ESL
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Access Testing (Again)
Every year, the state and federal government requires that we assess the proficiency of all ELLs in our district. At the high school level, this can be a nightmare to schedule, especially with such a large, populated building. However, this year we decided to run an experiment: to test all students on a day already Continue reading
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Residual Trauma
It’s hard to describe to someone who has never taught in a public school the burdens of working so closely with students who have faced trauma. The heavy weight of knowing a student’s story and trying to balance that with the burdens of teaching can take a toll that is rarely discussed. Today, that toll Continue reading
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What’s working. What’s impractical
Today was a solid reminder of how teaching is 99% assessment. I am constantly assessing something, especially the situation I find myself. I have now tried several ideas in the math class for getting students to settle down into a routine. The problem is that I have yet to set a routine. Having CM gone in Continue reading
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Repeating Lessons
I’m not sure how long it will take me to finally learn this, but I really need to stop running lessons that are untested. I say this almost every time I tell a new teacher about my biggest mistakes, but I keep on making it. Sure, I could say that today was officially not my Continue reading
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Thesis Testing
Yesterday I tested the software that I will be using to collect data for my thesis. Boy am I glad I did a test run. There are so many new variables I need to consider now that I had never imagined would be necessary for this type of study. The first problem I encountered was the Continue reading
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Quarter 3
I’m not going to lie, Monday was hell for me. Generally speaking, Monday’s are NOT bad days for me. But this Monday was mentally taxing for some reason. Looking back, I think it had to do with my sense of utility within the school. Quite literally all day I spent with absolutely nothing to do. Continue reading
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Observing Teachers
Today was an interesting day. I learned a lot about performing observations and now understand some of the dilemma administrators go through when observing teachers. My student teacher asked me to observe for certain behaviors today, so she can improve her practice. I have never done this before. As such, I decided to do what all Continue reading
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Swimming
The old saying that you don’t know something unless you can teach it is an accurate proverb for just about anything in life. In fact, I can’t think of a single thing that would contradict this. Today, this adage taught me more than I had considered at the beginning of the day. After yesterday’s faulty lesson, Continue reading
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Student Teaching
When I decided to take on a student teacher, I never expected to face the kinds challenges that I am currently faced with. I guess I never considered the human side of teaching when volunteering to host another human in my room. Today was a hard day for her. Hell, today was a hard day Continue reading
The Life Argotic 