ELA Exam... a review

So the annual New York State ELA exam has come and gone, and I'm fairly confident the students walked away with a feeling of success. After looking over the test, and hearing feedback from students, I am confident that we covered the necessary material for them to "pass" the test.

However, it's the notion of "passing" that is the center of the post. A colleague of mine told me today that in order to score at least a "2" on the test, students only had to answer seven questions out of 39 correct on the sixth grade test. Is this an indicator of how low our standards have become? Since when is scoring less than 20 percent on an examination considering passable? The state should be ashamed of itself if this prediction of scoriong proves true.

For the alst few weeks, my students and I have been learning test prep stategies to help them on the exam. For me, this involved reviewing grammar, word use, and parts of speech (topics that are typically left out of the stardard curriculum in New York City). As I proctored the test, I noticed something... my students not only filled all of the available space writing their essays but they had to use the extra blank page in the back of the book. I was elated.

But I still wonder, are these non-uniform tests really proving growth, or are the tests being dumbed down each year to show "growth" when really the students haven't mastered anything new?

Really reform or reform for real?

Reform is needed, but this isn't it.

For weeks I've been wavering on the merits of merit-based pay for teachers. Sure I can understand why non-teachers would think this could be a potential driving force for reform in an educational system that so desperately craves it. Even more pro-reform self, a teacher in practice and in heart, thought the idea had some merit to it.

However, there are too many "what ifs" at stake to drastically alter the way the education system hires, fires, and retains teachers. Certainly, drafting legislation without the input or consent from teachers is never going to work, but goodness knows teachers are slow to change the status quo, especially when it could signal their time in the classroom has come to a close.

Now, let me preface, I have my reservations about merit based pay. I believe that teachers are morally obligated to work hard and try to educate EVERY student that sits in their classrooms, even if that means rewriting lessons, altering curricula, or reaching out to coworkers, peers, and parents for advice. Teaching is by no means a profession for the self-absorbed, but unfortunately many of our union and school board leaders have become so anti-change that our students are suffering. To that end, I do believe that teacher tenure should be abolished. Like one of my professors at the University of Florida said after turning down tenure twice, "If I am no longer fit to teach, then I shouldn't be in the classroom." Thank you professor for creating what would become a linchpin of teaching philosophy.

But where to we begin to institute change in our school system? Is it right to force merit-based pay onto an unwilling populace/workforce? Both questions are difficult to answer. In Florida's case, the attempt to force merit pay onto school districts statewide would have led to revolt among teachers. Let's be frank, did the state legislature honestly think that teachers in a state where the average starting pay is significantly below the national average stick around if their pay was centered on student test scores? Of course not.

This is where the "what ifs" come into play. What if a menacing administrator schedules all low-level students into a single classroom as payback against a teacher? That teacher certainly could not increase test scores with a group of students who are either seriously below level or lack the skills needed to catch up to their peers. Ultimately, the teacher would be at risk and not the administrator. Secondly, what would stop teachers from forging the tests or giving the answers to the students? Sure this is an extreme example, but it definitely happens in classroom across the country on Test Day. Lastly, teachers are only with students on average seven hours a day; they cannot control what those students do the remaining fourteen hours. Without parental support, teachers cannot possible make any gains with their students... the test results prove it, the research proves it, and quite frankly, my own practice has proven it.

If the United States wants to reclaim its status as the preeminent educational system in the world, it's high time to abolish tenure (much like the Washington D.C. school district is attempting to do), close the "rubber rooms," give under-performing teachers the boot, and finally fund schools equally so that ALL students have access to the resources, extracurricular activities, and class choice that made the American school system great in the first place.

And year two begins

It's hard to believe I'm starting my second year of teaching... sheesh how the time flies and how bad I have been about keeping this up to date. I promise a more-detailed posting this weekend.

Washington D.C. Trip

So if you've been living under a rock since November, you may not have known that I have been planning a school trip to Washington D.C. for our students. Well, the trip has come and gone, and I am glad to report that it was a HUGE success. The kids all had a blast (and so did I). I wanted to take a few paragraphs to talk about some of the challenges of planning such a big trip, especially as a first year teacher.

