Direct Instruction for One Week and the Result #StartOverDay 30-39

Wow. Two weeks went by fast.

Students are in the process of registering for classes for next year. Juniors are already done. Counselors are working with Sophomores right now. If I want to grow the computer science pathway at my site, I have to recruit.

Unlike last year, my principal gave me his blessing and even gave me $500 to help with the recruiting process. I reached out to a printing company for flyers on why taking AP classes are good for you, and a bunch of posters for computer science that I found from the code.org website. My principal also paid for a substitute for one day so I can visit Advanced 10th grade English classes and Algebra 2 and higher classes to do a presentation on the computer science pathway at Perris High.

This meant that every moment of my free time had to be spent scouring for information for my presentation. Students at my site often do not know what computer science is. Since the moment Computer Science was offered at my site three years ago, there were consistently only one section of AP Computer Science Principles and one section of Computer Science Discoveries. Some students have seen their friends go through pains to create animations that don't even look beautiful and other students have seen their friends write so many lines of codes to make a game that is not sophisticated nor exciting. Even the students in computer science classes do not really understand what they can do with the skills they have acquired or how computer science is used in the real world. Thanks to code.org and a few other sites geared for counselors, I was able to create a presentation that focused on the need of minority members and girls to take a piece of the pie in the computer science field. I was quite happy when girls approached me and asked about the courses. I may have mentioned this in my earlier blogs, but Perris High now has the opportunity to offer AP Computer Science A through Amazon and I just can't really think of a reason why students will not take advantage of this opportunity(my slides, in case you want to copy and modify). And yes, I bought 14 boxes of pizza from Pizza Hut on March 6th for students and parents who might be interested in learning more about the pathway. Unfortunately, I didn't advertise the pizza in fear that the whole school will show up only for a slice of pizza and not for the information. That was a huge mistake since even the students who were interested did not show up although they came looking for me later that day since it was back to school night. My coach Deatra proposed advertising the pizza next year if I get funds again. After all, the children might show up just for the pizza, then learn that they were actually interested in the field after all. My principal, Mr. Santos, suggested that I keep the parents and the students hostage til the end of the workshop, then offer the pizza (limit 1 slice per person) as they leave my room. Of course I will be applying both their advice for next year. My affection and respect for these two grow more and more each time I interact with them.

Now that has come and gone, it is time for me to confess. I have been lazy.

I cancelled station rotations on March 6. In case you didn't know, Wednesdays equals station rotations. Structure is important for students especially if they never found success in a math class. But I really didn't get to do anything that week except visit classrooms, put in rush orders for posters, order pizza and get presentations ready. I still had to teach all my classes, run GirlsWhoCode and stay after school for credit recovery. So I made an executive decision to direct teach the whole week in my #StartOver class. That week was devoted to studying for Thursday's test where students get to challenge first semester of Introduction to Algebra 1.

I have to say, there was absolutely no planning required on my part. Remember my little team of Introduction to Algebra 1 and Support class where all students are starting over? I'm the only one at my site so I have a team of teachers from 2 other sites at my district and we email each other. Joe is the one who mostly communicates. He sent out a practice worksheet. It was beautiful. It had the same questions on both sides of the column, different numbers. It was designed so I can solve one as a sample and the class can solve the one on the right looking at the model on the left. All of a sudden, I got insight into why teachers prefer direct instruction.

Planning for station rotations has gotten easier for me since I've been doing it for a while now. But you do have to think about which new concept you want to introduce, what kind of notes you want your students taking and what kind of problems you want your students to be solving in each of the stations. And the collaborative piece should be similar but still different every time. I would say that it takes me about an hour to plan and prepare the videos, notes and documents for station rotations. It used to take me longer, but I'm becoming more efficient. Even if I were to use direct instruction, I usually pre-write my notes so students know exactly what the format looks like. I have learned the hard way that if I simply start writing on my Interwrite pad, my students have no idea how to organize it. They have to see how it looks in an actual lined notebook that looks exactly like theirs.

