Senior Skip Day

Senior skip day is not an uncommon tradition. It always goes where the entire senior class decides on a day they will all skip school and demonstrate their “invincibility” by all taking a unified day off. When I was in high school, there was a senior skip day. I didn’t observe it, but many did. Like many high school traditions, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what senior skip day involved, then I moved to the Delta.

My high school takes senior skip day to another level. In following the standard tradition, the seniors clear out as expected. With them, though, they take the majority of the school. It is not an exaggeration to say that there were less than 100 students at school, compared to roughly 650 enrolled.

Knowing that senior skip day was approaching, I asked my classes by show of hands how many weren’t coming. The results showed about half from each class. “That’s fine,” I thought, “I’ll still plan something for the ones who do make it”. Well what I welcomed to class that day was far less than even anticipated. Here’s the layout of students had all day:

1st Period - Enrolled: 18, Attended: 1

2nd Period: Enrolled: 17, Attended: 0

3rd Period: Enrolled: 17, Attended: 2.5 (one left midway through)

4th Period: Enrolled: 16, Attended: 2

5th Period: Enrolled: 13, Attended: 2

6th Period: Enrolled: 23, Attended: 5 + 1 kid from another class

7th Period: Enrolled: 26, Attended: 3 + 1 kid from another class

Now part of this attendance could be a result of the mini-hurricane that took place that morning, but the weather cannot have that much of an effect on attendance numbers. If nothing else, these signs further point to a day in May not too far away!

Ch ch ch ch changes...

Spring is springing, birds are chirping, and signs are starting to point toward the end of the school year. This has been the longest 8 months of my life, and in less than two months, our school year will be over. This reality has brought forth a new energy on the campus. Unfortunately this energy has manifest itself in much more skipping, apathy, and near rioting, but none the less, signs are pointing toward May 24. As I look forward, knowing that after May, August will be back before I know it, I also think about what things will be like next fall. How I will be different (and hopefully better) as a teacher, and what our school will look like. As I think about it, I also must think of things I will do differently. Much of my experience has shown me both things that do and don’t work (for me), and one of they key elements to next years success or lessened failure will be implementing my experience and utilizing my “on the job” training. Practically what does that look like? I’ve got a few ideas:

Decorate my room better: Classrooms are meant for learning. Consequently the decor/layout of the room should be conducive for this purpose. I’m far from an interior decorator, but I recognize that the feng shui of the room needs some intentional thought. The room need also be friendlier for classroom procedures. If students are going to gather up calculators or dry erase boards, they need a convenient place to store them.

Be more organized: Ole Miss gave us sweet laptops. The sweet laptops have lots of room to store lots of documents. Consequently, when creating documents or downloading them, there need be a system to keep up with those documents in an organized fashion. I spent some time re-organizing my hard drive (man that sounded nerdy), but it really will be extremely helpful in the long run.

Start stronger: Over the year, I’ve gained much more confidence and understanding in the way this school operates. I have also learned more and more my role as an instructor to these students. Consequently, I will start much stronger next year with classroom management. Bring the ruckus.

Teach to the ACT: There is no state test for Geometry or Trigonometry/Precalculus. Consequently, one of the largest selling points for the two classes is the ACT. If I can improve the scores of my ACT students, I will consider it a success.

Dream of more dynamic lessons: Admittedly a lot of this year was spent learning the material myself. I took neither Trigonometry or Precalculus, and it has been years since I thought of Geometry. Often times I was teaching material I had learned only hours earlier, so I was literally just trying to survive. Next year will be different. With a working knowledge of my curriculum, I’m confident I’ll be able to work toward more dynamic lessons. Students will undoubtedly still think my class is worse than being tarred and featherd, but there’s something to dreaming.

Speak slower, clearer, and more succinctly: When inexperienced and nervous, there is a rush to fill the uncomfortable empty air with noise. Consequently, it is easy to speak quickly and unclearly. This is something exceptional public speakers have mastered and is something I am actively trying to improve. The specific words chosen and the way they are delivered affects the climate of the classroom.

As I brainstorm more, I am confident more ideas will arise. I welcome any new suggestions you have too. Yay for new beginnings!

Does the shoe fit?

Picture a student. Let’s call him student A. Student enrolled in school around 1990 and immediately had issues. He was not following along with the curriculum as well as the other students, and his parents decided it best for him to repeat a grade. He repeated, though he continued to struggle. His testing showed above average intelligence, but student A had a very difficult time performing at the grade level. He was tested for attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, was prescribed for Ritalin, but student A was simply not getting school. He continued on from elementary to middle school, working with “learning coaches” and developing a strong distaste for all things academic. At times he would act out in school and draw attention to himself. Consequently student A was a discipline issue, though he justified his behavior by saying things like, “this is so boring, it’s not my fault, I’m just trying to stay awake”. When student A limped into high school, he was not where he should have been, academically. He was enrolled in the remedial classes and still had difficulty making the grade. Socially, he was generally well known and well liked. He played sports and had friends, but had never really found a niche of his own. Then student A found “shop class”. Shop was a general wood crafting class housed in a back corner of the school, but for student A, it was so much more. In shop, student A was able to work with his hands, operate power tools, and ultimately create pieces of furniture. He was guided by the instruction of a teacher he liked, and surrounded by students with similar stories. They were a tight knit bunch, and shop class became the highlight of student A’s day. After four long and arduous years, Student A graduated high school, barely. It was no surprise that college was not in his future, so student A began a journey of various careers, serving as a mechanic, trim carpenter, and a landscaper, among others. Student A is currently employed by the school district from which he was reared. He tends to the facilities at several schools, and uses very little of the material he was taught in high school.

Now picture another student, let’s call him student B. Student B enrolled in school at the same time, in 1990 and fell into the swing of things relatively easily. He made his way through elementary and middle school, not excelling academically, but not failing either. He had difficulty with math, and did not enjoy reading, but he managed, and remained an average student all the way into high school. When high school began, student B was somewhere in the middle of the class ranking. He also tested to have an above average intelligence, but school was not a tremendously pressing interest of his. Consequently he floated through his freshman year, not really applying himself, but also not excelling. After his freshman English teacher had a heart to heart with him, student B realized he was capable of more. He enrolled in an advanced class the next year, and started taking his education more seriously. After he saw that he was able to keep up in the advanced classes, student B started looking to the AP classes, as he knew that he wanted to attend college, and the classes seemed to be a good idea. By the time he was a senior, he was enrolled in a couple of AP classes and was making better grades than those of his freshman year. He was able to enroll in a good four year state university, and graduated in four years with a degree in business. Afterward he lived in a major city, had a good job, and benefitted from the foundation that he received in high school.

The difference between student A and student B? Only a name. Student A and student B are twin brothers. Born on the same day, reared in the same household, attended the same high school, and afforded the same opportunities. This begs the question, “is the traditional school model working?” It serves some well, but fails many others too. Some students just don’t fit school, simply put. They could be in rural or urban settings, they could be black, white, latino, or asian. Ignoring this fact is a moral dilemma, as it condemns a population into thinking they are failures and stifles a society of a potentially productive and beneficial asset. As class sizes shrink, and education reforms, I hope serious consideration is put into the ultimate ends which these means are aiming. If it is for more students to read 1984 and write term papers on its similarities to Nazi Germany, I fear we will continue to underserve a growing population, but if our aim is to create more productive members in a society, who will aid in economic growth, there has to be another way.