A New School Year

Reflecting from Japan

It's the start of a new school year! For those of you who don't know I have not only switched schools, but I have moved half way around the world! I am now living in Japan and teaching with the DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) on the Yokosuka Naval Base at Kinnick High School. This is a job that my wife and I have wanted and been working very had to get for the last 18 months. I am so glad to be here and it is turning out better than I could have imagined.

This year will have lots of firsts. The first of which is the first time to start a school year. My teaching experience consists of my student teaching which was basically from February to April. Then last year I substitute taught until I started teaching at Celeste High School from January to June. I have never started a school year, so this is a first. I am glad that I can create my own expectations, rules and classroom norms from scratch. But I am worried about making mistakes - but that is true about anything I do.

This year I am teaching Geometry and Algebra 1. I taught these classes during my student teaching, so I have some experience teaching these courses.

Big Fish in a Small Pond

I really like the school that I am at. I especially like the teachers, but I definitely feel like a tiny fish in a big pond. Most teachers at the school have been teaching for more than 10 years. They are professional educators - which I think is awesome! Most teachers aren't hired to teach for DoDEA unless they have 3 years of teaching experience. So being hired as a first year teacher is rare. In fact it is so rare that there isn't even a mentoring program. Luckily there are several other math teachers who are helping me.

This is one reason why I am so glad to be here. I feel that this is a pattern that is developing in my life. I find the best group of people that I can associate with, and after a few years I find myself as one of the best in that group. For example in high school, I began to hang out with all the smart kids. At the time I didn't feel like I was as smart as them, but by the end of high school I was. I then went to BYU and again I felt like a small fish in a big pond. But by the end I graduated in the top of my class. Now I am here and I believe that in a few years I will be one of the best teacher at the school. Well, that is my goal anyway. I know that this is where I can grow the most as a teacher. I am so glad to have wonderful examples all around me.

Great Students

I am mostly excited about this year because of my students. I hand out a sheet on the first day of school to help me get to know the students better. On that paper I ask questions about them and their hobbies and interests. I also ask about what they like teachers to do, what they don't like teachers to do, and what grade they want.

Last year at Celeste High School, I loved the students, but I was very surprising at how many students just wanted to pass. There were very few that wanted an A. Also at Celeste almost every student commented about not liking it when teachers gave out homework. This year there was some of that, but many of the students liked it when teachers taught. One student even said they liked it when their teachers use effective teaching methods - maybe they have a parent who is an educator. Also almost every student wants an A. I am excited about teaching a group of students who want to learn and work hard.

Preparing Students for Tests

My years of tutoring have taught me how to prepare students for tests. The process I use is a repeatable three step process. This method works for any test in any content area. I usually use this in the math classes I teach and I used this method in my Japanese classes in college.

1) Do something that is as similar to the test as possible in conditions that are as similar to those experienced on the test. For example on the TAKS test, there are released TAKS tests online that I would give to my students and have them work on the problems. For chapter tests I give them a review that is similar to the test. I encourage them to do as much as they can on their own, and then ask me for help when they are stuck or confused.

2) Correct the assignment.

3) Go back and help the students understand the questions they missed. I also asked my students to do "corrections" meaning, they worked out the problems that they missed. If they missed a problem twice, I would talk to them about it and help them understand what the question is asking.

I then repeat the process with another test or something similar to the test.

Through repetition, the students should improve each time and this increased preparation will often lower test anxiety because the students feel that they have seen similar questions. This also helps me as a teacher know which students are still struggling with enough time to help them improve their scores.

This isn't the only way that I prepare my students for tests. Students will get tired of doing the same thing every day. I switch back and forth between this process and review games that again use questions like those they will see on the test. My students enjoy the games because they are fun. I feel like using this process will help them improve their weaknesses, so we use both.

If you have other ideas on how to help students prepare for exams, I am interested to hear.

Think of things both ways

From my tutoring and teaching in a small school I have the opportunity of frequently working one on one with students. I have developed an awareness of noticing foundational misconceptions that students have. There are two that are very common, negatives and fractions. I was thinking about these a few days ago and realized that you can think of each in two very different ways.

