I love my phone. You could easily say I fall into the category of "obsessed and borderline addicted" to my phone. I don't like it when it's in the other room. I don't like it when it's on the kitchen table and I'm on the couch. BUT I KNOW WHEN TO BE POLITE.
I don't wear headphones while my teacher is talking. I don't blast music through my headphones while my teacher is talking. I don't take a phone call on speaker phone when I'm two feet away from my teacher who is talking and going over the assignment. I also don't pretend that I can't hear my teacher when she asks me to take off my headphones and put my phone away. I also also don't play a game while wearing my headphones while the teacher is talking.
All of the above incidences have happened - in the last two days.
Phone issues with teenagers are not a new challenge unique to this area or demographic. My last school had issues with this all the time! Still, they fell on the side of phones being banned from school and therefore not allowed to be in class, in the hallways, etc.
One of the biggest culture shocks here was the obvious phone usage in the halls (and in the classrooms). Students are taking pictures, talking on the phone, texting, snapping, etc. in the halls AND IN THE CLASSROOM while the teacher is teaching. Students position themselves in a seat by an outlet so that they can charge their phone during class. Students straight up ignore the teacher's instructions to put the phones away. Students take pictures of each other across the room in the middle of a lesson (I've seen this in my co-taught class).
**I do want to note that I realize that the power is in the teacher's expectations. I co-teach in a class where excessive phone usage is not a big issue. This class is also full of freshmen who are young and slightly more amenable to teacher demands.**
Today I had two interesting experiences.
(1) A student entered my classroom with his headphones in and music on (this was my first mistake). Class started and students were expected to complete the warm up assignment on the board. His music was audible through his headphones a couple of feet away. He ignored my prompts to take his headphones out and put his phone away. While discussing the warm up and prompting him to get started, he TOOK A PHONE CALL ON SPEAKER PHONE. I was truly appalled. What was happening at this point? I made an effort to "guide" his hand toward hanging up and putting his phone away, but I'm not allowed to touch the student or his property, so I couldn't really do anything. I attempted to give prompts and ignore his behavior (he was clearly testing me) while also praising the surrounding kids for ignoring and working hard on the task at hand. The student eventually took out his headphones, but later used his headphones during the independent practice (which I told him he could do). He still kept the headphones in while I talked to him.
(2) Today was our school's first Character Ed Advisory period (held once a month). Two teachers are given 25 random students and are supposed to lead character building lessons. While I introduced the discussion topic and welcomed the kids to the class, at least 4 kids had BOTH headphones in their ears. We were creating our class norms (rules) together (with very little success - kids were not responding at all) when a kid mentioned phones. As I broached the topic of politeness with phones and when to use them or not, I had to ask kids, some MORE THAN THREE times, to take out their headphones and put their phones away. One kid heard me, then purposely chose to keep his headphones in. My partner teacher went over to him and asked him to put his phone away. He pretended not to hear her and continued to play his game until she finally got through. Other kids were giggling at this point.
Here's the main issue people - I never wanted to sound like the older generation (no offense to my "older generation" friends) that say things like, "Kids and their phones - they are obsessed. They are so disrespectful. They can't even have real conversations...etc. etc." But I get it. I am truly shocked at the audacity of kids to blatantly disrespect teachers with regards to phone use. What is HAPPENING with kids these days? How do we instill general politeness in a generation of device-addicted teenage youths?
S.O.S.
Help.
#why
-Ms. Damron-
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Popularity Contest?
I am determined to maintain a decent bedtime, so I have to be in my bed in 12 minutes - which seems impossible considering I still need to do the getting ready for bed part - so that's cool. :/
I don't want to forget this small bright moment while it lasts, so here's a story for you.
While I was at my door today (all teachers are expected to be at their doors inviting students in and monitoring the halls), a teacher in my hall passed by and said,
"You are winning the popularity contest! What are you doing in that room?!!!"
She then leaned in and said that one particularly difficult student likes me and THAT is a victory for sure.
I stopped by her classroom after school to introduce myself because I didn't even know her name yet and she said that she has had several students TODAY tell her that they really like me and my class. She asked what kind of snacks I was passing out or what was going on, but she joked that I was winning the popularity contest!
In all seriousness though, she then talked about developing relationships and how important that is. She told me that those students' reactions is a sign that I am a good teacher [meaning I build relationships].
Talk about a solid first week of school.
-Ms. Damron-
P.S. 8 minutes until bedtime...
I don't want to forget this small bright moment while it lasts, so here's a story for you.
