4 posts from 2009

    I am writing this blog while currently under the weather with flu-like symptoms, although I attribute my malady to yet another bout of strep throat which I acquired earlier in the semester. However, since last week during the few classes I actually got to teach in the state testing madness focused on how the current swine flu outbreaks were related to a topic we actually learned this year, exponential growth, my students will most likely shun me if I go into work coughing. I attempting to explain to them that the media operates on fear and that today's society is so reactionary and unable to cope with even a minor crisis that everything is being blown out of proportion. The Swine Flu is now a pandemic, but that connotation is misleading as it merely comments on the geography, not the severity of the outbreak. Also, it lacks many of the genetic factors which maid the 1918 flu so virulent.
     If I were an administrator, I would merely take precautions on this reactionary nature of today's society, because for all other intents and purposes this is the flu. I would try to assuage the fears of my community and send out an e-mail/letter informing parents of the symptoms and encouraging students to stay home if they believe they have some of the symptoms. My main focus would actually be on the fall semester, as this is when the 1918 flu mutated and became a much more virulent version. I would have contingency plans in place to deal with a real threat from a mutated strain, and a way to continue the education of students with a maximum emphasis on safety. Since the best remedy for fear is education, I would probably ask my biology and math teachers to explain how diseases work and spread during some of their first units next year in order to combat any hysteria from students. The only sporting event I would curtail heavily would probably be wrestling, unless our team or the opponents had confirmed cases. Other than that, it is the flu right now, nothing more, people simply don't have a resistance to it, so the sooner they get it and recover, the quicker than can put it out of their mind. Who am I as an administrator to stop the natural evolution of these events.  

   I was curious to know what my students thought of my teaching style. I am going to let my students speak for themselves, I polled my best class and my most challenging class and picked responses on opposite ends of the spectrum to showcase my best qualities as a teacher and also where I can improve. I am typing the responses verbatim.

What It's Like to Learn in Mr. Warner's Class by S.D.
    Mr. Warner is very smart white guy. Sometimes his hands are a little dirty and his clothes a little wrinkled, but as long as I learn the work, it's cool with me. His teaching style is sometimes a little too technical. What I mean by that is that sometimes he uses big words or starts talking about scientific things that I don't understand. Despite that, I like the way he relates science to math. Other students don't like how Mr. Warner's class because they say he's annoyingly boring. I personally like his class because I learn a lot and he makes sure we all learn material if we are willing to learn. I may fall asleep in Mr. Warner's class, but its not because his teaching, I'm just lazy! The classroom is really decorated and bright and interesting. I like how he plays music while we work. Overall, I say Mr. Warner is a great educator.

Untitled by C.B.
    Learning in this class is very uncertain. It is like some days and some skills are easy learning. In class there is also a bad scent that causes headaches which make it difficult to concentrate. In my regular and old math clas we did fun activities to learn better. This year all the teacher does is write on the board and talk. Another disturbing thing is that instead of focusing on math we focus on science and history. We should have write this letter early in the year so teacher could make progress.

S.B.'s response
    In Mr.Warner's Algebra II class I have learned and accomplished a lot. I didnt know that I could learn some things. I have to be honest math is my worst subject. But ever since I met Mr. Warner math has actually became one of my favorite subjects because he tries his best to make sure each student learns. He is a very nice and intelligent teacher. His teaching style is bright because he also has a humorous way of teaching. Even though other students may behave horrible in different ways. He still manages to teach. By being a high school senior he's one of my favorite teachers at Holly Springs High School and I look forward to meeting more teachers in college like him.

       I think the article discusses competently all issues concerning summer school education, and I agree with most, but not all of the points presented to improve the summer school program. The first issue addressed that I would like to incorporate into Holly Springs Summer School is encouraging innovation in the classroom and an effort to connect the material to real-life. The separation between students that succeed and students that don't especially in math and sciences, is the inability to see how material is relevant to their own life, hence effort is not put forth. In summer school, since you are given the ability to work with students in just one field, the ability to include projects and stimulating activities will make the job of teaching the material less of a struggle. I also think lowering the class size is integral with students who are struggling, because during the regular school year these students probably feel like their individual needs are not being met, which causes them to "check out". Class size was not in issue in summer school last year, which in our situation makes it a good training ground for class organization and maximizing student achievement.
     In order to test student achievement, I think it is integral to see how far students have moved, not necessarily if they are yet on grade level. Testing is one way to do this, and I feel a skills test administered both before and after the summer school session does give some way to measure this. I also think students should be given a survey before and after to gauge their confidence in the subject matter and their belief in its importance, because this will gauge their success in future classes in the same subject and an ability to continue to advance on their own.
     In order to achieve this, teachers in each class must have a cohesive plan of action and overall course vision. If we have just a few goals and objectives which we harp on, such as in Algebra I an ability to graph and manipulate all different families of equations, then it will be easier for teachers to instill and students to adhere to the achievement level expected. I think with planning in advance and incorporating the ideas for the course from several sources, this can be achieved. Success for the class I teach and the summer school in general will be to reinforce basic subject skills and instill an interest in the subject so future learning will be come from within the students as opposed to being an edict placed upon them.
        I think that summer school should be part of the plan for all schools to ensure social promotion doesn't occur. I'm not entirely sure the financial burden should be placed entirely on taxpayers however, because the student and parents are at least somewhat accountable for their students need to be placed in summer school. I think one of the most important points brought up is to attempt new strategies and tailor individual student learning plans to find out in which way this student can be reached. Once this is discovered the information should be conveyed to the teachers of these students in the following year. Teachers brought in to teach summer school should be constantly assisted and evaluated to make all instructional time valuable to these students who require it to catch up to grade level. If we include all of these initiatives into our plan for summer school, success and student achievement will surely follow.

  So, My 7th period biology class might be one of the few saving graces of my existence in Mississippi. I was discussing that if you uncoiled one strand of DNA you could stretch it out to 3 feet long. I also said because we have 1X10^14 cells in our body, if you stretch out all the DNA from all those cells, it would extend 100 times further than the distance from the Earth to the Sun. CN, who is often referenced when discussing bears in biology due to his striking resemblance to that particular species, was taken aback by this fact. I stressed this would be in an average-sized human being and CN said, " So if you stretched out my DNA, it would go way further right". The entire class cracked up. A DNA joke in my class, maybe life isn't so bad. Now if only I can get them to understand my Pi and i joke, life might just be down right pleasant. They do know that asymptotes are just like MC Hammer, "you can't touch this".