Almost all students can see a number like -5 and know that it is negative. But sometimes we use the - as a negative and sometime we use it as a minus sign. For example when we are simplifying 8-2(x+1) is it 8 minus 2(x+1) or is it 8 plus -2(x+1). They are mathematically equivalent but sometimes we use - as a negative and times we use it as a minus sign. This can be confusing to students.

Fractions can be thought of as part of a whole and as another way to write division. For example 3/5 is three out of five equal parts and it is three divided by five. I know that these two ways of seeing fractions is mathematically equivalent but seeing it both ways can be confusing to students.

I am wondering if math teachers go back and forth between seeing things both ways without realizing it and as a result confusing our students. I will try to be more explicit about seeing things both ways and I hope this will help my students through these two very foundational and important concepts.

Using my students to improve my teaching

It's those moments that I think "I never would have thought of that" that become some of the most powerful lessons. One example is an experience I had student teaching. If I haven't mentioned this before, I had an awesome student teaching experience. I remember struggling for several weeks with knowing how to determine if I should move on or not. I would often ask my cooperating teacher what he thought. He taught me that I need to find out from my students if I should move on or not. He also taught me that I should use my students to improve my teaching. There is a principle here that I know would have taken me years to find on my own, and I am so glad that I learned it.

The reason that I haven't posted anything for a few days is because of TAKS testing. Last week Tuesday through Friday the students were taking different benchmark exams. Yesterday I decided to spend some time talking about their preparation for the TAKS test. I handed out a half sheet of paper with two questions: "What are three things that helped you prepare for the TAKS test?" and "What are three things that you wish we did differently?" The responses were very enlightening. For my discussion here, I am not going to go into depth about how we reviewed although from my past 7 years of tutoring I have learned how to prepare students for tests. The point is my students were telling me my strengths and my weaknesses. I will continue doing the strengths and work on the weaknesses.

I do these kinds of activities occasionally in my classroom. At first my students weren't sure what I was doing. One student thought that I was trying to "save my job." I just explained that I want to be a better teacher and that this would help me know how.

This is a powerful principle that has helped me improve as a teacher and I thought I would share that with other readers.

Standardized Tests

Next week is TAKS testing. This is a big deal for my juniors because this is their Exit exam, which means that if they don't pass then they can't graduate. When I came into the school I felt that I had two mandates from the principal. First, change the atmosphere in the class to be more work oriented. I feel that I have changed the atmosphere to be more work oriented, but I still feel like it can be more work oriented. Maybe I will write about this in a future post.

The second mandate is to get the TAKS scores "out of the toilet" (which is pronounced "to-let" out here where I teach). Last year my Juniors had a 62% pass rate on last years TAKS test. In order to get the scores up I have been doing a lot of focused review for the TAKS test. We will have spent 6 1/2 weeks preparing for this exam. This doesn't include the 5 minutes per day since February. I feel we have come a long way and I feel we have a really good shot at making the 100% goal that we set.

I am someone who always tries to look at the big picture. I often step back and think about the pros and cons of having something like the TAKS test. I am glad there is a standard that says if a student can't get to this level then they don't deserve to graduate from a Texas high school. I am also glad that that standard isn't as low as it was in California where I grew up; I passed my exit exam my Freshman year of high school.

At the same time I feel that there are a lot of drawbacks. My my Seniors have explained to me that they don't remember a lot of math because most of their time in high school has been spent preparing for that year's TAKS test. They are weak in factoring because you don't need to know factoring to be successful on the TAKS test. They are also weak in other areas of basic mathematics because, again, these things are not on the TAKS test. I know that when the teaching of a year is focused on the TAKS test, it doesn't create the learning that is most beneficial to learning mathematics. It also creates a huge lack of motivation after the TAKS test. I am a bit worried about motivating my students in two weeks when we start our next unit.

Another problem is the current years TAKS test is not testing the current years curriculum. For example the Freshman and Sophomore test is covering Pre-Algebra and Algebra I. Which means the Sophomores in Geometry aren't learning a lot of Geometry because it isn't on the TAKS Test. This is probably why my Juniors this year have struggled so much with the Geometry questions, because last year their teacher was focused on getting them through the TAKS test.

