Class discussion

The other day in one of my economics classes we had an interesting conversation about gender, and racial prejudice.  In many cases students believed that these issues were things that went on in my generation (60's generation) but have since disappeared due to a more educated society.

Here are a couple of statistics that I took from an article written by Paul Thomas.

Drawing on the report Closing the Race Gap by the nonprofit advocacy group Young Invincibles, Forbes’ Susan Adams explains: “African-Americans college students are about as likely to get hired as whites who have dropped out of high school.” Therefore, inequities of opportunity based on race, like class, trump effort.
 

Via Demos, Bruenig also notes: “Black families with college degrees have a mean wealth of $162.8k, which is effectively the same as the mean wealth of white families with less than a high school education.”

Just to add to this in our class we looked at the top 500 companies in the world and they have 25 women.  Which makes you wonder why women are not better represented.  You look at leadership positions in high school and women are at least equally represented.  When you exam GPA's women do at least as good as men, so why the difference when it comes to running the top companies in the world?

If the playing field is level, as people claim it is,  how do these inequities happen?  If the playing field is not level, why are we made to believe that they are?  I am very curious to hear what people have to say about this issue.  Should this be a topic that we discuss in our classrooms?

Monday, Monday

I just received a clip from a fellow teacher that really hit home with me.  It made me remember how important it is to keep a positive attitude.  The combination of watching this clip and reading the suggestions that students have made to make our (notice the use of our) class better has made me so productive today.  Take three minutes to watch this clip  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8liVjJTMw80#t=13

I am really looking forward to Monday, for the chance to start to implement some great ideas from students that day and during the course of the next few weeks.  What I also am looking forward to is being a much more positive leader in our building.  Yes, do we have problems (see BCPS One) but are we still lucky to have the ability each and everyday to help each other grow as students, teachers and most importantly people.

There is a lot of research that talks about that successful places have three positive comments for every negative comment.  That having a good mental frame of mind is as important to our personal success as it is to  our success in our careers.  So with that in mind I want to challenge all of us to think of ways to make our school are more positive place for all of us.

The truth is that we all decide to come to school on Mondays.  So please take the time to comment on some ideas that you would have to make this a more positive place

election day

It is election day, and we see ads that remind us to do our civic duty.  I have heard numerous people state that if you do not vote you do not deserve to complain.  I am sure people are taking selfies of themselves voting today.  What all this enthusiasm has triggered in my mind is why are we not encouraged to act with great civic pride each and everyday.

Many students are not of the age to vote, yet they can make a huge difference in the world.  It can be a simple smile to cheer someone up, volunteering to teach a young child how to read, coaching a rec. team, or just picking up some garbage off the street.  All these kind acts are ways to make the world better each and everyday.

Sometimes we need these big days to remind us of our civic pride, so I will cast my vote today.  What I really need to focus on however, is how each day until the next election day I can contribute in some way to make it a better day for someone else.

What always encourages me is that I work with such great role models.  Teachers who work so hard to make a difference in students lives, and students who make such a great contribution not only to our school but to our community.

So know selfies, for me today.  Instead I will take the time to reflect on how I can model great civic pride in our school community.  Any suggestions?

Willie Mays

When I was a young boy my favorite baseball player was Willie Mays.  I clearly remember when he went from 1st to third on a single, his hat flying off as he rounded second.  He played the game with the passion and love of a young child which made it so much fun to watch.  He tracked fly balls with such grace and ease.

I then remember Willie at the end of his career.  The graceful stride that allowed him to take the extra base was now replaced by him stumbling around the base paths.  The fear he put into opponents pitchers were no longer there.  Did he not realize that he was no longer the player he once was?  Was it the love of the game that kept him playing even though the game had passed him by.

In no way have I ever been a teacher as good as Willie Mays was a player.  I try to bring the same passion to my job each day as he did to the field but I have never come close to accomplishing what he did on the field.  So where am I going with this blog.

In the past few weeks I have been made to feel the same way Willie must have felt when he stumbled rounding the bases.  In listening to what my bosses want me to do I am wondering has the game truly passed me by.  Do students want to discuss points in class via edmodo?  Do they want to use their electronic devices to discuss issues instead of words?  Do they want to use groups to do their work instead of having the accomplishment of doing it themselves?  Do all these fancy activities really help kids to learn more?

