Trying to teach in 43 minutes

43 minutes.  How do you teach a curriculum well in 43 minutes?  It is rather like the argument about the length of summer vacations - the first month back is spent re-teaching. The first 5-10 minutes of my 43 is often lost.  We have standards to teach, but daily reminders of how to work in groups comes first!  Reiteration of yesterday's 5-minute lesson comes next.  All of that doesn't count the coming in the class, the turning in of work, the daily procedures that are quick and easy with my 20 sixth graders, long and arduous wtih my 29 fifth graders.

Every day I feel that I spend 5 minutes or so reminding the students of what we did the day before ... 5 of those precious 43 fast-moving minutes!  I try to plan my lessons wisely, attempt to divide my time, 5 minutes for daily language activity, 10 minutes for the grammar lesson, 5 minutes for expanded vocabulary......but then I read the latest advice on writing workshops, and it states that you need, "A minimum of 60 minutes."  So, here I am, a great new teaching technique in front of me, perfect tools to advance my students, but my 10-15 minute writing timeframe is just not going to cut it.  What to do?

As a student teacher I need to follow my co-teacher's lead.  I am fortunate to have a flexible and supportive one!  She is also able to put away the annoying minutiae and concentrate on what's important - clearly a key lesson in this busy teacher world!  If I were to allow myself to stress over trying to fit in the 120 minutes of curriculum into 43 minutes, I would truly go crazy!  Indeed I am learning to determine the most important parts, understanding that my 6-week unit might last 7 weeks, and choosing to omit certain sections, even though I regret it each time I have to make that decision.  Oh for at least an hour, or even two, so that I could truly treat everything with the importance it deserves and allowing my students plenty of practice time to perfect each skill.  Maybe I will have that in my own classroom - I certainly hope so!  

Reality today is 43 minutes.  I am wondering whether a daily concentration on each area rather than 5 minutes of this and 10 minutes of that would be more productive?  I rather think that is how I might approach if I had the option - plus it would force me to really work on excellent grammar lessons should I need to keep students engage for 43 minutes of grammar!

In the meantime I try, I strive, I watch and learn.  I worry about how to impact my students in the most productive way.  How can I use their current writing to integrate grammar and traits? How can I merge academic language into every lesson?  How can I best leverage the short amount of time given?  All vital factors in creating rigorous lessons that will both engage and teach.  

This week will be even more stressful.  Dreaded testing time is upon us.  That means shortened 30 minute lessons every day, with only Homeroom on Wednesday.  That additional loss of 13 minutes each period will reduce options even further.  Loss of classroom time is never positive or productive.  Active concerns that never occurred to me in the past now overwhelm each waking moment. 

I will adapt and adjust.  That's what good teachers do, and this real-world experience is giving me the opportunity to learn to cope with and plan for these eventualities.  yet again, year long student teaching is allowing me practical practice options that I would not have had otherwise.  I am so pleased that I took this challenge on - what a gift it has been!

Teaching is the easy part.....

Packets for absent students, replacing missing assignments, handling late work, dealing with incomplete homework, answering emails, considering new procedures, adding new initiatives, grading papers, recording grades, trying to determine whether to repeat or move on, duties, duties, duties......lesson planning, parent newsletter, class website, communication, thank you notes, overseeing aides, knowing who needs which accommodations.......as my co-teacher, said last week, "having you do all the teaching makes me wonder how on earth I found the time to do all this - no wonder I was always a little behind."  I don't know how any person manages such a huge job description, and yet we do.  Teaching and engaging students should clearly be the focus - yet that truly feels like the easy part.  

After one week of full time teaching, the lessons have been huge.  Here are some of my wise words to me:

• You can't over plan.
• Some kids can handle change - others can't.
• You can't let the busy-work take priority.
• It would be easy to do nothing but 'be a teacher'.  The work is never done.
• Administration can change your job with one small decision.
• You have to always stay positive,
• The kids will always end up making things worthwhile.
• Nothing beats surprising a student with a thank you note.
• You need to spend time practicing any new procedures.
• One class will 'get it', but another one won't.
• Every day brings challenge, each day brings joy.
• It truly is all about the kids - never, ever forget that.

