The Good:
#1 On Sunday, December 11, two adult chaperones and I took
six members of my young women’s empowerment group to Glide Memorial Church to
serve breakfast to the homeless. We meet at Excel Academy at 6:15 a.m. in order
to arrive at the church by 6:50 a.m. I was so impressed by the selflessness
that my girls demonstrated on an early Saturday morning.
Once we were there, we were quickly put to work. Some of the
girls worked in the food line; some were in charge of moving trays; one of my
best friends (who offered to help chaperone) collected tickets from every
person who entered the dining hall; and another young lady and I cleared trays
and refilled water, milk, and coffee (a VERY busy job).
After the first hour of work, most of us were sweating from
the heat and the stress of our jobs. We ended up serving 657 breakfasts that
morning. It was incredible. None of the young women who volunteered to come had
EVER done anything like this. They were awestruck and eager to talk about their
experiences after all of the homeless people cleared the dining hall.
I was taken aback when the young woman I worked with came up
to me and said, “Thanks, Ms. Oliver. This was incredible. I realized that you
really don’t know someone’s story unless you ask. Can we please do this again?”
This experience was truly beautiful for a number of poignant
reasons. Most of the young women that served these breakfasts live below the
poverty line themselves. Some of them come to school hungry – some of them go
hungry. Some of them live in two bedroom houses with over six family members.
Some of them work after school in order to supplement their family’s income.
Some of them have parents who work two (or three) jobs. Despite all of this,
the young women in my young women’s empowerment group are committed to giving
back to their community – and they are willing to give back whatever they have.
To me, that is the definition of beauty and of selflessness. I allowed my
students to teach me a valuable lesson that morning, and I spent the rest of
the day feeling inspired and so hopeful.
Some pictures from our volunteer event:
#2 Last week, I gave my students their first Grammar Exam. I
expected them to show their mastery of the five basic sentence patterns, the
four basic parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverb, and two of
the phrases (prepositions and gerunds). Many of the students failed – due to a
combination of unpreparedness (my fault) and lack of study (their fault).
However, many of my students were VERY successful on the test; in fact, they
showed true mastery of the concepts listed above. So, I decided to practice my
ability to differentiate instruction through strategic students partnership.
Basically, I partnered one “grammar guide” (the teacher) with one student who
struggled to show mastery over the grammatical concept. The “grammar guide” was
responsible for re-teaching the lessons I had already taught over the course of
the semester. Then, together, the students re-took the exam, using each other’s
strengths to achieve the best results.
These partnerships were truly exciting for a grammar nerd
(like myself) to behold. It was amazing to hear some of the “grammar guides”
speak with such authority about grammatical concepts that are truly difficult
to grasp. It was an English teacher’s dream-come-true! One female “grammar
guide” especially surprised me. She completely took ownership of her knowledge
and understanding of English grammar. I heard her teaching the short cuts that
I had shared with the group in my lessons. I also heard her using my words
about grammar, but owning them like they were hers – they were hers now! So
cool!
My rationale for teaching grammar in my writing class is
this: “A thorough understanding of grammar gives you more agency in your
writing. In other words, you won’t just be writing what “sounds” good; you will
be writing what you know is correct.” As I watched these grammar partnerships,
I saw my students demonstrate and/or embrace the agency that our grammar study
seeks to give them. Needless to say, it was a VERY exciting day for me.
#3 After the 2nd Marking Period (the second
six-week grading period at our high school), I asked my students to reflect on
their experiences in our writing class. Here are a few of the most telling
responses:
“I learned that revising my work helps.”
“That I learned in this class was about 40 new words. I try
to use them outside of school to seem smart.”
“When you write just for the fun of it, you will write good
things.”
“Something new I learned this marking period is that write
is not that boring after all and is something that I enjoy doing.”
“Something that I learned during this marking period was it
always good to [do] more than one revision.”
“What I have learned is that nothing is made perfect;
revision is [the] key to success.”
“This marking period I learned that it is okay to have a
shitty first draft.” – A tribute to Ann Lamott
“I learned I must be patient with my writing. I cannot rush
my words into a paper. I must brainstorm and think about what I am going to
write about. [I also need to] make an outline.”
“Writing can express who I am on the inside.”
“This marking period I learned how to recognize the
different sentence patterns…That’s pretty cool to know you can break down
sentences and put them into categories.”
“A good writer goes through many revisions, and my personal
statement “most” final draft is a great representation of what I learned.”
The Bad:
During the last three weeks of school prior to winter break,
I began to experience waves of frustration about teaching. My colleagues
constantly reassured me that my feelings were just a part of “December
Burn-Out.” Regardless, I didn’t feel good about my negative attitude. It
affected my energy in the classroom and my energy in my lesson planning.
I actually had one day where I hated my job. I went home,
thinking, “I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m not cut out for teaching…these
kids…here!” My head was full of a pessimism that I had NEVER experienced
before. After a long conversation with my dad, I realized that those thoughts
are really just part of being an adult – experiencing the highs and lows of a
life that you chose and committed to. I realized that I wasn’t going to feel
that way forever. In fact, I wasn’t even going to feel that way for a day. When
I returned to school the following day, I had an amazing conversation with one
of my Digital Journalism students. I had a good day, surrounded by the kids and
colleagues with whom I chose to begin my career. Powerful stuff!
What I learned, however, is that I need to do a better job
of taking care of myself. I can’t take care of my kids when I’m tired,
stressed, and overwhelmed. I need to save some more time for me, so that I can
continue to sustain giving most of my time to them.
The Ugly:
The Vocabulary Exam – In my 6th period class,
only four students passed the Vocabulary Exam. I expected my students to be
responsible for knowing seventy words, their definitions, and how to use them
in context. Needless to say, I was VERY disappointed in my students’ habits of
work – namely in their ability to study. Studying is truly all you need to do
in order to be successful on a vocabulary quiz/test/exam. Weekly quizzes and
weekly points for having their vocabulary words on notecards were the scaffolds
that I offered my students. We also did three big review games/activities
throughout the course of the semester. So, while I know that I always have room
to improve as a teacher, I feel confident saying that I gave my students the
supports that they needed to be successful. My 6th period students
didn’t hold up their end of the bargain, which was simply to study… I received
three notes at the end of the exam from students who are usually at the top of
the class, saying, “Ms. Oliver, I really didn’t study. I’m so sorry.” While
their admission of guilt was touching, it was also very frustrating because it
showed their lack of SUSTAINED commitment to their academic success.
On the other hand, my 5th period class had
drastically different results. All of the students passed the exam, except five.
While many of the students in my 6th period class ignored (or at
least chose not to use) the scaffolds that I offered to assist in their
acquisition of new vocabulary words, most of the students in 5th
period used their vocabulary notecards and studied on a daily basis. Some of
the students sought to use the vocabulary words in their daily life and in
their writing. They OWNED the words…
My question: What do I do now? How do I encourage the
students in 6th period to buy into the vocabulary study like most of
the students in 5th period have? Any ideas?
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