Now that the recruiting week is over, I have to report to you that I'm back to more than half the class not doing work and explicitly going on social media or using their cell phones. I got flashbacks to those days years ago when I felt ineffective as a teacher and wanting to leave the classroom.

I thought about it. If I were a coach and all my energy was devoted to my sport, I probably might not have the time to invest in teaching strategies. If I teach a higher level math class and all my energy was devoted to helping students work through a difficult problem, I probably won't see a need to invest in teaching strategies. But for teachers like me who teach lower level math and is not a coach, I need to continue to grow.

So here I am, looking at my past two weeks and promising myself that I, Princess Choi, cannot be lazy.

And this is my last comment. How can we help coaches and teachers who teach dual enrollment classes, AP classes and other difficult courses be a better teacher?
There is no need to hurt anyone's ego. They are all good people. But it is a disservice to our students when we stop reinventing ourselves.
Have a great time, til the next blog!

Building Relationships in Station Rotations #StartOver Day 16 and Day 17

Day 16- I lectured Monday so lecturing again Tuesday would be too much torture for my children. So I lectured for about 10 minutes during the morning period, then had students work on solving 2 questions as a group. They could write their work on the board or share a Google Slide with me for their presentation. Most groups chose the board. During the afternoon period, they had to present. Everyone had to speak.

I was pleased to find that all groups worked and they all presented. Even the EL students. They really struggled saying just one sentence, but they did it and I was proud. I came to United States from Korea a month before my Junior year was over in high school. I understand the struggle that EL students have to go through. I am sad I can't speak Spanish, but I am patient because I know how hard it is to get used to a new culture in addition to the language. The highlight of the day was when 2 groups got their work wrong. I was pleased to see that now my children are no longer afraid to be wrong. I told them their work was wrong and asked them to find out what they did wrong. I didn't forget to compliment them for doing the work anyhow. And added that their brain cells are growing because they are now looking for their mistake. The 2 groups persevered and figured it out with the help of the other group members.

Day 17- My favorite station rotation Wednesday! I slacked today. Most of my students now like me. This is really good, but also really bad. When I was their enemy, they hated me, but was compliant(I know that word is bad). Now that they know that all my phone calls home and threats are out of love, they try and take advantage of me. I have to admit, my big trouble-makers are kinda cute and funny. I put my foot down and didn't let 5 students go to the restroom today because they didn't work. I saw their disappointed faces and explained to them why I said no. I told them they have to show me evidence that they were working to go to the restroom. All 5 decided to stay put. It looks like my students are loving station rotations because unless they are in my station, they are pretty much free from my reign. I need to fix this problem. Sebastian advised me today that I should ignore the troublemakers and pay more attention to students like himself who are behaving and patiently waiting for my attention. I thought about it. He was right. If I keep chasing my trouble makers, even students like Sebastian will be tempted to act out because they all want my attention. Trust me. I feel the energy when they walk in. They really truly want so much attention from me. It almost feels like they are deprived of love and attention and they try to fill their tanks during the two periods they are with me. And I'm willing to pour into their tanks.

During second period, we had a surprise visit from my principal. There was one child who earned honor roll in my #StartOver class! I was so proud. I recorded the whole thing and took many pictures.

On Monday during our PLC, my department friends were talking about apathy and the academic level of our students. One teacher spoke of spending time Fridays to sit with individual students and making them work. I couldn't hold myself and threw in my two cents about how great he is, because he really is, and then said how station rotations works great for that purpose. Most of my students, and I'm sure yours as well, are conditioned to work only when we attend to them. Even during station rotations, while I help one out of the 6 children in my station, the other 5 are looking at the ceiling or hiding their phone in front of their Chromebook and watching something. Once I am done helping one child with one problem, I help the next child and the one that just worked with me is now suddenly not doing anything. There is nothing I can do about that. But I have now helped one child with one problem. I don't know how much that will help the individual students with their grades, but it's much better than letting them be or blaming them or beating them to compliance. I need to make sure that during my 16 minutes with each of the 6 students, I help as many students as possible.