As I reflect upon the experiences last week, I realize just how much there will always be to learn.  My craft can always be bettered, strategies always improved, options always increased.  I need to always remember to concentrate on THAT and ensure that I never lose sight of what is important as I no doubt get caught up in the minutiae of required duties and paperwork.

As I write this, it is Saturday morning.  That means that it is time to get to work on next week's plans.  What can I do to help the kids learn next week?  What can I do to make sure that my students are engaged, positive, supportive, and informed next week?  

Let the planning begin!

Lesson Planning Flow Chart

Image taken from https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3305/5807299569_02627eb5a2.jpg

Exams & Tests & Quizzes, Oh My!

Assessments.........

...........one of the hardest things about being a teacher - and a student!  As I lesson plan I am constantly wondering how I need to assess my students.   There is little more important than how you check students' knowledge and use their proof of learning (or lack of) to inform teaching.  That's the simple part.  The tough part is making parents happy with assigning letters to learning, fighting the reality of kids working hard and earning Bs, as compared to students on IEPs getting As - even though you know that they don't understand the work.  The difficult bit is being required, by society, to define work by an unmeaningful letter of the alphabet, dividing students by those letters & adding to life's emphasis on defining students by their grades and determining their future through those letters rather than actually looking at the standard being taught and whether the student has achieved the level of learning desired.

Here's an example.  I just took my big licensing exam.  Now, I can write a sentence - 9 times out of 10 it will be well-written, or at least comprehensible.   Part of my studying though was on the definition of a homophone and how that differs from a homograph - and indeed a homographic homophone.  How does that help show my ability to write - or teach?  Multiple choice questions about grammar terms are considered suitable for judging my knowledge as a future teacher - just as our student are judged in the same manner.  It bothers me.

I deeply want my students to enjoy writing.  I know that by writing, lots of writing, both their writing and reading will improve.  By constant writing, editing and guiding through grammatical rules and practices, their writing will get better and better.  That is what matters, not whether it is A work or B work.  After all, what is the difference between a 79 or an 80, anyway?  Slowly I do see my students begin to read their feedback as well as read their grade, but do they pay more attention to my advice for future work, or to the letter on the top of the page?  I am grateful to a co-teacher who took a middle measure with me, allowing me to grade drafts with check, check - or check + (in lieu of A, B, etc) on the papers - it has made a clear difference to how the students consider and react to my feedback.  Sadly life being the way it is, those marks are still translated into numbers and put into the grade book, but at least the students are concentrating on the feedback as they move towards their revising for their published piece.  

Grading unfinished work seems as wrong to me as the endless worksheets too.  I wrestle with it. I understand the need for a record.  I know that it is important for me to constantly watch how my students are learning, and to ensure that knowledge is growing.  Data is key.  What bothers me is the distribution of letters that don't mean a whole lot.  Why should we be marking so-and-so as a "B student", shouldn't we be listing them as who achieved the desired knowledge, made standard?  Sadly I am not sure that we know that.  

Working one-on-one with students to truly determine standards takes time.  Encouraging student-guided assessments and allowing our students the opportunity to truly show us their standard of learning also takes time, and that is something that we don't have.  In 43 minutes it is hard enough to find the time to teach the curriculum, never mind search for moments for conferencing and coaching.  I longingly read books about writing workshops, and link that with Rick Wormeli's words on best practices and both his and Marzano's advice on standards'-based teaching.

So much to think about and consider.  

• Step 1, do my best for my students.  Accept how things are, yet not letting my own standards drop.  If I can't have time for one-on-one discussion in class, then I need to take the hours at home to write remarks and commentary on each student's work.  
• Step 2, think about how I will manage my own grade book when I have my own classroom.  Do I run a double-grade book if I am not fortunate enough to be at a standards-based school?  It is a lot of work, but will the hours of graft be worth the better information and opportunity to best-serve my students?  On paper, of course!  In reality, time is precious and balance needed.

Here's what I CAN do:

Keep thinking & learning!

Keep doing my best for my students.

Keep knowing that the best thing that I can do for my students is to keep caring.