While I was at my door today (all teachers are expected to be at their doors inviting students in and monitoring the halls), a teacher in my hall passed by and said,
"You are winning the popularity contest! What are you doing in that room?!!!"
She then leaned in and said that one particularly difficult student likes me and THAT is a victory for sure.
I stopped by her classroom after school to introduce myself because I didn't even know her name yet and she said that she has had several students TODAY tell her that they really like me and my class. She asked what kind of snacks I was passing out or what was going on, but she joked that I was winning the popularity contest!
In all seriousness though, she then talked about developing relationships and how important that is. She told me that those students' reactions is a sign that I am a good teacher [meaning I build relationships].
Talk about a solid first week of school.
-Ms. Damron-
P.S. 8 minutes until bedtime...
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Snapshots
Surprise surprise - I should be doing some sort of work (in all fairness, I tried to set up my website but I couldn't log in - that is NOT a surprise), but here we are again. Blogging. I regret nothing.
My first two days of instruction I didn't have posted rules and part way through my most difficult class, I realized I would have to change my lesson because a couple of students had to leave early to catch a special bus and I really wanted them to be there for my growth mindset lesson. In lay person terms - posted rules and explicit instruction about said rules is very common to include during the first day of class. I did nothing that I normally do on the first day and I didn't hate it, but I felt a little naked. Teaching and posting expectations is like your defense. It's your safety net, your structure, your back up, your everything. I didn't create my rules because I needed to meet my population. I was dealing with a new demographic and I had to feel it out. After the first round of A/B classes, I felt like I knew what I was getting into. I didn't have a black hole in my vision of what this school year would be like regarding my students. I finally had a small sliver of first impressions and that could get me through the beginning phase of being a new teacher.
In hopes of creating a mental picture, these are some snap shots of my first day(s) at my high school in an inner city:
There is no central air conditioning. Classrooms have window units and most of them work. If yours doesn't work, you are pretty much forced to find another classroom because the sweltering heat is not conducive to any type of learning. Fortunately, my window unit has worked just fine. Along those same lines, it can be hard to hear kids because the window unit is blasting all the time.
The hallway, stairways, and bathrooms are truly warm and muggy, but the staff bathroom feels like the heat is turned on high. I will be in the bathroom (which is located on the 4th floor - I am on the 2nd floor) for less than 5 minutes and will leave with a fine sheen of sweat all over my body and particularly my forehead and upper lip.
My class sizes are just right: 6-9 students. I was shocked (and nervous) to discover that I would be teaching every grade. I thought I was just getting grades 9/10. For some reason, that was comforting to me. I have taught middle school and those grades seemed closer to my comfort zone. My
Pre-Algebra class has mixed 9/10 graders (mostly 9th graders) and my Geometry classes have 11/12 graders (mostly 11th graders). With the exception of a couple of sassy upper classmen, my students worked hard and were respectful.
One 12th grader said within the first 10 minutes of class, "So was your school in Utah mostly white kids?" *after a short pause of shock* "Well, I wouldn't classify it as primarily anything." "What I'm asking is if there were mostly white kids in your school? Or were there black people?" "Well, I guess you could say it was primarily Caucasian with a larger Hispanic population..." "Okay, so it was mostly white with maybe a couple of black kids. WELL, in case you haven't noticed, there are mostly African-American students at this school, so that's what you're going to get."
Um. Yes. Thank you kindly for pointing that out.
And in case you were wondering, demographic-wise, out of my 30(ish) students, maybe 5 of them are Caucasian. Our school has a fairly diverse population though, including a large number of ELL (English Language Learners) kids. It's neat to hear that kids are from Afghanistan, the Congo, Rwanda, Mexico, etc.
*And just so you know - I am really enjoying teaching all grades. I'm excited to see where the year takes us!*
I am BEYOND blessed to have a promethean board (a smart board) that works well, is good quality, and allows my classroom to have so much more than whiteboards (or in my case - chalkboards) can provide. This board also has the speakers on the side, which my last promethean board did not. #win It also feels so good to be familiar with something considering how unfamiliar I am with everything else.
I basically lived a paperless classroom life for the first few days because I didn't know how to print anything and now that we have to bring our own paper to copy machines and I didn't know how to sign in to the copiers (and I don't have my chip yet), I was just nervous and never had time to figure it out. Today I got both a classroom printer (another WIN) and made my first copies. It feels good to finally figure out a few things!