But I mentioned earlier that I slacked today. I meant that I spent about 5 minutes out of the 16 socializing with them today. I know I shouldn't have, but deep inside my heart I wanted them to finally smile back at me and be kind to me. Today they were being silly and telling me about their little cut on their finger and why they think I am crazy. I did get them to work a little, but I wanted to enjoy the "Ms. Choi, I want you to pay more attention to me" pleas and the "if you like anyone else more than me, then I'll have to beat up all the girls in here" threats. And those beautiful smiles as they say, "this is my favorite station."

So that was great in itself. But I also had day 2 of Girls Who Code and a few more girls showed up. I'll write about that another day.

Finally, as I wearily walked towards my car at 4:30 because I promised myself I will go indoor rock-climbing today, the administrator in charge of counseling walked towards me, away from his car. I'm like, "no, I need to go home before 5 today. Wait. We were all happy today. Which child went to Mr. Wise and complained about me again? Is he going to send me more students with multiple suspensions to my class? What would be so important that the man over there would walk away from his car and towards me?" Those few seconds looking at him walking towards me was the worst. Once he approached me, he told me that he had a meeting with his counseling department today. He said that the counselors are aware that I have a concentration of certain demographics in my #StartOver classes. He said that if there is anything they can do to support me, they would. I hugged him. I almost felt like crying. I told him I'm having a hard time and I don't even know what kind of support I need because I'm in the thick of things, but I told him I'm grateful.

I know that there is nothing they can really do to help me. They probably mean that maybe they'll listen to me when I complain? I don't know. But even if nothing changes and I still don't get any support, knowing that they know how difficult it is for me made me happy.

Volunteering to teach this class and deciding to #StartOver might have been a good thing for me after all. I like my job a little more today than other days. My body is sore because I haven't gone rock-climbing for about a month or so. I'm going to bed.

Long Read #StartOver Day 11, 12 and 13

Time didn't stop for me like I wanted.

By the time I woke up Tuesday, I remembered M sitting in the back by himself with a Chromebook on his lap. And E who was quiet, but still not working. And A who has a gorgeous smile but doesn't work. Or D who goes out to the restroom every period and doesn't come back til the bell is about to ring. By Tuesday morning, it was very clear that there were evidence leading to the fact that my day was NOT beautiful. 

Day 11- I didn't get to see my students during the morning periods because I was busy walking over to our feeder middle school, Innovative Horizons, to recruit students into my computer science classes. I took three 9th grade students with me who attended Innovative. Teachers and students alike were very excited at the middle school to see my computer science students and I'm hoping I'll get more freshmen in my computer science classes next year. It really helps that code.org has some cool recruiting videos. 

In the afternoon, I had to be strict because my math students enjoyed the morning class without me too much. I had to teach them how to multiply and divide integers. I gave tricks every year for the past 10 years. I never even thought about the why behind the symbols changing. But this time, I looked up videos. And I found something from Khan Academy. Apparently 2*(-3) is two groups of -3 added together (-3)+(-3) or 3 groups of 2 subtracted -(2)-(2)-(2). 

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/arith-review-negative-numbers/arith-review-mult-divide-negatives/v/why-a-negative-times-a-negative-makes-intuitive-sense

I still gave them the trick with the drawing of the face, but then I explained the why. Honestly, my students seemed more lost with the why. But I felt better about myself as a teacher. I'm including the link to the video so you can watch it too. 

E was not doing work. Remember how I woke up thinking of a few kids? E was one of them. E is the girl who failed all her classes last semester except drama. And when I called mom, mom said E was always bad in math. At which point, I said to mom, "not to be disrespectful, but math is not the only subject she failed last semester." Then mom finally decided it was the school's fault that we gave her daughter a Chromebook. 

