Yesterday was the final day of 1st semester. Monday is a teacher's work day to put grades in, but mine were in as of Thursday morning. On Thursday there were students in my 1st 5 classes who still had midterms to take, so I gave them the period to study (they were unlikely to learn anything I attempted to teach them), and for my last, in fairness I let them have the period to relax and chat. Yesterday was makeup day, so we could begin instruction again, but I was not going to start something new before they had a 3-day weekend (for which they have work).
If not for one student, this would have been a remarkable quarter. That one young man in my last period cut all week, so I have had to give him a zero on his midterm, which dropped is grade from 61 to 54. I have 170 students passing, he is the only failure. For while I thought for the first time in my career every student in my classes would be passing. Still, the percentage is remarkably high. And I have not lowered my standards. Joe (not his real name) is simply lazy and irresponsible, and there seems little either I or his parents can do about it.
I can look back on two quarters and reflect, as is my wont on Saturday mornings. And I will anon. I will also look ahead at the remaining two quarters of what may well be my last year in this school, perhaps even as a classroom teacher.
Normally I write these Saturday reflections while sitting in my local Starbucks. We had some wintry mix last night, not enough. The roads are slick albeit passable, as we discovered last last night when we had to put a temporary spare on my wife's car and take it down to the dealers: the right front tire had somehow worn through and could not be reinflated. I really don't feel like beginning my day my scraping ice off my car and from my driveway, and soon enough I will by county ordinance have to clear the public sidewalks on both sides of my house, if we do not get rain to wash away the snow and ice.
My plans for next week, all four days, are already complete. Tuesday is the State of the Union, and as a teacher of government that will be my focus at the beginning of the week. So I am able to use the time of these three days out of my classroom for other things. Including also looking ahead.
As I write these words I glance at the list of those pieces I have recently recommended. I see jeff bryant's piece on Romney and creative destruction in schools, and her son's tribute to Granny Doc. She was someone whose comments on my diaries I always appreciated. She was only 7 years older than me, which reminds me of my own mortality, and again causes me to reflect on what I think I should be doing as what is left of my life goes forward. Jeff's piece brings to mind how much of my time and energy has been devoted to pushing back against destruction - "creative" or otherwise - of public education.
A few days ago a new education reporter for the major newspaper in a Western city contacted me. She was doing a piece on the 10th anniversary of No Child Left Behind and wanted the thoughts of a "nationally known teacher" as she put it. I was willing to talk with her. In our conversation it became clear that while she was genuinely interested to learn, she did not know all that much about education. In one 25 minute conversation there was only so much I could offer and still answer the questions she wanted to address. Part of my frustration in dealing with the media is even when they are open-minded they are struggling because of how little they know and understand. Yet they are supposed to communicate to the American public the issues of public education at a time when schools are under concerted attack.
There are two semesters left in what could be my final year. I have been putting financial affairs in order to be able to do other things. Yesterday I filed the paperwork to be eligible for a 20% buyout. Yesterday we also settled on a refinance that lowers our mortgage payment by almost 400/month and the costs of the refinance are fully recovered between the one month's payment we will not make in 10 days and the lower rate in just over 1 year. I am already on social security.
There may be two semesters, but I will be away from my classes a fair amount over the remaining months of the school year. The scheduled final two days for students conflict with the beginning of Netroots Nation in Providence. I have put in for a panel for which my two notable panelists can only do the 1st session on Friday June 8th. I would miss the final day, if the year is not extended because of days missed to weather (so far none). Fortunately, most students stay home that last day, and my grades will already be in. In the interim I will miss two days for an important educational conference near Chicago leading into the weekend before President's Day. I may have to travel to the Boston area for an interview for an academic program. I will be out most of the final day of this month for a meeting of five teachers selected by the head of our union to meet with the Superintendent and the senior members of his administration. I have scheduled dental and eye doctor appointments. We lose one day of instruction for graduation on May 29th. The continuity of instruction will be somewhat less than this past semester.