The first hurdle I had to get over was convincing my administration to let me do the trip. Our school had NEVER done an overnight trip before, much less to a different state. So when I first approached my AP and principal with the idea, they both flat out told me know. However, my AP warmed up to the idea after some more one-on-one conversations, and after she received a flier in the mail from a tour company, she was hooked. A few weeks after my initial proposal, she told me that she would personally talk to the principal and see what she could do.

Obviously my nagging, and my AP's persistence, paid off. But the hard part was just beginning. My principal wanted a list of students to see who would be interested in going on such a trip. I asked a couple of coworkers to help me approach the 8th graders about the trip idea, and an overwhelming majority said they would be interested in going. Step one: Success.

After showing the principal the list, she then asked me to send out a letter to the parents to see if they would be willing to pay the $140 cost of the trip. A week later, I had more than 90 7th and 8th grade students whose parents said they would pay (we added 7th grade just to ensure that we had enough people to fill up a bus). Step two: Success.

However, narrowing down 90+ students to 54 was more difficult than I could imagine. There was so much to consider, including attendance, uniform violations, grades, attitude, etc. It took more than a month to finally come up with the final list of students. Then, we had to give out the information packets and permissions slips. Once they were collected, we had to collect almost $8,000 to pay for everything. Fortunately, my students were enthusiastic about paying for everything, and collection was fairly simple. Step three: success.

Now the fun part. With money in hand and a budget to work with, my team and I had to collaborate on an itinerary, find a bus, hotel and food for 61 people. The bus was easy to find (thanks to an Internet search), and I found a great website that allows you to submit information to a database of hotels, who then bid on your event. We found a great deal at The Churchill Hotel (www.thechurchillhotel.com). Planning phase: success.

Finally, after months of planning and long hours of work. We were ready to go. So on March 20, I arrived at work at 5:50 a.m. and left New York with 54 students, four teachers, and three parents to Washington D.C. for two days of action-packed fun. Here are some pictures that highlight everything we did:

ELA Exam

I know it's been a long while since I last posted, so I suppose it's time to catch up on everything that has been going on.

My students have successfully complete the NY State ELA exam. We won't know their scores until June, but based on their initial reactions to the test, I think they all did great. Trust me, after all of the preparation we did for the exam, they should be pros by now!

However, all of this testing has helped me see the effect of NCLB. Don't get me wrong, I think have a systematic list of standards for the country is a good thing. It helps create a bar that every state must reach. However, different communities obviously have different needs that make meeting those standards difficult. Plus, different states require different standards at different grades. So what does that translate into? Inconsistency... and according to all of the teaching practice I've had, that is a very bad thing.

State Tests and Brain Parties

So the NY State ELA exam is just a couple of days away, and, to be honest, I'm becoming a nervous wreck. Don't get me wrong, I am confident that my students will pass the test -- no, not pass, succeed -- I still find myself panicked about the implications for the exam.

To be fair, I shouldn't even refer to it as a test or an exam, my seventh graders told they hate the word test, so I vowed to come up with a different term. We settled on "Brian Party." My eighth graders think it's "corny" but it has been an affective motivational tool.

Anyway, I'm nervous because of the implications of this test. For all my students, the test determines whether or not they can be promoted to the next grade without having to go to summer school (and subsequently retake the "brain party"). For my seventh graders, the "brain party" scores go onto their high school applications next year. Talk about intense pressure!

But as I was saying, I'm confident in the teachers my students have had the last couple of years. The potential they've shown in my class the last couple of months has been astounding. What worries me is my teaching ability. I wonder, have I done enough to make a difference between a 3 or a 4 for any of them? What about between a 2 or a 3? I guess in a few days we'll know.

Till then, keep your fingers crossed.

First term reflections

A year ago, I never would have believed that I'd be sitting here writing about my first full term as a teacher in New York City. Actually, 12 months ago, it seemed like my life had no direction other than graduation approaching in May. It really is amazing how much things can change in 12 short months.