I truly DO NOT like our email system (Outlook - not a gmail based email) or grading system/IEP program. These are not user friendly or aesthetically pleasing programs. I kind of avoid my emails because the set up isn't my favorite (but don't worry - I'm still a professional that reads and sends emails) and I have no clue how to use my "grade book" application other than to take attendance. I never thought I would say that I miss PowerSchool, but I do. The screens seemed brighter (that could be because we had Mac computers, not just Dell) and the icons were all right where I could easily access them. Also, how wonderful was it to be able to view students' IEP goals and accommodations right on that application? I have to go through my classes and caseload and find all of their goals and accommodations and email them out to teachers. I usually emailed teachers to let them know that I was a case manager, but it makes me nervous that the general education teachers can't look up that information on their own. That puts a lot of pressure on me to make sure that they get all of that information and stay compliant and law-abiding.
Finally, I cannot tell you how kind people have been. Today my promethean remote stopped working and I couldn't find a button on the projector to turn it on. I figured it was the batteries and sent out an email asking for batteries. Supplies are hard to come by, so I offered to return the batteries. So many teachers offered batteries and some sent me an entire box (a little box, but still) of AAA batteries. One of the other math teachers came down during his prep to help me figure out my remote. Sadly nothing worked, but the tech guy was there within 15-20 minutes and he replaced my remote.
I love the people here - students, staff, teachers, etc. I am excited to be a teacher in this school district and will keep you posted on my first year in the inner city!
-Ms. Damron-
My first two days of instruction I didn't have posted rules and part way through my most difficult class, I realized I would have to change my lesson because a couple of students had to leave early to catch a special bus and I really wanted them to be there for my growth mindset lesson. In lay person terms - posted rules and explicit instruction about said rules is very common to include during the first day of class. I did nothing that I normally do on the first day and I didn't hate it, but I felt a little naked. Teaching and posting expectations is like your defense. It's your safety net, your structure, your back up, your everything. I didn't create my rules because I needed to meet my population. I was dealing with a new demographic and I had to feel it out. After the first round of A/B classes, I felt like I knew what I was getting into. I didn't have a black hole in my vision of what this school year would be like regarding my students. I finally had a small sliver of first impressions and that could get me through the beginning phase of being a new teacher.
In hopes of creating a mental picture, these are some snap shots of my first day(s) at my high school in an inner city:
There is no central air conditioning. Classrooms have window units and most of them work. If yours doesn't work, you are pretty much forced to find another classroom because the sweltering heat is not conducive to any type of learning. Fortunately, my window unit has worked just fine. Along those same lines, it can be hard to hear kids because the window unit is blasting all the time.
The hallway, stairways, and bathrooms are truly warm and muggy, but the staff bathroom feels like the heat is turned on high. I will be in the bathroom (which is located on the 4th floor - I am on the 2nd floor) for less than 5 minutes and will leave with a fine sheen of sweat all over my body and particularly my forehead and upper lip.
My class sizes are just right: 6-9 students. I was shocked (and nervous) to discover that I would be teaching every grade. I thought I was just getting grades 9/10. For some reason, that was comforting to me. I have taught middle school and those grades seemed closer to my comfort zone. My
Pre-Algebra class has mixed 9/10 graders (mostly 9th graders) and my Geometry classes have 11/12 graders (mostly 11th graders). With the exception of a couple of sassy upper classmen, my students worked hard and were respectful.
One 12th grader said within the first 10 minutes of class, "So was your school in Utah mostly white kids?" *after a short pause of shock* "Well, I wouldn't classify it as primarily anything." "What I'm asking is if there were mostly white kids in your school? Or were there black people?" "Well, I guess you could say it was primarily Caucasian with a larger Hispanic population..." "Okay, so it was mostly white with maybe a couple of black kids. WELL, in case you haven't noticed, there are mostly African-American students at this school, so that's what you're going to get."
Um. Yes. Thank you kindly for pointing that out.
And in case you were wondering, demographic-wise, out of my 30(ish) students, maybe 5 of them are Caucasian. Our school has a fairly diverse population though, including a large number of ELL (English Language Learners) kids. It's neat to hear that kids are from Afghanistan, the Congo, Rwanda, Mexico, etc.
*And just so you know - I am really enjoying teaching all grades. I'm excited to see where the year takes us!*
I am BEYOND blessed to have a promethean board (a smart board) that works well, is good quality, and allows my classroom to have so much more than whiteboards (or in my case - chalkboards) can provide. This board also has the speakers on the side, which my last promethean board did not. #win It also feels so good to be familiar with something considering how unfamiliar I am with everything else.