I asked E a question. She had this defiant look on her face. She refused to answer. I called mom. She didn't pick up. I called grandmother. She said she doesn't speak Spanish and hung up on me while I was using Google Translate. E was so happy. She said, "my mom hates you and that's why she's not picking up. My grandma doesn't speak English and she doesn't understand you when you sound like that. That's why she hung up!" 

It was clear that I wasn't going to get any support from anyone with E. I said, "if your mom doesn't want to help you and your grandmother doesn't want to help you and you don't want to learn, you should step outside and wait for me. Why are you even sitting here if you are not going to learn anyway? "

I admit I was harsh. I was sad and upset. Sad about E and my current circumstance and upset over losing my calm again. 

Then she blurted back out at me. I expected her to blurt something out at me. But what came out of her mouth was unexpected. 

"You just wait and see what happens to you now!" 

She threatened me and stormed out. 

Needless to say, when I walked out the room to speak to her calmly, she was nowhere to be found.

I don't believe in referrals. But I wrote one on day 11. Because every good day comes with a bad day. I called mom again at around 5:15pm so I can talk to her about what happened. But mom still didn't pick up. 

I went home thinking about so many different ways I could have handled the situation. I wish I was a robot. Just do my job. Have no emotions. Wear a gigantic smile. 

I was so tired from the morning walk back and forth to the middle school I literally passed out after asking my two children if I can go to bed early. I explained why and asked them to quietly go to bed at 9:15pm. Sometimes I think I tell my children too much. No wonder they don't want to be a teacher. But they know I love my job. 

Day 12- My Favorite day! Station rotations! I was shocked to learn during station rotations that most students still don't understand how to divide fractions. I love the intimate teacher-led station. We giggled and joked around in my station. Unfortunately, the para-educator that supports D in my 2nd and 5th period class didn't show because D was absent. She is one of my favorite person right now because she also keeps an eye on L for me. And the day the para-educator was not there, L managed to make fun of a female student's name. "Skin her, skin her!" He kept repeating and started laughing. Young Ms. Skinner seemed annoyed but didn't retaliate. I had to write him a referral. I already called his mom twice. It doesn't look like mom can help me much. I also sent M out with a referral. M was the one sitting in the back with his Chromebook on his lap. M already has so many suspensions on his record but I have a soft spot for him in my heart and I didn't want to write him a referral. But I called his mom so many times and although he is not aggressively defiant with me, he is definitely not doing any work for me and it was time he knows I'm serious. The two cuties were upset I wrote them up but walked out with the campus supervisor like they should. I asked them to come back to class the next day and start over. I was proud of myself for not losing it like day 11. 

Then I remembered day 11. I realized that E was not in class.  I was so excited about station rotations that I forgot to take attendance! While checking attendance, I learned that E got transferred out of my class. My heart instantly filled with joy. Then within a few seconds, I realized this was actually bad. What is our school teaching E and her mom? That it's okay to fail all her classes but drama, then ignore the teacher's calls, then have the child threaten the teacher, then have her go to another class? I doubt that E will start working in her new class. I already knew as I fell asleep last night that I had to apologize to E when she comes back to class, then call her mom again. I wasn't sure how that process was going to go. So I went to talk to her counselor. He told me that she didn't have an English class, so he called mom, apologized then gave her an English class. That meant she only had one period for math so she was placed in a regular Introduction to Algebra class without the support period. I know that every time E sees me on campus, she will cringe and tell her friends how horrible I am. That's ok with me. But what's not ok with me is that every time I see E on campus, I will cringe thinking about how I failed to keep my calm and how I wasn't able to help her. I know I will always look her up on Infinite Campus to see if she ever passes any other class and feel guilty if she doesn't. 

On the bright side, Theresa started Girls Who Code at my site. She was very kind when she asked me to partner with her and facilitate the club together. I accepted. She has second lunch and I have first. We decided we'll run the club on Wednesdays during both lunches. Today was our first day. We only had a few girls show up, but it is the beginning of something beautiful. I am grateful for Theresa and our partnership. But that also meant I skipped lunch. 