I continue to leave my school feeling sad, torn about has the game passed me by.  Can all these people possibly be wrong.  Do I need to leave before students are talking about me the way I talked about Willie?  Who would come up to me and tell me the truth that I needed to hear?

It should not be like this, somehow you should know when you are done.  However, if Willie was faked out, as was Johnny U, I am sure it can happen to me.

guest blogger

Here is a post from a former student about his first year of college life


The Struggle is VERY real

I just wanted to take this time to address some of the questions that people typically have when thinking about college and the atmosphere involved. Now while I can shed light from my personal experience, I do recognize that my experience is not the "common college life" nor is it reflective of what you'll find at every single institution, but there are moments that are attributable to just about every freshmen. For starters, as a kid who was taken and plopped in a new environment several times over the course of his life, I know how hard it can be to find your place in a new atmosphere, but you should know that everything WILL be okay. You'll attend those mandatory meetings with the same annoyance and frustration as your fellow classmates, but you'll also bond with people who you normally never would've considered talking to in the past. After a week you might or might not be tired of introducing yourself by name, place of origin, major, and favorite hobby, but you'll also come to the realization that everyone else has been doing the same. And when classes start, things will seem difficult because it's different from what you're used to. But remember that at the end of the day, that's all it is. Different. Nobody expected you to be Michael Jordan after picking up a basketball for the first time. No one expected you to be the next Picasso after your first art class and nobody can expect for you to pick up the swing of things as if you had been doing it all your life. College isn't easy, and high school as an institution can't prepare you for the type of work that you'll face, but regardless of where you are, you need to remember that there are people who are in the same collective struggle. Talk to them. Find commonalities in work ethic and in the social sphere as well because when you do, things become a lot easier. 

four period day part 2

One of the problems of the four period day is the fact that you are sitting for 80minutes straight at a time.  While truthfully the sitting for seven 45 minute periods is not much better the 80/85 minute block schedule is tough for most people.  When you add all of the time up students are sitting quite a bit during the course of the day.  Many students have told me that the sitting itself exhausts them.

Today, I tried to point out something that I thought I mentioned before that it was fine with me if you stand up anytime during the class.  During one period we stood during the drill, another I had two students standing and taking notes during the class. All of this is fine.

In an effort to get students to learn while they are active I tried to have human monopoly graphs today which I enjoyed watching.  It was the first time we did it and both classes used a different strategy but ended up with a good monopoly graph.  I am interested to see does this improve as we go on doing it.

WHAT I REALLY WANT from this blog is ideas that students have to get you out of your seats while learning still takes place.  So use the comments to the blog to help me think of better ways to get you up and about in the class.

The four period day

As we approach the first quarter of the year it is a good time to evaluate our new schedule.  From a teaching standpoint I see both positives and negatives to the new schedule.  There is a positive of teaching the same class on an A day then being able to modify it based on how it worked for the B day.  The time of the period also allows you to cover more in one session of 80/85 minutes than it would it the old 45 minute segment. 

The biggest problem that I see is that I do not see students everyday.  I think it is extremely hard to build continuity this way. I remember one winter when we did not have any snow the test scores for that unit were my highest of all time.  I was comparing test scores of students who had class everyday to the past where we often had snow breaks.  While I have a longer time each period over the course of the year you lose two weeks in the 85 minute day and four weeks in the 80 minute day.  So while we have longer time periods I always feel rushed to cover content and sometimes pass over or shorten discussions on certain topics. 

While I have thought about having student do work for me,  due on the day that they do not have class it seemed a bit unfair.  If every teacher did that then students would have eight periods of homework each day besides the 80/85 minutes they had to sit.  Which leads to another problem that the brain is not designed to sit that long in one place.  We humor ourselves by thinking if we put them in groups that they have moved around for (ten seconds) to then sit together for another ten minutes.  While this is better than not moving we still need a way to get the blood flowing.

So what do people think about the new schedule?  If you had a choice would you switch back or would you stay with this one?  Why