I basically lived a paperless classroom life for the first few days because I didn't know how to print anything and now that we have to bring our own paper to copy machines and I didn't know how to sign in to the copiers (and I don't have my chip yet), I was just nervous and never had time to figure it out. Today I got both a classroom printer (another WIN) and made my first copies. It feels good to finally figure out a few things!
I truly DO NOT like our email system (Outlook - not a gmail based email) or grading system/IEP program. These are not user friendly or aesthetically pleasing programs. I kind of avoid my emails because the set up isn't my favorite (but don't worry - I'm still a professional that reads and sends emails) and I have no clue how to use my "grade book" application other than to take attendance. I never thought I would say that I miss PowerSchool, but I do. The screens seemed brighter (that could be because we had Mac computers, not just Dell) and the icons were all right where I could easily access them. Also, how wonderful was it to be able to view students' IEP goals and accommodations right on that application? I have to go through my classes and caseload and find all of their goals and accommodations and email them out to teachers. I usually emailed teachers to let them know that I was a case manager, but it makes me nervous that the general education teachers can't look up that information on their own. That puts a lot of pressure on me to make sure that they get all of that information and stay compliant and law-abiding.
Finally, I cannot tell you how kind people have been. Today my promethean remote stopped working and I couldn't find a button on the projector to turn it on. I figured it was the batteries and sent out an email asking for batteries. Supplies are hard to come by, so I offered to return the batteries. So many teachers offered batteries and some sent me an entire box (a little box, but still) of AAA batteries. One of the other math teachers came down during his prep to help me figure out my remote. Sadly nothing worked, but the tech guy was there within 15-20 minutes and he replaced my remote.
I love the people here - students, staff, teachers, etc. I am excited to be a teacher in this school district and will keep you posted on my first year in the inner city!
-Ms. Damron-
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Kind of like a first kiss
Guys. I legit do not have time to write this post, but just like a first kiss can only happen one time and then the feeling is gone, so is a teacher's first day in a new district - new school - new demographic, etc.
It's almost 9:00 pm, I haven't technically eaten dinner, and I don't know what I'm teaching tomorrow. That 5:30 am wake up call is coming oh so soon.
I needed to write this post to document what I'm feeling the night before school starts. I can't say I can even categorize what I'm feeling. I will have to write a catch-up post on all of the happenings over the past two weeks, but suffice it to say, I feel more tired than I have every felt at the beginning of the school year. After one of the most strenuous and demanding school years of my life, immediately followed by a jam packed summer concluding with moving and literally going to a meeting my first full day in St. Louis, I am TIRED. Exhausted. Fatigued. Sleepy. Overworked. Run-down. HAGGARD. *thank you thesaurus.com for helping me put into words how I'm feeling*
I don't necessarily feel nervous. I have the usual anxiousness that comes with a new school year, but I mostly don't know what to expect. I haven't outlined my management plan, because I don't know what will work for my high school, urban population. Will they laugh at my attempts to create structure? Will they flat out tell me that my consequences are stupid? Will they ignore me, hate me, and walk all over me? I guess that's a real possibility. Am I nervous because for the first time since I lived on an Indian reservation during my elementary years, I will be a minority? Does that even matter? Can I earn my students' respect and love just by being me? How hard will this school year really be classroom management-wise? I have so many questions - many of which I refuse to speak out loud because I don't want to sound ignorant or inept.
I chatted with the teacher next door for a few years asking her about how long she had been teaching and we launched into a conversation about her job history, including 20 years in St. Louis Public Schools. she started as an aide in a computer classroom at a middle school. She related that she had been sworn at, cussed at, and generally shot down by the students on a regular basis. Finally another teacher came in and used choice language to tell her that she needed to get her a** out of that chair and toughen up. She was too nice and she smiled too much. He told her that she shouldn't smile until Christmas. Then, in a matter-of-fact way, she said that she toughened up and it got better.
Me: "What do you mean you toughened up? Like you kept to your consequences?"
Neighbor: "No - they don't care about your consequences! I toughened up - I didn't let them walk all over me.:
Me: "Well what does that look like? I feel like I don't let my kids walk all over me, but I'm not so sure what that really looks like here. Do I actually stand my ground? I don't know..."