Another great news! During my prep period, I had a meeting with my tech coach Deatra, my principal and assistant principal in charge of counseling. I finally got the green light to offer the AP Computer Science A course. They told me they will include the course in the master course list so students can select it when they register for classes next year. They also told me they will support me in my efforts to recruit. But if I don't get at least 20 students, I won't be able to teach it. This is great since I've been working with administrators to offer this course for the past 3 years. I am so grateful for Deatra who always reminds me to focus on the task at hand and not complain. She tells me I can complain to her instead. I really love this woman. She is my number one precious person at work. She also helps me organize my thoughts. She also creates diagrams and outlines presentations for me. If I ever become a millionaire, I'm going to hire her to be my full time life coach. It also helps that Amazon is offering the courses through Edhesive for free this coming year. I applied for the free program, got interviewed and received the offer for our site! I don't want the free course to go away. Please send me prayers so everything in the world will align correctly and there will be more students pursuing computer science as a career. 

Day 13- And today is day 13. I am very relaxed today. My students have now realized that I'm just a fluffy bunny with a high pitched voice. They make fun of me and mess with me. Even the students who don't do work smile at me when I prompt them and show effort for a few seconds while I linger around. They are no longer scared of me threatening them about making phone calls. They know all they have to do is answer my questions to the best of their ability, copy notes, and try to solve the practice questions. They know I do good news calls too. L came back to class after yesterday's referral and the para-educator for D was here today so L behaved. When Ms. Skinner walked into the room, I gave L the death stare and he acted as if he is innocent and smiled at me and reminded me that he hasn't said anything. I was worried because M was not in class yet. Suddenly in the middle of class, a campus supervisor walked in and asked me if my students are working outside in the hallway. I knew that I didn't have any students waiting for me outside. My neighbor teacher saw M hanging out in the hallway with his friends. She is very helpful. She told me that I can write him up for being truant and if discipline needs help they can call her. I talked to M.  I asked him, "remember how I told you to come back today and start over? So why were you outside?" He told me he had a tummy ache and that he had to poop. I accidentally let out a laugh at his choice of words. But I got my stern face back. I told him I'm going to write him a referral again for coming to class at the end of the period and for disturbing my neighboring teacher. He pleaded me not to do it. He said he will surely be suspended again and it will be my fault. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. I told him, "please listen to me. I know you think I'm trying to get you, but I'm not. I really am trying to help you. You really have to work with me. Please come back tomorrow and start over again. Please listen to me. Please look at my heart." 

He wasn't angry and he didn't say anything back to me. I hope he will come back tomorrow and start over. 

As for my lesson, I used the CS in Algebra course from code.org today. We are in lesson 2. Students were having so much fun in the morning period. Most students had difficulty with this problem above. I thought that the lesson made PEMDAS visual and easy to understand for my students. Most students wanted to move on to Lesson 3, but I told them we only work with code.org on Thursdays so they have to wait til next week. In the afternoon class, I taught them how to solve one-step equations. Based on the practice questions they solved, I think we are good. But most students had a difficult time with questions where a fraction is multiplied by x. 

I stayed til 6pm again today just like yesterday calling parents that I don't write about here. I noted that Erick did all his work today. I called his mom yesterday. I'll talk about Erick another day. 

Today during my prep period, Deatra came so we can work on our plan for the computer science pathway. She suggested and I agreed that once the students complete the third course in our pathway, AP Computer Science A, they should be able to leave the school with something like an industry-approved certificate. We found a certificate from Oracle. Actually, she found it and I thought the students could earn it if they take the test at the end of the year after reading the description of the test. During my lunch I ran over to counseling to find the counselor who is in charge of the master course list but she was at a meeting. I caught her for a few seconds after school right before a parent conference and asked her to include the course. I felt bad because the assistant principal already told me that she was done with the list two days ago. He told me I have to go ask her as soon as possible because of that. She seemed irritated, but she is a professional so I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm sure glad everyone I talk to are good at what they do. Like Deatra always says. We are a team. And we can't do anything without a team. 

