Bowling, Testing, and Rice Crispies

The week started of well. We had MLK Jr. Day off, so another 7th grade teacher and I took our kids bowling to reward them for their test scores (aka the “80% Club”). The fieldtrip was a HUGE success. Kids had a great time, got along well, and no one was lost along the way : )

We are trying another field trip today and attending a contemporary dance performance in Chelsea. The student mix is a bit odd. It is my same smart (but slightly nerdy boys) that decided to come along, my girls that are smart and leaders (but WAY talkative), as well as a couple of those anomaly students that really don’t fit into a certain group. It doesn’t surprise me, because I would say for the most part, they are the same kids that I hung out in middle school. However, I don’t know how Demannis and Albert are going to feel about the performance…

This week was filled with ridiculous highs and lows. It was the state English Language Arts exam and, for the most part, students did really well. I was impressed by their ability to focus silently all morning; however, they were CRAZY in the afternoon. Not being able to go outside during lunch didn’t help, and for future tests, I am just planning on having them play review jeopardy or BINGO…

Speaking of testing, I am just not sure how we are going to get through everything before the state math exam in March. There are 20 instructional days left- at least 4 of which include a “practice” or “predictive” math exam. I am all for knowing where my students are, but it is so hard to do else on those days especially with so few days to remediate or to teach new standards…

The low this week was silly, but it is the first time that I could say that I was truly disappointed in my students. I had brought in breakfast and rice crispies for my kids on the testing days. However, because we used the rice crispies as a reward for games, I had to save some for my 2nd class of the day. I told the students that no one else could have a rice crispy at the end end up class, but when we lined up for music, two students were eating them! I was disappointed but told them that they had a chance to redeem themselves with their hallway behavior because they had a fieldtrip on the line. Unfortunately, they were awful in the hallways AND when I came back, the rice crispies were gone…

I know they are just kids and that they were just rice crispies, but I felt very personally disrespected and underappreciated. I really thought that I was building solid relationships with my students and that this was a huge step backwards. I ended up sobbing in the office and in front of the kids who felt pretty bad… but are hopefully starting to see me as a real person and not just a “teacher.”

We had a talk about it the following day, and they really did try harder. They are such amazing, intelligent, and hard-working kids. They have gone through more in their 1st 12 years than I will in my lifetime, and I just want them to act and to represent themselves like I know they can.

I am off now to go meet my children for the show. I will let you know how everything goes and hopefully we will all leave a bit more cultured : )

Lots of love from NYC. Hope to hear from you soon!

Ms. Newton

Teaching… the saga continues.

In school, we talked a lot about New Year’s resolutions and personal goals. Mine and my students’ tended to be mostly school related, probably because that is what we spend most of our time doing…

Here are mine:
1. Make math class more fun and engaging
2. Provide incentives (both a consequence and a reward) for everything
3. Build relationship with students

The rationale for #1 is math is fun/satisfying when you get problems right, and that is enough for about 20% of my students. The other 80% who struggle to “master” concepts taught to them by their first-year math teacher, don’t think continually missing problems is very much fun… So, they check out or disrupt class which perpetuates the problem and creates a crappy
environment for everyone.

This past couple of weeks, I tried to teach in new and creative ways- movies, raps, powerpoints, etc… Kids tended to be more engaged, BUT they were not as clear on how to do the problems, and we went back to the original problem of math sucks because I don’t understand. SO new plan-> I will “teach” in a straight forward way (example problems) as well as one other method, and we will practice using “fun” math games and activities. This also provides incentive to listen to the lesson which brings me to goal #2.

Providing a consequence and a reward for… everything. Maybe my memory is a little rusty (and my parents/teachers would disagree), but I am pretty sure that when I was in middle school, I did things because I “should” do them. Examples: homework, study, following instructions, etc…

That rationale works for about 80% of my students (they are pretty great); unfortunately, that other 20% can ruin things for everyone. So, I have tried to be more proactive and not making screaming at the class my only punishment. So, I am now going bowling on MLK Day, handing out certificates, calling more parents, and holding lunch detention like it is going out of style. We’ll see how things go, and again, I’ll report back.