So here I am, sitting in a hotel near the Pittsburgh airport, on my way home after finishing my first four months as a teacher in New York City. At the beginning of the school year, I was scared to death and had no idea what to really expect, and after hearing stories from countless older TFA corps members, I just knew something horrendous was going to happen somewhere down the road (that's just my kind of luck).

Fortunately, divine providence has dealt me a tremendous blessing the last four months. The school I work at (I.S. 528 in Washington Heights), is an oasis and what could easily have become a long, arduous journey though the inner city. During the last four months, I have forged tremendous friendships with many of my coworkers and have developed a deep respect for my administration as well. Perhaps most importantly, I admire my students. Each and every one of them have inspired me in some way. In fact, with each passing day, and the more I learn about each of them, I am even more blown away by the way they are turning into adventurous young adults.

Looking back, I worry that the last four months have been an anomaly and that the next six are somehow going to go wrong. Although, certainly such fears can be alleviated with lots of pre-planning on my part, which shouldn't be too bad. Either way, I can't wait to get back to work in January and see all my "kids" again. It's tough raising 129 of them!

Newsletter success

Oh! I forgot to mention... my newsletter class finally finished the first newsletter of the year. I'll upload it so everyone can see the great work my students did. It's called: the I.S. 528 HEYREADME... yes, we're witty like that.

Working together

So the last few weeks have brought a slight change in approach to lesson planning. During our first unit of study, I approached lesson planning as a personal endeavor. I used some resources from Teach for America and mapped out the unit to cover the areas I felt my students needed the most practice with. However, this time around, I've started working with two of my co-workers to plan out our non-fiction unit and the subsequent writing projects that the students have to complete. How are we doing? I think our co-planning meetings have been successful. Not only are we able to bounce ideas off of each other, but it has helped me fill in some of the gaps in my own plans.

Let's hope this continues.

Going beyond the classroom

Two weeks ago, our school started showing a documentary called "Darius Goes West" to the entire school. One of my co-workers coordinated the effort, sold snacks and drinks, and raised money for Muscular Dystrophy awareness. The movie focuses on one boy from Athens, Georgia, who has the diseases. It shows how his friends went on a cross-country road trip so that Darius would have the chance to see parts of the United States before the disease takes his life. It's a tear jerker.

After showing the film, we had our students write letters to Darius, who is still traveling around the country promoting awareness and raising money towards finding a cure for the disease. Several of my students wrote about how inspired they were by Darius' ability to focus on the positive aspects of his life and how he didn't let the disease hold him back from achieving his dreams.

On October 14, Darius and his team stopped by our school. The visit was a complete surprise for the students. Each grade got to spend about an hour talking with Darius and his friends about their trip and the struggles they have had during their cross-country journey.

You can read their blog about their visit to our school here: Darius Goes West Blog.

Writing class adventure

So in my last post, I talked about my first step towards differentiated instruction. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical about just how effective it would actually be, but, after my first day as a differentiater, I am proud to say that it was a huge success.

To review, I made each of my 90 writing students a "top secret" folder with a collection of five various assignments inside based on their writing level. To top it off, I wore my aviator sunglasses to class (to pretend like I was some type of secret agent).

When I plopped the box of manila envelopes on the table, their jaws dropped to the floor. They thought I had a huge package of papers for them to do. When I put on the sunglasses and showed the cover of the folder, they were ecstatic! Then, I explained the directions and handed out their assorted folders.

Now, for the seven weeks we've been in school, I've struggled to get my writing classes to produce any meaningful work. Well, that has finally changed! Of the 30 or so students in the course, about 25 of them finished most of the assignment... in class. One student finished all five of her assignments before the end of the day -- thus becoming the first student to get a "free meal on Mr. V."

Differentiated Instruction

The headline is a link that will probably better explain the concept of differentiated instruction than I am about to, but after a heated debate with my school's literacy coach on Friday, I've decided to give it a shot.

The idea behind differentiated instruction is that students are able to complete activities that are on their own learning level and based on their own learning style, even within one class.

