School's Out for Summer

Ha hah ha ha, RAH ha ha

Yesterday was my official last day of school. Only the teachers were there getting ready to check out, packing up remaining supplies and aggregating documentation. The school was calm, people were relaxed and I couldn’t help but hear Alice Cooper’s Schools Out for Summer blaring in my head. I walked into my classroom, downloaded the single, blasted it on my speakers and belted out a tune.

It happened. The Shelby Middle School Knowledge Corporation has closed its physical doors for summer. The SKC has by no means been shut down. Summer is a great time to reflect and think about improvements to be made in the classroom. How will I reach more of my students? What can be done to make the classroom more enriching? Working within the confines of a single subject how can I reach out to make a greater impact on student achievement?




Let’s take a moment to talk about the last week of school. I hosted a party at my house for my students who achieved our big goal of mastering 80% of the curriculum by demonstrating at least 80% mastery of each concept. The party was a huge success. Jess and I played camp organizers for a fun filled day of three legged races, limbo and hula contests, a basketball tournament, piñata destruction and food. The kids loved it and were psyched about the knowledge that they had learned and succeeded in my class.

Success is subjective. My students made huge progress but I am mired in the fact that I did not reach all my kids and some showed only anorexic growth. How could I have prevented some of my students from falling through the cracks? I think this is a dilemma for all teachers, no matter how hard you work there is always the feeling that more could have been accomplished. I can meditate on that later, let me share with you my two biggest success stories.


1) There is K… He couldn’t write the number nine correctly, subtraction was a foreign concept along with any clue as to how a human being should act. He made stupid faces at other students along with stupid comments with the sole intent of pissing people off. He would constantly making farting noises with his mouth or hands and regularly ‘lose his manners’ and stink up the class. He would play, not write anything down and when he did come up with answers, he calculated them in the air with a magic wand and discovered something so farfetched and illogical that I wondered if he had even started with math as his original concept.

FAST FORWARD!

K… has been invited to the party. His grades changed from consistent 30’s to 90’s. He sits up in SPONGE position in class and respectfully tells his group members to do the same. He is exuberant about math and works problems out on paper. He makes logical connections between numerical relationships and concepts. He confidently raises his hand to answer questions as opposed to hanging out and farting. Even the principal is astounded that he legitimately passed. I told her he did not just pass but hurdled over the bar. GO K…

2) C… is a special girl and I learned this immediately. She has a bum leg and never participates in gym so she would often hang out with me on my free period and help out. The bum leg was a result of not being brought to the doctor in time after an accident. According to the counselor this oversight was intentional so Mom could garner another welfare check. Who needs to walk well anyway? Yeah, and her sister is also certifiably crazy. Thanks Mom. I hope the government check justifies you mangling the lives of these smart and beautiful children.

C… was sitting with me one day and we were talking because she was sad that her Grandfather had passed. She told me that she believed she wasn’t fit for this world and belonged under the ground and things would be better when she was with God. She also clued me into the fact that she gets her answers to math questions by listening to spirits. SPIRITS people! This is math honey, the spirits are giving you the wrong answers we need to get you putting pencil to paper and start making sense. Pheww, spirits…what is that?

FAST FORWARD!

C…has been invited to the party. Her spirit induced 30’s gave way to solid mathematical thinking, which yielded 90’s. Much better. She can now perform the 5th grade curriculum and explain it others with out being guided by voices. She is unbelievably respectful, helpful, and motivated. Her attitude toward math has been completely reversed by cultivating her confidence and her ability to succeed through hard work. Other teachers in the school have recognized and commented on her improvement. C feels great about her accomplishments in fifth grade. I will miss her.

The year is over. I do not feel relieved, sad, or exuberant. I am reflective and thoughtful. The Delta delivered the challenge and experience I sought. My successes and failures are written upon the children I taught. To see the results of my labor I need not do more than look at the reflection in the faces of my students. When I look at C and K I see a beautiful picture of growth, achievement, and possibility; when I look at others the picture speaks of the enormity of work still to be done. Overall the year has been a success and for now ….SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

A Numbers Game

Organizing, analyzing and displaying data is a tricky game. It needs to be recognized that like a story the person weaving the plot is attempting to share a particular conversation with the recipient. Below I will discuss my data. This is the bottom line, the concrete findings on whether or not I spent the last 9 months closing the achievement gap, pushing kids deeper into the hole, or maintaining the status quo.

Teach for America states that significant gains are either 80% content mastery for a single subject or 2 years of grade level growth in that subject. Self contained teachers (those that teach all subjects) use a mixed model and the gains bar is slightly lower because they must administer multiple curriculums and planning time is dramatically increased. According to my program director (the guy who manages corp members in the field) there is a higher percentage of significant gainers at the self contained elementary level attributed to having more time with the kids, greater curricular flexibility and a greater opportunity for building a cohesive culture. These ‘sig gains’ are attainable. They are lofty goals for a first year teacher but should be extremely manageable for a second year.

