Apollo's Creed

A great encouragement in my time as a member of the Mississippi Teacher Corps has been the second-year teachers.  Again, because the program is two years, the term "first-years" indicate the teachers in their first year of the program and the term "second-years" are clearly those going into their second year.  I know, it's so UVA, right?  While their words are helpful and affirming, more than anything, their presence has been an encouragement for me.  The fact that they are still here, still standing, and still excited about things is a neat testimony to the effect this job can have on you.  In light of that, I've wondered if we wouldn't learn so much more from this experience than our students ever will.  

Our most recent assignment is to read one of the second year blogs in its entirety.  I chose to read the blog of a person we'll call Apollo.  You can follow his blog here (unfortunately, his real name isn't Apollo, but it is called "Creed's blog" and rather than reference that dismal band, I'll go with everyone's favorite villain turned tragic hero, Apollo Creed.  Sorry, I digress).  After reading Apollo's blog, I am amazed at the similarities of where I am now and where he was.  It helps that there seems to be a lot of continuity between their blog assignments and ours, so I can read a lot of his posts and relate to exactly what he's talking about.  A post in particular that everyone should read is his post from September 1st entitled, "My Community".  It is particularly helpful because he takes the time to describe the living situation in Indianola, which is where will soon be home.

Apollo is someone coming from a similar perspective.  He is young and relatively inexperienced.  He is a coach and is trying to balance that and teaching (which I hope to do).  He is also goal oriented.  A poignant goal he mentions several times is to "be a second year teacher".  These were words he wrote last September, and I'm proud to read that now, knowing that he is one.  Because of this blog, and my brief knowledge of him, I am excited he will be a second year teacher, and that he will be one in Indianola.  Those voices of reason and sanity will undoubtedly make the hard times a little better, and will remind us of the light that is at the end of the tunnel.

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Just trying to swim...

You thought I was kidding in my last post when I threatened to reflect on the summer training as a whole.  Good news for you, thousands of faithful readers, I wasn’t.  Before I expel the deepest truths of my heart, however, I think I first owe everyone an apology.  I think blogs are best kept and followed when they are updated on a fairly regular schedule.  I admit that the past few weeks of blogging have been sporadic at best, with two entries coming back to back, and with gaps in between.  For this, I am sorry.  I know that makes things more difficult to follow, and you have my promise that I will try and post with more regularity and sanity.  Now with that out of the way, we can get to the meat and potatoes of today’s installment - the summer training.  

The summer training is now mostly over.  We have a few more training sessions and a final presentation to give, but I would say the majority is now behind us.  Naturally, I have practical questions that still linger and different people will have different opinions on them.  So much of teaching is based upon experience and personal preference, so there are just some matters that won’t really have a consensus.  With that in mind, I can focus more on the overall effectiveness of the training on a more macro level.  In an earlier post, I said that, “summer training was the best preparation I could have for something I can’t really prepare for”, and those sentiments are still ringing true.  I was just talking with a guy who is a graduate of the program, and is now about to embark on his career as a principle.  We were relating on how we are both about to be “shown the ropes” of our new respective positions, and the inherent learning curve involved.

Ultimately, you can only talk about swimming so long before you get in the water.  After that, you sink or swim, but no one is Michael Phelps over night.  We had a great summer school experience, but it was still a watered down version of what to expect.  We have had fantastic instruction and help, but it is still instruction and help, and can only take us so far.  I don’t know that any part of our summer training could ever be considered as anything but helpful.  We were given a real opportunity to teach real kids in a real school.  That said, though, there is only so much that can be done to try and replicate what school will be like.

I went down to Indianola this weekend.  I walked on the campus a little bit, I shook hands with some of the local residents, and I roamed the town that will soon be called home.  In the midst of so much obvious uncertainty, I was encouraged by my trip.  While I still feel like so much of our summer training has been like trying to drink from a fire hose, I also know that the peace I’m ultimately looking for won’t come from my effectiveness as a teacher.  Barring I get hit by a bus or meet some other tragic end, the sun will continue to rise and fall, and August will continue to inch its way closer.  There’s nothing I can do about that, but I can make preparations and try to be ready for that which I cannot see.