I think that most teachers would agree that teaching to a test is not the ideal. I know that I wouldn't be spending so much time on it if so many students weren't at risk and the Principal asked me to get those scores up. I am not sure how much TAKS prep I am going to do next year, I think that will depend on where I am teaching and the students I am working with.

Assigning Grades

Last Friday was the end of the grading period here in Texas. Assigning grades for students is something that is difficult for me.

In theory, I want to set a reasonable expectation and then support each of my students to achieve that standard. I want to give so much support that my students either pass or give up trying. In practice, I tend to set an expectation that I feel is reasonable and then support my students to achieve that standard. But in the end I tend to bend the standard for the students who didn't make it.

There are several ways that I bend the standard that I set. One way is, I justify the it by thinking about how much progress they have made. Another way is, I think about the additional support that I could have done or the mistakes that I made and then take the blame myself and give them a better grade. A third way is I find reasons to raise the grade of a student who is on the boarder between letter grades.

I know that I want a fixed standard that doesn't bend, but it is difficult for me. I think the main reason it is difficult for me is that I want my students to like me. I am afraid that if I give my students bad grades they won't like me.

I would love to hear some advice from some more experienced teachers. Am I unique in feeling the way I do around grade time?

Assessing Struggling Students

As I mentioned a few posts ago my Pre-Calculus students are struggling a bit through a unit on Trigonometric Identities. I know that through my teaching career I will have units that my students struggle through, which makes me wonder what a teacher should do for a summative assessment in these circumstances. There are several things that could be done.

In "Dr. Smith's" classes he makes the test more difficult believing that the students would learn more from a difficult test. I talked to the student that I tutor again last night and he said that his final exam in math for all 7th graders will be more difficult than usual because the 7th graders are struggling in math. To me this doesn't seem like the environment that will help students learn.

Before I present the other two options that I can think of, I would like to remind you that I don't know what is best. The purpose of this blog is for me to reflect on my teaching and collaborate with other teachers. I am interested to know how other teachers assess their students when they are struggling through a unit.

Another option is to maintain the expectation I have for my students but put off the test a few days to help my students meet this expectation. I usually try this one if my students are close to meeting my expectation and I am only putting off the test up to two or three days. If I need to put the test off longer or if I am not able to put it off, then I use a third option.

The third option is to adjust my expectation of my students. In simple terms, I am making an easier test. I know this isn’t the ideal, but I try to be very aware of where my students are at. If I know that they are struggling, I accept that it would be difficult to help them meet the expectation that I previously had. I adjust that expectation and give them a test based on this new expectation. This third option is the one that I am using with my Pre-Calculus class because today is the end of the grading period and I don’t want to put off the test.

I would love to hear your ideas.

Doing My Homework

As a teacher, particularly a math teacher, I assign homework. I feel that the purpose of homework is to give my students an opportunity to practice what they learned. As a teacher, I haven't been doing the homework that I assigned because I know how to almost any problem in the book. Several weeks ago I saw another math teacher in my school work out the problems that she assigned. The thought I had at the time was "Maybe this teacher isn't as strong in math and that is why she feels she needs to work out the problems in advance." I think this experienced teacher knew something about teaching that I didn't.

My Pre-Calculus students have been struggling during a unit on trigonometric identities. I know part of the reason was I haven't been doing the homework that I assigned. When they asked questions, I noticed that I could look at the problem and see how to do it but they couldn't. My students would say things like "I wouldn't have thought to do it that way" or questions like "How do you see those things?" I decided to sit down and do the homework that I assigned. While I was doing my own homework I realized how I did the problems. The next day in class I gave the class "three tricks" or three methods that I think through when I am solving problems with trigonometric identities. My students are still struggling, but these three tricks have really helped them.

The reason that I should do my homework is not to practice doing it. The reason that I should do my homework is so I am better prepared to help my students do their homework and learn this material. I can do it using methods that they know and I can identify potential problems that my students may have.

I am going to be much better about doing the homework that I assign.

Clear Expectations from the Beginning

While I was substitute teaching I talked to several teachers questions about what they know now that they wished they knew during their first few years of teaching. Many of them talked about setting expectations and then not giving in. I agree with this advice. At the beginning of this school year I guess I wasn't sure exactly what expectations to set.