Right now, I'm writing because I won't be going to school tomorrow. I will attend the Southwest Riverside County Think Tank meeting. I'm excited. But I have Saturday school the day after tomorrow. Boo to that. But this is life, right? 

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.

Station Rotation Practice #StartOver Day 3

Today is an important day.
We are practicing station rotations.
I started utilizing station rotations in my classroom about a year ago and it has made such a difference in my outlook on teaching.
Last semester, I had a regular Algebra 1 class so 4 stations with 8-9 students in each station was feasible. After all, half the children worked without prompting and the other half needed more attention.

This semester, with this Introduction to Algebra 1 class, I decided that the same format would not work. I remembered that when I had a group with more than 4 students needing intense help, I lost one to three kids in the teacher led station. During the winter break, I attended the District math meeting and spoke to Joe, who already taught this class at another site. He told me he did 8 groups with 3-4 students in each group, and the rotations lasted 3 days.

He is a coach and his presence is felt. So I'm sure he was able to manage going for 3 days using station rotations. I have a different aura and station rotations mean free time for some of my students. I don't want station rotations to last too long.
I decided to try 6 groups of 6 students with each station lasting 16 minutes. I have them for two periods, so I can finish all six groups in one day (I can fit 3 stations in one period).

Today I decided to give students 10 minutes in each station. I was going to need time in between rotations to explain in detail what they were expected to do. I used this lesson today.

My first class was extra rowdy. This is in stark contrast to the class atmosphere from the past 2 days. I realize that the students are taking advantage of the fact that I'm only focusing on Station 4, the teacher-led station.
In between switching stations, I kept reminding the students that the volume of their voice has to be close to a whisper. Then I told them I like that they are talking.

The second class did much better. They didn't require much prompting. They got up when the 10 minute alarm rang and moved to the next station without a fuss. One child complained about getting up and moving to the next station, but he did what I asked in the end. I kept reminding students that if they need anything, like permission to go to the restroom, a pencil, a loaner Chromebook or a notebook, they need to talk to my peer tutor and not me. I have a peer tutor in three of the four periods. They help me so much when I'm running station rotations.

In the teacher-led station, we did a number talk on 18 x 5. I learned that students are hesitant about sharing that they count by five 18 times. I kept congratulating them when they shyly shared this strategy. The ones who multiplied using the traditional method were really proud and confident in their speech. I congratulated them too but with less enthusiasm. Only 1 child shared an area model. I'm hoping that as time pass by, students will be more willing to share.

I would spend more time explaining the things I had my students do today to practice. But I am exhausted. One girl who came to my class for the first time today (yes, this is day 3) was being defiant and I had to call her mom. She didn't even let me finish my sentence during our conversation after class. She had something to say back to me after every sentence. I kept reassuring her that I am here to help her be successful so she can put her guard down. But it didn't look like she trusted me. Once I sent her off to her next class, I spoke to mom on the phone and mom was really sad. It turns out that she failed all her classes last semester. And she had a long long list of referrals for a 9th grader. When I emailed her counselor and the admin in charge of counseling, I found out her mom pulled the girl out of school. The counselor told me my phone call was the last draw for mom. The student will attend Come Back Kids, run by Riverside County of Education. I guess I won't have to deal with her, but I feel sick in my stomach. Did I already fail a kid?
The counselor must have read my mind. He emailed me and said it's not my fault. So I feel better.

My second group of students were so in-sync that we had 12 minutes left over in the period. I used that time to have students share one thing they liked about station rotations and one thing they didn't like. Most couldn't tell me what they didn't like.  After all, today is only the first day they were exposed to station rotations. They liked the independent work and the fact that they can talk to each other.

I don't know why, but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.