Week 6 (End of 1st Marking Period)

The Good:


1. The young women's empowerment group that I co-facilitate (RAW) was awesome this week! Not only was I still excited about my ladies' participation in the Walk Against Domestic and Teen Dating Violence, but I was also proud of their eagerness to find another volunteer opportunity as soon as possible. Prior to the meeting, I spoke to the volunteer coordinator at Glide Memorial, a church that serve breakfast and lunch to the homeless of San Francisco. My hope was to sign RAW up to serve a lunch. However, during the holiday season, Glide gets myriad volunteers. So, the only slot the coordinator had available was a breakfast slot (7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.) in December. I wasn't sure if my ladies would be willing to do this shift because it would mean heading into San Francisco by 6:15 a.m.! Oh, but I was wrong!!!!! Fifteen of my ladies signed up to serve food that morning. Gosh, I'm just gushing with pride. The ladies in RAW are so enthusiastic about finding ways to give back to the community!

2. In Digital Journalism, one of my students, Sandra, gave an amazing presentation on Twitter and Tumblr. I want my journalism students to use those sites as ways to inform their communities. However, I didn't feel confident teaching my students about social networking sites that I had never used. Therefore, I asked Sandra if she could help. And, SHE DID! :) Not only did she help students troubleshoot during our exploration time, but she also created a 25-slide PowerPoint that explained the benefits and drawbacks of each social networking site. It was incredible! Below is a photo of us that I used as a part of our exploration activity. (Each student had to complete a number of tasks on each website. One of those tasks was posting a photo on Tumblr.)

3. Ms. Barrett came to observe my class again on Wednesday. I felt like the class went really well, and her feedback reflected my impressions of the day. She wrote, "I love that your bonus question is a personal question. Build rapport and fun" and "You stayed really positive with this class, and I feel like you seem more confident too. This will build trust." In addition to this positive feedback, Sylvia also gave me some great questions to think about as I prepare for the next week, specifically about the engagement of a few students. I'm so grateful to have a colleague who is so encouraging and collaborative.

The Bad:

I didn't really experience anything that I would qualify as "bad" this week. However, in my teaching notes, I have begun to notice a pattern of "worry" around a handful of students -- all male, all Latino. These five young men also happen to be the ONLY students who didn't turn in a complete "This I Believe" essay (the biggest assignment of the year, thus far) on Thursday.... I need to prepare for some SERIOUS interventions next week.

The Ugly:

I'm trying to prepare my students for the demands of college, which resulted in me having to be a bit indifferent to students who chose not to turn in their best work on Thursday. We had been working on the "This I Believe" essays for over three weeks. Ideally, the students were supposed to go through THREE drafts of that essay -- the first of which would be peer evaluated, the second of which would receive my comments and revision suggestions, and the third of which would be the "most" final draft that my students would submit for a grade. More than half of my class went through at least two draft; fewer did all three.

My frustration came on Thursday when my students were supposed to come to class prepared with their "most" final drat and their other drafting materials. I had given each students of check-list of what I expected them to turn in at the beginning on the week, AND we had gone over the document together. Still, students came into class unprepared.

My colleague, the 12th grade English teacher, and I, the 12th grade writing teacher, decided NOT to be lenient about deadlines, unless students asked for extensions AHEAD of time (aka: BEFORE the due date). Therefore, the students who approached me at the beginning of class saying, "I don't have my paper" and/or "I did my paper, but I forgot my flash drive at home" received no sympathy. I simply said, "You knew exactly what was expected of you. You can either submit your paper by the time I leave today at 6:00 p.m., or you will receive a zero."

I know that may sound harsh. But, I feel obligated to prepare them for the world of college. How many professor care if your printer ran out of ink or if you slept through your test? NONE! Our students need to be able to follow rules, adhere to deadlines, AND be able to advocate for themselves when they are struggling.

While twelve students came up to me at the beginning of class on Thursday to tell me that they didn't have their paper (for whatever reason), only FIVE didn't submit a complete "This I Believe" essay. I guess the other seven got the message...