Finally, the last goal, which is the most fun but also one of the hardest/time consuming is building relationships with 7th graders. In general, my students are pretty fantastic, and it comes pretty easy with some of the students (aka the ones that I tended to hang out with in middle school- studious girls and nerdy boys) but the “popular” girls and “bad” boys are a whole different breed. I would love to hear any suggestions, but basically, it seems like they just love, well, themselves. So, I have tried to use more student pictures on Powerpoints, to hang out after school to talk about them, and to take more fieldtrips. Again, no life-altering changes yet, but there have been some small “wins.”

So, those are the goals… I apologize for ranting and appreciate anyone who made it to this point of the blog. I’m doing my best to figure things out and think things through. Unfortunately, I tend to repeat the same mistakes and have yet to find a “good teacher” check list. If anyone finds one or has some advice they would like to pass along, I would appreciate it.

As always, I hope that you and your own New Year’s resolutions are doing well. Please stay in touch and come visit soon.

Lots of love from NYC,
Ms. Newton

Student Shout Outs (we do this in class, and I thought that I would share it with you)

• Brian, Damian and Tasheara for setting up the class mailboxes and passing out work



• Brittany and Emily V for coming up at lunch to talk about math every day this week.



• Danielle for staying after school until 5pm to make up her missing work



• Bridget and Mimi for having me check their homework every day



• Christopher, Daniel, and Lionel for re-taking a test they failed (granted, I had to physically pull them into my room after school) and raising their grade like 60% each!



• Frankie, Avon, and Christopher for working SUPER hard to be functional

First Week Back: Are things finally looking up?

I apologize for my lack of entries over the past several months. There is not really an excuse other than the “1st Year Teacher Emotions Chart” clearly articulated the way I was feeling through most of November and December- solidly in the “Disillusionment Stage” and at the bottom of the roller coaster. As the weather started getting colder, kids got crazier, graduate school started finals, and the 7th grade curriculum got harder… I didn’t really want to bring anyone done with tails of teaching woes, because, truthfully, compared to all the junk that goes on in my student’s lives, my situation is a cake walk. So… I chose to wait until I had some positive things to say, and I think that I can begin “blogging” again.

It is now 2009, and I have officially made it through my first full week of school. To be perfectly honest, after 10 days in Indiana with friends, family, and plenty of rest, I was not necessarily looking forward to heading back to school… dreading may be a more appropriate word. However, while this week was plenty of crazy, there were some wins. According to the aforementioned chart, I am in the “rejuvenation” stage of teaching, and it may be the lack of graduate school or the nice sleep bank that I created for myself over break, but I really enjoyed the past week.

At least with my advisory (but also in my other two classes), I have started to form relationships with a number of the students and there are more moments than not that they actually listen to me (or look like they are). Even the days that my team teacher was absent, class went on and students (at least a couple of them), learned the material. I have really enjoyed spending time with the students after school- hearing about their lives and listening to the ever-entertaining 7th grade gossip. Rumor has it that one student even said that I was “cool” last week, which has yet to happen… ever.

AND with graduate school not starting until the 26th, I have been able to spend some time with my roommates and friends eating real dinners NOT purchased at Dunkin Donuts on the way to night classes at Lehman College : )

I don’t know how long this upward climb will continue being, well, upward; however, the next couple of weeks will hopefully give me enough time to get ahead, spend more time with my kids, and get back in the swing-of-things before I start the first real math class I have taken since 2004…

I hope everyone else’s holiday season was filled with good food, friends, family and some much-needed rest. I wish you all a very happy new year and look forward to talking to you soon.

Much love,
Ms. Newton

PS: My New Year’s Resolution was to write an entry a week- please give me a hard time if I don’t.