I have learned that I it is difficult to enforce an expectation when I don't start with the expectation and then enforce it every time. One of my assignments is lunch duty. I walk around during lunch and detour a lot of trouble with my presence. One thing that I try to do is prevent students from cutting in the lunch line, because I don't think it's fair that the other students have to wait for a student who has cut in line. I know this sounds like a grade school issue, but it is something that I try to enforce.

A few weeks ago I had a student who cut in line to be with his girlfriend. I called him out and asked up to go to the end of the line. He said it wasn't a big deal because he only cut in front of a few people. He also turned around and asked them if they cared. No surprisingly, they said they didn't care. I said that I cared and asked him to go to the end of the line. Again he refused. Looking back I know that I should have given him the choice of going to the end of the line or going to talk to the principal, but in the moment I decided that sending this student to the office for cutting in line wasn't worth it. I realize now that the reason I would send him to the office was not for cutting in line, but for defiance.

Anyway, yesterday I called out another student who cut in line, this time in front of several dozen students. He referred to the fact that I let the other student cut in line to be with his girlfriend. I tried to explain that this was because it was only a few people, and he repeated that it is no different. Again, I walked away defeated.

I know that whether I try to or not, I am creating expectations. I guess I would rather be proactive and set them from the beginning than dealing with them case by case and not making the best choices. Before the start of the next school year I will spend time thinking very critically about what expectations I am going to set and how I am going to deal with students who don't follow them.

We need Teachers, not Content Specialists

I have been a private math tutor for the past 7 years. I have worked with a variety of students who are being taught by a variety of teachers and professors. With my students I occasionally disagree with their teacher's style or pedagogy. I currently have a student who goes to a private school in Dallas, TX. I have never disagreed with a teacher more with his teacher about pedagogy. This teacher’s name is not Mr. Smith, but I will refer to him as “Mr. Smith” because what this teacher is doing is far more important to my discussion than who this teacher is.

The first thing I noticed about Mr. Smith is that he takes two or three weeks to teach the concepts from a particular chapter. Mr. Smith then spends two to three weeks reviewing. Now to me two to three weeks is a little long to review, but I don't have a huge problem with that. What I have a problem with, is while they are reviewing Mr. Smith teaches the next chapter.

Now this might not seem like a big deal, but I hope I can help you understand that this creates a lot of confusion for a student who is learning all these concepts for the first time. Each chapter in most textbooks covers about 7 related, but different concepts or methods. So when a student sits down to take a test or quiz they have not 7, but 14 different concepts or methods that they have learned recently. I know that it is easy for students to get confused between different ideas, especially when there are 14 different ideas to sort through.

To make matters worse Mr. Smith is very particular about the way his students do their work. For example on a recent quiz my student lost half of his points on a particular question, not because he got the wrong answer, not because he did something mathematically incorrect, but because he divided by 7 instead of multiplying by 1/7. The teacher’s note said “Wrong form.” For those of you who are rusty on your Algebra, diving by 7 and multiplying by 1/7 are mathematically equivalent. In theoretical mathematics, like Abstract Algebra, there is a difference between these two operations, but this is not a class on theoretical mathematics it is a class of 7th graders trying to learn how to solve equations. I would also like to point out that occasionally Mr. Smith changes the way that he wants his students to do a particular type of problem. I don’t know if Mr. Smith would take off points for doing it the old way or not, but taking off points like this adds to the stress of taking his difficult tests and quizzes.

Yesterday, I went to work with my student because he has a test today. There were two things that he said that I couldn’t believe. First, because there were some conflicts in schedule, not all of Mr. Smith’s classes took the test on the same day. He didn’t want his classes that had one extra day to have an unfair advantage over those who didn’t, so Mr. Smith collected worksheets and other papers from his students who had an extra day. As a student, I know that studying the day before a test is one of the best times to review for a test. I can’t believe that a teacher would do anything to hinder a student who wanted to prepare more for a test.

The other thing that I couldn’t believe was that Mr. Smith said that if thought his students were struggling he would give them a harder test because they would learn better that way. Let me say that again, If Mr. Smith’s students are struggling to learn a concept, he will give them a harder test so they will learn more. This is contrary to everything that I believe about summative assessments. The end of chapter test is not the time that a teacher should be providing a learning opportunity; it is an opportunity for students to show how much they have learned. Also, from the student’s perspective, if I am struggling to learn the concepts from a chapter, receiving a difficult test and then failing that test won’t help me learn it. It will just strengthen my belief that “I can’t do math.” A belief that is already too common in our society.

