A Day in the Life Of

It seems there has been a great deal of speculation on what a day in my life looks like. Some probably envision me naturally awaking in a bed of rose pedals, well rested and relaxed, and sauntering through my day. Others may envision waking from restless nightmares to the most annoying sound conceived by man, only to race through my day swelled with stress and fear. To both of these opinions I would say, "not exactly". There have been many restless nights, and much racing, but there has also been some more relaxed and healthy aspects of my life the past four months. Instead of writing of all the trials and struggles, or lack thereof, i'll take you through an average day in the life of, and let you decide for yourself.

My first alarm is set to fire off at 4:30 am. Often I am not woken by the first or second one, but I am usually at least awake by 4:45 am. Once awake, I enjoy a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and spend some time in the Holy Scriptures. I've been reading through the Psalms in the mornings, and it has been a source of great delight and encouragement in my daily struggles. I usually finish this routine by 5:30am which is when I either go to work out at a local gym, or finish up work for the day ahead. I try to arrive at school around 6:45 am. I go to the office to clock in, then come back to my room to set up the classroom for my first period trig class. My time and peace in the room is usually very nice in a "calm before the storm" kind of way. It's a time to email, to plan, and to think about the most effective ways of communicating with my students. Around 7:30 am, I report to the gym which is where all the students congregate before school. Once 7:40 am rolls around, our principal releases students from the gym, class by class. Consequently we are usually in my room with class started by 7:45 am.

Each class is 50 minutes long. I have two sections of Trig/Pre-calc, Advanced Seminar (homeroom), followed by one section of Geometry. After that Geometry class, I have my planning period, followed by three more sections of Geometry. As I've mentioned, each class has it's own personality, so that really regulates the demeanor at any given time of day. Seventh period on a Friday is usually much more upbeat than first period on a Tuesday, so every day is special in its own unique way.

School releases at 3:30 pm. Now that I am not coaching anymore, I am trying to find a routine after school. While football was in season, I would be at practice until 6:30 or 7 every night, then back in my until 8:30 or 9 pm. Now that football is over, though, I find that space of time suddenly freed. I stay in my classroom and work for another several hours and am usually able to leave by 5:30 pm. This still feels freakishly early, but I'm sure i'll be able to get the hang of it right when I get to go back to football.

After school I usually head home or work out if I didn't get to that morning. When home, there is usually more lesson planning, grading, or reading that needs to take place, and I usually put things down by 8:30 pm. 8:30 and on is time for me to talk with people I love, and remember that there is a great big world outside of my own small community. If I'm asleep by 10 pm I'm lucky, usually it falls closer to 10:30 or 11. 4:3o am then rolls around again, as does another opportunity to love and serve the students of (Not gonna say) High School. Sleeping in a bed of rose pedals isn't easy, but I guess someone has to do it.

Keeping the door

When school began in August, I demonstrated for my students the proper and improper way to enter the classroom. I told them that if they entered being loud and disruptive, then they would need to go back outside of the classroom and try again. A classroom should be approached with a certain reverence, I thought, and I thought this message was understood by the classes. Several weeks in, however, I began realizing this wasn't entirely true.

Week after week, a student would come in being somewhat talkative, and this would be their tone for the rest of class. I would stand at the doorway and listen to them walk in, but wouldn't enforce the rules I had laid out. Time went on, and I started to ask myself what some classes were lacking in regard to structure. Why were some classes continuing to be unruly? What was I missing? What could the silver bullet be for this werewolf? Then I realized that class begins before class starts. Now I know you may read that and think to yourself, "Self, what is this guy talking about?", and I would say this: obviously when a student has crossed through your doorway, they are physically present in your classroom, but the academic attitude is not something acquired when the bell rings. It doesn't trigger a deep appreciation of education. The sound waves don't hypnotize them into becoming baby Kim Ung Yongas.

Equipped with this information, I made two important changes. The first thing I began to do was actually follow through with my policy and make kids walk out and come back in. If that didn't work after one time, they would have to repeat. If not after the second time, repeat again. So far I haven't made a student do it more than 3 times, but am holding fast to this policy. I realize this may sound somewhat elementary and degrading, but so is trying to talk over 20 16 year olds (who know how to act) at once. If the entire class needs to come out and try it again, then that's what was going to happen. Simply put.

The second thing I've been doing is utilizing the lock on my door. Once the bell rings, I shut my door (somewhat forcefully) and lock it. I've observed that often the students who are the most rowdy are also the most tardy, so if I can curb that at the door by making them wait and settle down while I get the rest of the class in order, then they come in much more controlled. I've had 10+ kids outside of my door at times, and frankly I don't care, because I'm not going to sacrifice the instruction of the kids who cared enough to be there on time for the kids who don't. Obviously I let the tardy ones in as well, but all in all, the mood of the class has been much more attentive and docile. They've said stuff to me like, "man you don't let us talk and you lock the door and you treat us like we're little kids", and I simply respond, "I'm sorry Anterrica, when you begin behaving like a senior in high school, then things will change".

Interestingly, no ones grades have declined since the new policies have been in effect, only improvements from students who were struggling. Less stress and talking and stronger academic performance = success? It would seem so, but werewolves only come out in full moons.

Comprehending Comprehension

Comprehension is a beautiful thing to witness. The lightbulb that flashes behind the eyes of a student when they fully understand a concept is one of the most rewarding things I can see as a teacher. It is unmistakable. You see their face light up, hear the confidence in their re-explanation, and are convinced that no power of this world can strip this person of this new found knowledge. When asking class wide questions, the students will practically stand up in their chair to answer, because they know without a shadow of a doubt that they know.

It feels, however, that is also one of the most rare elements of my teaching experience. Comprehension seems to be the ever elusive creature that pops his head in my classroom, and is gone in the blink of an eye. For every one confident and authoritative response I get, I have at least five puzzled looks and exhales of confusion. I literally had a student tell me last week that she needed a new teacher, because I couldn't explain the subject in a way that she understood. This was humbling, frustrating.

Because of comments like these, this chapter was particularly relevant. I just finished teaching "the hardest thing I ever taught" according to one student. Triangle Congruence and Geometric proofs are challenging because they require thinking and explaining congruency of shapes in a certain order. If you don't comprehend the logic and thought process behind it, you will not comprehend proofs. It is not something you can fake or sidestep.

Because of this, as I instruct, I can feel the anger and frustration ever ramping toward me. Once a vocabulary word has been introduced, I begin applying it to explanations. Unfortunately, though, if the vocabulary isn't fully comprehended first, its application to deeper topics is hard at best.

In a perfect world, students would be previewing questions, summarizing, identifying clue words etc., but the challenges that my students are facing feel much bigger and deeper. Even the brightest of my students have been bridled by their educational history, so developing new skills and processes will prove to be the challenge. It is amazing that a student can read what seems to be a very basic definition, and not be able to tell you what it meant. The reward of a greater comprehension of a topic, though, is a reward worthy of the work involved to acquire it.