That's the first time I got a little nervous - in my naivety, am I truly in for a rude awakening? Only time will tell,
BUT here's the thing. I refuse to agree that you have to be hard, tough, and "not smile until Christmas" in order to earn respect and maintain control of your students. Regardless of the demographic: suburban, rural, urban, etc., kids are kids. They have different backgrounds maybe, but they need love, structure, and high expectations. I can absolutely do all of those things. In fact, I feel fairly confident in my ability to accomplish all of those things this year. Will there be moments of doubt, exhaustion, and break downs with lots of tears? Of course.
After sharing this story and my fears with the snapchat and instagram worlds, these are some of the comments I got today:
"You do you. She [the neighbor teacher] can be hard or whatever - but you do you."
"You need a UT vs St. Louis hashtag. Like all the differences, good and bad. You've got this.
"I don't believe in the whole 'don't smile until Christmas' mentality. You do your thing, girl!"
"Be your smiley self...take control of your classroom like you always do."
Thank you, everyone, for your support, love, and reminders that I don't need to change myself to see success in the classroom. My kids need ME, the frank, real, sometimes blunt, loving ME.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring (like literally - who knows - I've been writing this instead of lesson planning), but regardless, an adventure is awaiting!
-Ms. Damron-
It's almost 9:00 pm, I haven't technically eaten dinner, and I don't know what I'm teaching tomorrow. That 5:30 am wake up call is coming oh so soon.
I needed to write this post to document what I'm feeling the night before school starts. I can't say I can even categorize what I'm feeling. I will have to write a catch-up post on all of the happenings over the past two weeks, but suffice it to say, I feel more tired than I have every felt at the beginning of the school year. After one of the most strenuous and demanding school years of my life, immediately followed by a jam packed summer concluding with moving and literally going to a meeting my first full day in St. Louis, I am TIRED. Exhausted. Fatigued. Sleepy. Overworked. Run-down. HAGGARD. *thank you thesaurus.com for helping me put into words how I'm feeling*
I don't necessarily feel nervous. I have the usual anxiousness that comes with a new school year, but I mostly don't know what to expect. I haven't outlined my management plan, because I don't know what will work for my high school, urban population. Will they laugh at my attempts to create structure? Will they flat out tell me that my consequences are stupid? Will they ignore me, hate me, and walk all over me? I guess that's a real possibility. Am I nervous because for the first time since I lived on an Indian reservation during my elementary years, I will be a minority? Does that even matter? Can I earn my students' respect and love just by being me? How hard will this school year really be classroom management-wise? I have so many questions - many of which I refuse to speak out loud because I don't want to sound ignorant or inept.
I chatted with the teacher next door for a few years asking her about how long she had been teaching and we launched into a conversation about her job history, including 20 years in St. Louis Public Schools. she started as an aide in a computer classroom at a middle school. She related that she had been sworn at, cussed at, and generally shot down by the students on a regular basis. Finally another teacher came in and used choice language to tell her that she needed to get her a** out of that chair and toughen up. She was too nice and she smiled too much. He told her that she shouldn't smile until Christmas. Then, in a matter-of-fact way, she said that she toughened up and it got better.
Me: "What do you mean you toughened up? Like you kept to your consequences?"
Neighbor: "No - they don't care about your consequences! I toughened up - I didn't let them walk all over me.:
Me: "Well what does that look like? I feel like I don't let my kids walk all over me, but I'm not so sure what that really looks like here. Do I actually stand my ground? I don't know..."
That's the first time I got a little nervous - in my naivety, am I truly in for a rude awakening? Only time will tell,
BUT here's the thing. I refuse to agree that you have to be hard, tough, and "not smile until Christmas" in order to earn respect and maintain control of your students. Regardless of the demographic: suburban, rural, urban, etc., kids are kids. They have different backgrounds maybe, but they need love, structure, and high expectations. I can absolutely do all of those things. In fact, I feel fairly confident in my ability to accomplish all of those things this year. Will there be moments of doubt, exhaustion, and break downs with lots of tears? Of course.
After sharing this story and my fears with the snapchat and instagram worlds, these are some of the comments I got today:
"You do you. She [the neighbor teacher] can be hard or whatever - but you do you."
"You need a UT vs St. Louis hashtag. Like all the differences, good and bad. You've got this.
"I don't believe in the whole 'don't smile until Christmas' mentality. You do your thing, girl!"
"Be your smiley self...take control of your classroom like you always do."
Thank you, everyone, for your support, love, and reminders that I don't need to change myself to see success in the classroom. My kids need ME, the frank, real, sometimes blunt, loving ME.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring (like literally - who knows - I've been writing this instead of lesson planning), but regardless, an adventure is awaiting!
-Ms. Damron-
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