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Meet Mr. Ware - part deux

Yesterday marked the conclusion of summer school 2k10 at Holly Springs High School.  It was apparent that relief was felt by the students and teachers alike.  I taught two classes, both being a review for the final they would take immediately after.  Final reflections on summer school will probably come in a different post at a different time, but currently I get to respond to a filming of myself teaching.  The last post was a reflection from a lesson I taught earlier in the summer, and this second filming hopes to document the progress I have made as an instructor.  Now I'm not going to be gloomy and act like I haven't improved or learned anything over the past five weeks, but I am going to say that I'm not there yet.  In light of this, I'm going to try and focus on some takeaways for the upcoming school year.

Informal assessments - Informal assessments are various ways to assess the student's comprehension of the subject being taught.  You can informally assess a class by asking a general true or false question to everyone or you can walk around during the independent practice and discern on an individual basis.  I have grown to enjoy informal assessments.  They are not only an opportunity for the teacher to see progress, but more importantly they are an opportunity for providing individual praise.  It is neat for a kid to call you over solely because they know you'll tell them "good job".

Consistency - Everyone has good days and bad days.  That's part of life.  Good days and bad days don't need to be part of your classroom management though.  As I watched this video, I was amazed at how well managed it was in comparison to classes in the past.  I know other factor go into it, but again, I think consistency makes a big difference, regardless of how your day is going.  Don't wait for the second or third outbreak to correct bad behavior (even if you're having a bad day).  Start strong, finish strong.  Yes it takes more energy and requires more of you, but I think ultimately the pay off is greater.

Detailed lesson plans do help - I don't love lesson planning.  I'll admit it.  It doesn't make my heart sing.  Consequently I wouldn't say that I love spending hours on them.  It is hard for me to get really excited about it, and also get really detailed with it.  I fall into the temptation of thinking that I can just fill the holes and improvise, but the truth is, the detail on lesson plans helps.  It serves as a more useful guide for the class, and at this point, I need all the help I can get.

All in all, I think I have a pretty good presence in front of the classroom.  It helps that I have a relatively loud voice and a decent amount of energy.  I looked and felt much more comfortable in front of the class as the days passed by, which is an encouraging step to take going into the fall.  Summer school was a very beneficial time for training.  I am grateful for the opportunity I had with it, and feel it has helped me prepare for the storm that will be August.

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Meet Mr. Ware, the teacher

Admittedly, I've never given teachers much credit.  I think it is partly because I've never been extremely uncomfortable in public speaking situations, and partly because I never realized how difficult it was to convey information to others.  I just never related with what they were doing, or figured it was all that difficult.  After actually taking note of my presence in the classroom, however, I have some new thoughts:

1) Filler words - Listen to anyone talk.  Your spouse, your kid, the teller at the bank, the President of the United States, anyone, and listen for the filler words/noises.  Filler words/noises are things that people cling to when they are thinking or are uncomfortable with silence. It can come in the form of "like" or "um" or "uh", or my personal favorite (at least in front of the classroom), "ok".  If I had a penny for every time I said "ok" during a lesson, I would have a lot of pennies.  Usually "ok" is used as a response to a question but I have found some pretty unnatural situations to plug in that little gem.  Duly noted.

2) Kids do so much when you're not looking- I was once a student and was not always on my best behavior.  I admit that.  I would be lying if I said I never spat a spitball or passed a note or did something that could eventually be disruptive for the learning environment.  I don't ever remember being as cunning as some of these students though.  I had the idea that I had a pretty good grasp on things taking place when my back was turned, but boy am I wrong.  People turned around in their desk, people hitting people, people blatantly talking when they shouldn't, the list goes on and on.  It's really incredible.  I don't know why the C.I.A. isn't taking instruction from some of these kids. Also duly noted.

3) Explanation is hard - Because I have learned some of these lessons time and time again in various classes I forget how much I take some basic principles for granted.  Consequently in trying to explain an idea to a student, I literally trip over my own thought process, because I have never thought of how to explain it.  Something that may seem obvious is not always so.  Breaking down ideas into bite-sized morsels of information takes a lot of creativity, and it is frustrating when you try, and no matter what you say, the student is not getting it.  I tend to enter into a flurry of words that creates an incomprehensible hailstorm of confusion, and then realize that I have five less minutes to try and explain it.  Great.

These are initial reactions.  There is plenty more to come, but it should be noted how thankful I am for the whole summer school experience.  I can't imagine starting out the fall semester not knowing what I know now.  The challenge and opportunity is now employing these thoughts and others to my practice of teaching.

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