Let me provide some background to our discussion on Friday. We were talking about the once-weekly writing classes that I teach and their overall effectiveness. My point was that it is difficult to teach the concepts of grammar and writing with one class period per week and that the students need more direct instruction than what is available. Fortunately, or unfortunately, our literacy coach got the brunt of my frustration. I expressed my concerns that 45 minutes a week was not enough to see significant improvement in writing. She suggested that I try differentiating my instruction to try and move forward.

Well, after a few days to mull over her response, which I wasn't very happy about, I have decided to give it a try. Starting tomorrow, my writing students will receive "top secret" folders with a variety of activities in them according to the students writing levels based on an assessment I gave them at the beginning of the year. The assignments are aligned with state standards (I hope), and encourage students to complete as much as possible. There's even a reward for those who complete all of the assignments!

We'll see how this goes.

My classroom.

Here are some updated photos of my classroom.

One month in

So I've finished my first full month of teacher, and to be honest the experience has been kind of surreal. Never in my wildest teacher dreams did I expect to have a student say, "Mr. V! I love your class, it's my favorite!" But, after my first month, I hear it way more than I should. To say the least, compared to my summer teaching experience, this year has been a complete 180. Not only are my students more engaged and invested in the work, but I find myself exuding more passion in the classroom. It's odd.

I think what has made all the difference has been my attitude. During the summer, I was a recent college T.A. and refused to adjust to varying learning styles. All I wanted to do was lecture and have my students listen attentively. Ironically (or not), that approach doesn't sit well with middle school students. So I've had to be more creative with my approach and with my classroom management (nine kids have had detention with me so far).

I don't want this post to be a huge rant about classroom changes and teaching expectations, but I do want to highlight some of the things my students have done so far this year:
1. My seventh graders have read The Diary of Anne Frank and compared it to the movie version. In a few weeks, we'll be visiting New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage.

2. My seventh and eighth graders are exploring meaningful events in their lives by writing memoirs highlighting key events in their lives.

3. All of my classes have created individual goals to determine where they want to be by the end of the year.

This is just a small list of accomplishments so far. Let's just hope that things keep progressing the way they have been.

Assessments, measurements, and setting big goals

The last few weeks have seemed like such a blur. Not only am I at school for seven hours a day, but work has been following me home five or six days each week. On average, I'd say I'm working upwards of 15 hours per day. Sheesh, I feel like a financial investor (but who wants to be one of those these days?).

The first weeks have school are supposed to be a little chaotic -- at least that's what the seasoned teachers tell me. Aside from learning 115 names, organizing massive amounts of papers, and setting up a classroom, things are going fairly well for me. Plus, on a positive note, all of my literacy students are on grade level for reading comprehension according to the McLeod reading assessment I gave them. The McLeod asks students to read a series of paragraphs with miscellaneous words missing. The students are to fill in the missing words by using context clues to figure out the words that fit. My students, being the pros I know they are, passed the test with flying colors, and because of their success on the assessment, we're working towards having a high school reading level by the end of the year (that's for both my seventh and eighth graders).

Here is a shot of my classroom library. Don't worry, the bulletin board is now covered with summer reading projects. Go Gators!?

Two weeks down

So I have successfully (at least in my opinion) finished my first two weeks on the job as a full-time teacher. I'll admit, there have been some trials along the way, but I've had a number of successes too.

I think the most interesting thing that has happened so far has been the drastic difference in student investment and behavior since the summer. Granted, I have spent a great deal more time explaining to my seventh and eighth graders that they are able to complete high school level work. In fact, investment is going so well that my seventh graders have begged me to let them read and write on a daily basis. Ha! In many ways, they hold me just as accountable as I'm trying to hold them.

I was also asked to take on a position on our school's inquiry committee. As a member of the committee, I will help track student data to determine how affective our school is at preparing students for high school and the state standardized tests. I'll admit, this sounds a little worrisome since I absolutely loathe quantitative data. We'll see though. I'm working on being more optimistic.