So, you mean to tell me that if my students actually understand only 80% of what I taught them than this can be construed as significant. Well in fact yes it may be significant because someone has been forgetting to teach my students for the last 'x' amount of years. I failed. Ouch! It hurts to say, but repeated and consistent failure is an everyday occurrence for the first year teacher, particularly those that teach ummmm... where TFA places. Not that the Shelby Middle School isn't a beacon of academic enrichment and student success but it might, just might sit mildly below the bar in comparison with...let's say with the rest of the world.

According to TFA my students did not achieve significant gains. My students mastered 74% of the fifth grade objectives achieving an 80% or better on the mastered benchmarks.

My data was acceptable neither stellar nor delinquent. A 74% is a C, this is average. According to MS standards only 28% of my students came prepared to learn at a fifth grade level. 72% of my students scored less than a 63% on the 4th grade curriculum mastery test with 30% scoring below a 50%. If you get a 50 on anything out of a 100 you obviously have no idea what’s going on, which means that a chunk of my students accomplished virtually nothing the previous year.

My older students would tell me, “Yo Mr. C, man last year we would just come and sleep in math, yo Joseph you remember that?” Learning does not occur while sleeping. We did not sleep in my class; we relentlessly pushed, poked, and sometimes crammed knowledge into these children. Instead of 72% of the students being unable to successfully complete fourth grade material we have pulled a complete 180 and now 78% of my students are prepared to learn at a 6th grade level with only 6% of the students remaining in the below 50% category. Yeah, who needs fourth grade anyway. As I delved deeper into the data, a skill honed by my time at GS, I discovered that my students made on average 1.5 grade levels of growth. Note from above that this is not significant according to TFA, but it does validate my effectiveness as a classroom teacher.

The chart below gives a picture of my students academic standing over the last two years.



Unfortunately this is not success. What about the other 22%? What happens to my students that did succeed when they re-enter the system that initially induced the failure? My results are by no means stellar, in my opinion they are adequate for someone in my position. First year of teaching - acceptable. The students are the concern and what you realize is that there is no way that you will ever be able to provide enough for the children you teach. The data can validate your experience and make you feel good about achieving ambitious goals but a single child that slips through the cracks significantly detracts from all other success.

The year was filled with dizzying highs and terrifying lows, but like all good experiences it is definitely about the journey, not the destination. Speaking of which, I leave for a brief 1 week road trip to Fayetteville, AK (home of the Razorbacks) visiting Jess’ Grandma, Kansas City, for a family wedding, and St. Louis for a Cardinals game and a day at Six Flags. I can’t wait for those roller coasters. I briefly return to the Delta then hop my flight to Nicaragua for Spanish classes at the beach. I will continue to be in touch. Please do the same.

5K

No, not a five thousand dollar year end bonus for all my hard work and dedication to my students. It was a 5 kilometer run in the town of Indianola, 45 minutes south of Shelby, sponsored by another TFA member. G... who is finishing his second year and attending DSU for a masters in community development next year raised money and organized a community event. While the attendance was dominated by supportive TFA'ers a sufficient number of townfolk came out as well.

The youngsters went first, running about a half mile shepherded by myself and some friends. The age range was from 8-12 and with wild flare in their eyes they sprinted off the starting line only to be tired out by the end of the block. Lack of exercise, poor diet, and no concept of pace destroyed what was furious speed and the apparition of dedication. We pushed and prodded yelling compliments and motivational words until all the kids crossed the finish line.

There were only about 25 of us running the race, all TFA and some track kids that were coached by a fellow teacher. There is no shortage of motivation and dedication by these teachers (community organizers, coaches, after school tutoring and club directors) all the while bearing the burden of a challenging and unrelenting environment. We had a good time and after the race was over we enjoyed delectable Delta fare; country fried (chicken that is), mac n' cheese, mashed potatoes and sweet tea. By the way, if you have never had sweet tea it is delicious, absolutely one of my favorite beverages. Regular ole iced tea supersaturated with sugar, mmmm...sweet tea. There's nothing better on a hot Delta day.

With the grant money G... had obtained he was able to supply the food and live music for two and a half hours. The kids ran around jumping and dancing while locals came out of the woodwork to enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the sun. Communities need these types of events and they need people to organize and support them. The vibrance and positivity was refreshing. I was inspired by G...'s construction of the event and I plan to host a similar activity in Shelby next year. My friends from around the Delta have commented on how particularly dilapidated Shelby is and I would love to organize an event that will bring camaraderie and joy to the community.