There are moments in the life of a classroom teacher that can be incredibly frustrating - realizing Joe would fail is one example. One of my best students forgot to turn in an essay on time that was part of his midterm. Because it was in Advanced Placement, I treated it like I would in a real college course and gave him a zero on it. It lowered his grade from low 90s to mid 80s. With other students some are still not willing to listen to how to approach certain tasks, so they do not do as well as they might, nor learn as much. They are somewhat behind where previous years's students have been. Others get into conflict, or cut other classes, and thus are put into in-school suspension where I cannot help them learn as effectively.
Yet these are outweighed by the good moments. I think of several students in my final period, my lowest level class. One student had a 40 1st quarter, and has a 68 this quarter. Several who had Ds now have Bs. I think of Nance (not his real name either) who used totally tune out because he was tired who now regularly asks questions, especially about the goings on in the Republican contest for President, which has suddenly decided is fascinating.He is among those who use to think they couldn't "get it" who now realize they can, and are really trying.
My words cannot do them justice. Perhaps few of them will ever run for office, but they are now able to relate to the events in the news, to find connections with their own lives.
When the McCain oppo on Romney became available, we spent some time on it, and used that to help them understand how much there is available on any public figure. Even on ordinary folks like themselves. We talked about taking things down from Facebook or MySpace only to discover that someone already had a screen shot, or could find something through some archival process.
The blackout of websites also caught their attention. After all, for many their first stop in looking something up is Wikipedia. Thus they wanted to know why there was pushback against SOPA and PIPA. What was really exciting about that is that in all except my last period there were students who could explain it to their peers.
If we give them a chance, our young people can really surprise us. But what we are doing to their education is deadening, turning too many off to the excitement of learning, making many less willing to persist when things become difficult. They are learning things - how to take tests without gaining the underlying knowledge we are supposed to be assessing is one thing that immediately comes to mind. Another is how hypocritical many adults who have some control over their lives actually are. They view things very differently than many of the adults with whom they interact. They do not see the point of having to turn off their sources of music during the day, and very much want to use music to unwind while walking through the crowded halls from one class to the next. They see nothing wrong to take a few extra minutes to chat with classmates in the rush from one period to the next, in the course of 8 or even 9 periods a day. They want to have some control over their own actions, and not to have things rigidly defined. If pushed, they might opine that if they are not allowed to exercise some judgment how can we hold them responsible.
If we insist on the importance of tests, they want to know why we waste time on instructing them on things on which we will not test them.
I have been lucky. I am 4 months and two days from 66th birthday. I look, and usually feel, more than a bit younger, in part because I get to experience at least part of my life through the eyes of people in their mid-teens. I will miss that.
What is my responsibility to them? How do I best make the world a better place for them? What should I be doing to help ensure that the time we require them to spend in school is not something merely to be endured, but something to be enjoyed? How can I help make learning the excitement it has usually been for me?
The superintendent and his staff will meet with five teachers. I have gotten our principal to meet with a batch of students, with no other adults present, so he could hear their concerns without judging them. I know the frustration of many teachers that in the making of educational policy our voices are excluded. Too much of education is imposed on students in ways that are ineffective that could be fixed if we allowed students a voice. I try to remember that, but acknowledge that I too sometimes fail to allow for that.
t is a Saturday morning. Today the people of South Carolina seem prepared to throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of the coronation of Willard Mitt Romney as Republican nominee. As a political junkie I find the events of this week fascinating. As a citizen I have mixed feelings. As a Democrat I see decreasing likelihood of a serious challenge to the reelection of Barack Obama. As a teacher, I see an opportunity to help my students to understand the real world.
If this is my last year in the classroom, I will miss it. I will miss the kids. They keep me young. They keep me alert.
I have no "bad" kids this year. Except for "Joe" they seem willing to rise to the challenges I put before them.
I reflect each week because i want to ensure that whatever path I may choose to follow after this school year is not a false path, that it contributes in some way to helping provide a better future for those young people who so enrich my life.
My somewhat inchoate thoughts for this wintry morning.
What are yours?