It is no wonder that many of these students need private math tutors. My student’s mother believes that about half of Mr. Smith’s students have private math tutors helping them through his class. Remember, that this is a private school and these parents are already paying thousands of dollars out of their pocket for their child’s education.

If you are wondering why “Mr. Smith” has a job, it is probably because “Mr. Smith” isn’t “Mr. Smith,” it is “Dr. Smith” who has a Ph.D. from Harvard. I don’t know what it is in; my guess is Mathematics and not Education. The more I learn about this teacher and his pedagogy strengthens my belief that in our schools we need teachers who are teachers, and not content specialist. I like to think of myself as both, but I am first and foremost, I am a teacher.

Caring and in Control

As my first post, I would like to begin with something that is foundation to a lot of issues that I struggle with as a first year teacher. I know that my purpose as a teacher is to facilitate my student's learning. In order for this to happen I feel that two things must happen. First, my students must know that I care about them and second, I must remain in control.

I believe the old saying "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I know that most people are are thinking "What's in it for me?" I think this is also true for my high school students. Many students are much more willing to learn from me after they learn how much I care about them and their learning of the material. For example, I was hired mid-year to teach at a small high school in north east Texas. My first day I could have started teaching, we were already behind most schools. I decided, instead, to spent the day talking to my new students and finding out things about them. Their interests, their goals, what they liked about teachers and what they didn't like about teaching. In addition to giving me valuable knowledge about them, I also sent a message that I care about them. This has set a nice tone for the rest of the school year.

Another example is a few weeks ago I announced my goal that 100% of my students pass the end of year TAKS test. When announcing that goal I also felt that it was important to explain why. The reason that I announced is because I want 100% of them to graduate. I believe that if my reason was for me to look like a great teacher, that would have shown and my students would have responded very differently to the goal.

Along with being liked, it is important not to loose control of my class. When I was in high school I had teachers who wanted to be liked, or feared being disliked so bad that they lost control of their class. My high school Spanish teacher comes to mind. There was another student in that class who had more control over the class because he would persuade her to do whatever he wanted. If she got angry and was going to give him a detention, he would talk his way out of it. If there was homework that was going to be assigned he would try to talk her out of it. I don't want to be like this teacher, because if I loose control of the class then I have lost the learning environment and my purpose for being a teacher.

These two desires often come in conflict for me. For example when a student doesn't do a homework assignment, I want to be caring and ask them why they didn't do their homework and then make a decision based on their response. If they didn't do it because they didn't understand it, then I help them understand it. If they didn't do it because they didn't have time, then I penalize them. I do this because I care more about them than the assignment. The problem with this is my students have spent years figuring out teachers and may say they didn't understand it even if they were just being lazy. I will talk more about my struggle trusting students later.

Another example of when these two desires come in conflict is when a student is acting up. I know that I don't know everything that is going on in these students lives. I know that they may have just had a bad break up with a significant other or experiencing problems at home. I try to be understanding because I care about them, but this kind of thinking makes it difficult for me to discipline. I usually just pull students out of the classroom and talk to them privately. We also agree on a consequence if it happens again.

Maybe one reason why this is so difficult for me is because I struggle with the fear of others not liking me. Maybe this is the foundation of wanting my students to like me. I don't know. I do know that I have a desire to be caring and in control and sometimes it is difficult for me to do both.

Introduction

I have been thinking about doing something like this for the past few months. I am a new math teacher who experiences things that most new teachers experience. For example setting and keeping rules and boundaries, time management, and attempt at being an approachable but respectable teacher.

I am more reflective than most teachers, meaning I think deeply about every aspect of my teaching. I think this helps me be a better teacher. I think blogging about the things I am thinking about will help me improve. I think this will also be beneficial to other teachers as well, so if you choose to follow this blog I hope you enjoy. I welcome your thoughts and input.

As you read, please remember that I feel like I struggle with writing. My thoughts may not be as clear as I want. My grammar and usage may be off. When you notice these things, please let me know so I can continue to improve. Thanks.