The Delta Queen

Friday marked an important moment in my assimilation into school culture. We went on our faculty outing to commemorate our hard work and dedication to the students of the North Bolivar School District. Sponsored by our principal, we went on a riverboat and dinner cruise on the mighty Mississippi.
The Delta Queen holds about 200 guests, but on this fine evening there were a mere 20-25 attendees half of which were the motley crew of Shelby Middle School teachers. The trip was fabulously entertaining...constant utterings of "What happens on the boat stays on the boat.", not that anything risque occurred but it showed the cohesiveness and acceptance between the staff members. We ate good food, shared stories and shook our tail feathers for two and a half hours while enjoying the beautiful sunset.

The end is near.

There are now 11 days of school left. This week marks the final opportunity of productivity which will be followed by an absence of learning. The void will be filled with administrative bullcrap and playtime until school ends. I eagerly look forward to babysitting as the administration makes a last ditch effort to enrich the lives of students through mundane and uninteresting extracurricular activities.

On the positive....we have one quiz left that will close our curriculum. Students who have successfully completed all 9 SKC Olympic events ( a break down of the curriculum into units) will be invited to my house for a party. The other method of entry is an 80% or better on the school administered final. Today we had a test on graphing and geometry affectionately know as graphometry in SKC Olympic lingo. Class averages were 90's across the board. YEAH!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Can I just make a list of songs that I listen to, I don't do so much dancing" (buy R...a slighty overweight braniac on constructing a playlist for our class party)


Afterschool I returned home and borrowed R...'s (son of the landlord) ATV. Jess and I went romping around the fields for a about an hour and a half, splashing through mud puddles, discovering crumbling abandoned houses, and enjoying beautiful Delta views. The weather has been great and students are not the only ones who get the end of school itch.

Gram'ma gives a whooping

On childhood whoopings in the Delta from fellow faculty

"Gram'ma used to braid them switches together so they wouldn't break, must have been some slavery s@#!. D***, Gram'ma must be having flashbacks."

"I used to get whooped in my sleep, this way it was unsuspecting, she was whooping me one night and I thought I was dreaming"

"My Uncle used to get whooped with the butt of a gun and you would just have to stand there or Gram'ma would shoot you"

"I ain't never seen a beating like that. Gram'ma was about 6'1" 250 and Gran'pa was about 5'4" 150. He came home late one night clownin' and Gram'ma was already hot. I ain't never seen a woman whoop a man like that. The neighbor came over to pull Gram'ma of him, I thought for sure he was dead"

MCT

THE MCT IS THIS WEEK! MISSISSIPPI CURRICULUM TEST. Make or break for the district and state takeover. Wish us luck and send good vibes our way.

Thank you.
Mr. C

Arghhhh! Do they want me to teach or not?

Sometimes I feel as if my administration prefer that I do not teach and instead host a three ring circus. This place is more poorly run than a FEMA job. I have three periods a day, 100 minutes each. First period gets and extra fifteen minutes b/c there is nothing to do with the children when they get to school except sit them in the auditorium. The thought is they will sit their quietly and read. Right. What actually happens is an escalating noise level followed by on duty teachers calling out "stop that noise", or "hey shut up" which ultimately leads to back talk, disrespect a trip to the office and a whooping. Great way to start the day. This isn't a monastery, its an auditorium filled with 250 youngsters hopped up on sugar from a government sponsored syrup saturated breakfast.

Second period comes right after special. The students arrive at various times from library, gym, and computer. The lack of consistency in their arrival time is mitigated by my ability to shorten the length of lunch to ensure an appropriate class length.

Then there is class three. Regularly disrupted by unannounced assemblies and last minute administrative necessities. Today it was the need for a dry run of MCT setup in the cafeteria. Class was interrupted by a barrage of supercharged fourth graders obnoxiously hollering about having to take my desks. No notice from anybody except the minions of chaos patrolling the hall. I get the skinny and move my class. But at this point I have to accept that my plans for the day will be wildly unfulfilled. We pile into the library to do the best we can coping with the apocalyptic noise of students dragging, slamming, hauling desks down the hall to the cafeteria. Doing things quietly is a concept more complex than a Rubix Cube and the already abundant volume is accompanied by the screams of children carrying those desks. I think there is a conspiracy against the end of the day. The thought process must be - lets test the teachers ability to deal with an absence of coordinated organization instead of issuing a plan for abnormalities in the day. I think easy genius would be to utilize a schedule that shortens all periods so there is additional time at the end of the day to do what needs to be done. This is called an assembly schedule. We have one of these. I have the poster of the assembly schedule hanging in my room. Is it used? NEVER. We prefer to use the 'last minute announcement to obliterate third period' method instead. It's cool though we rebound tomorrow.