First day of school

So the first day of school went off without a hitch, and I have to admit that I am more excited now that I have been all summer about the year ahead. Now I'm sure that my attitude might change after a few weeks, but as of right now I'm pretty optimistic about the coming school year.

The day started off well with my homeroom class of 30 seventh graders. Now, that's the biggest class I've ever taught, at any level, so this morning, before school, I was worried I wouldn't be able able initiate strong classroom management routines. Fortunately, things went well considering I kept 30 seventh graders in their seats, and quite for the most part. **Pats myself on the back**

However, my good will towards the year was fully fostered during my seventh grade literacy (reading and writing) class later in the day. This time, I only had about 15 students, and they all seemed genuinely excited about our goals for the year. I explained to them that it was our job this year to make sure that they're ready to apply for high school at the beginning of eighth grade (in NYC, student apply to go to high school). At one point, one young lady's eyes were so big with anticipation that I thought they were going to pop out of her head (okay, I exaggerate a bit, but they seemed interested in our October/November unit on speech and debate (to go along with the presidential elections).

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I get to meet my eighth graders and my newsletter class for the first time. Again, I'm optimistic!

Preparing for the year

I forgot to mention, in less than 12 hours, I get to start setting up my classroom for the year.

How cheesy do I want it to be?

My summer is over

It's hard to believe that my six weeks of Institute are over and starting tomorrow almost be a full-time teacher...almost.

Just to catch everyone up, I moved into my apartment in New York about two weeks ago. After a brief trip to Florida, my parents and I took a road trip up the East Coast to bring all of my stuff to New York. After a few hair-raising minutes driving through Midtown, we finally arrived, with a U-haul and a car, to my apartment on the Upper West Side. A few hours later, it was unloaded and I was officially home.

However, my move is not the point of this blog. I wanted to take a few minutes to sum up my experiences at this summer's Institute.

To be honest, I never thought I'd miss my students. There were moments when I thought my patience would break and they would finally crack my shell. Surprisingly, despite all of the tribulations, I made it through four weeks of summer school and all of my students made their gains for the summer. Some of them went up two grade levels in reading! Pretty awesome.

Actually, my summer experience can be described in two short interactions with a couple of my students. The first came early in the last week of school. One of my students "forgot" my name, so one of my other students chimed in and said, "Hello! Are you stupid? His name is Mr. Van Owen, like Ms. Vo, our math teacher. Her name is V.O. because they're married and didn't want us to know. Right Mr. Van Owen? You leave your ring at home right?" I ALMOST lost it. It was the funniest moment of the entire summer.

The second came on the last week of school. My co-teacher and I through a small party to celebrate the end of the summer for our students. One of the boys came up to me and told me I was "thugness." Though I'm not sure what that means, I was flattered nonetheless.

If anything, my students taught me a lot more than I taught them -- despite my best efforts. I learned that being prepared was the best way to engage a group of middle school students, because regardless of how hard I tried to "keep it real" they always saw right through me. What I learned was that I had to think like a 14 year old and remember what it was like to be full of hormones with a relatively insecure teacher. After that, we made decent progress.

I also learned that teaching young students is not as easy as teaching my college students. My college students knew that they had to work hard to succeed. With middle schoolers, I have to convince them that working hard will lead them to success. Once again, it's all about my mindset as a teacher.

During the weeks since Institute, I've been trying to enjoy myself and spend some time with my family before they went back to Florida. The bonding was cut a little short with TFA Orientation, but it was worthwhile nonetheless.

I don't want this to drag on forever, so I'll end with this anecdote:

On our last night of orientation, the Chancellor of Education for the City of New York, Joel Klein, spoke to us. He said that teaching was a lot like sex. Ironic you say? Well so did I.

He continued:
"Teaching is like sex. Think about it...the more relaxed you are, the better it's going to be!"

Hahahaha

The results

So I'll give a more detailed reflection on the summer later, but I wanted everyone to know that all of my students that completed their final assessments made their summer growth goals. That means that they grew by at least one grade level in reading and writing!