we spend more money on prisons and helping low income families than in education as a society. Maybe revamping our school system will help society. In my classroom, I have to get back to producing the big scene of calling parents in class so my students who need the whip can get back in place.
Thanks to this #StartOver classes, I remembered why I started teaching. It wasn't because a teacher impacted me. It wasn't because I love children. It wasn't because I love math or computer science. I wanted to teach at the high school level because I felt like if I could catch the struggling mini-adults in high school, maybe they would be a productive person in society as a full-grown-adult, where it's more difficult to find support for their problems.
I love my job more than ever before. And I feel so much affection for my 70 #StartOver students. But I also feel like there needs to be change. I've been going to conferences and fan-girling over people who I think could change education in the classroom. Now I want to change my direction. I want to think of the school as a whole system. And remember the fact that my students could struggle as adults. And I want to create a system that would help them as adults when they leave my school. I feel powerless as I think about this. There is so much to learn. So I will take my first step. I don't have a clear idea what my first step is. But that's why I blog. Is there anyone out there who want to join forces with me?
I'm right with you on the system is inadequate to truly help our students be prepared for life. Your perfect world vision is something I've been talking about but know it is a long way from becoming a norm. Teachers need that support from other professionals to help reach the others. Approving these issues, behaviors, strengths, and deficiencies as a true team would have such a greater impact. The first step has been taken with dialog, but the first action step is ... I don't know but it needs to happen.
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