Teaching High School

Assemblies

***I read an excellent article in this month’s Harper’s by John Taylor Gatto. Unfortunately the actual article is not available; you’ll have to go look in the magazine. He makes good points, as he often does, about how education is failing the progress of our culture.*** UPDATE For now it is available here. Thanks to Diane for the link and to the owner of the site (rahoorkhuit) for posting it.***

This past school week, I took my English classes to the auditorium for two presentations. One was Sophomore Orientation and the other was from the local police liaison officer about student rights. Overall, the two presentations were well done.

Sophomore Orientation had to do with the big no-no’s in the building. The one which surprised me was about the dress code. I had been under the impression that it was just fine whatever they wore: skirts up to their ass, tops down past their cleavage, jeans sagging to their knees, and shirts with inappropriate pictures or phrases. I have had students already breaking each item mentioned and thought I was unable to send them down for fixing. So I guess I’ll start. Now, I do have a curious thing: if a student is wearing some Christian promoting shirt, and it could be offensive to other religiously affiliated students, should I send them down?

The other presentation was a little more shocking. I did not entirely know all the details the officer went into about student rights. Basically, they have none. They can hardly breathe without asking for permission. Ok, I exaggerate, but regardless. They can have their person, their locker, their car, their bags, etc. all examined and gone through for less suspicion than an adult. They have no right to remain silent (take the Fifth) because that is an admission of guilt. It was put to them this way, “If the student had something good to say, s/he would say it.” So if they can’t say “I didn’t do it” then they are guilty. Surprised me.

The Former and the New Student

The other day I received a call at home from a former coworker. She has taken over some of the duties I performed there and part of the reason for her call was to discuss those. The other reason for her call was to deliver a message she promised to get to me from a former student: "Tell her I came by and that I miss her." He's also in high school now. His parents were (and likely still are) very thoughtful of their son, and involved but not overly; they want him to succeed and push him to do so independently, offering him options and suggestions, consequences and routines. So after I got off the phone with my former coworker, I called him. It was so nice to hear from him, get his take on the high school experience. I wished, as did he, that he and I were at the same high school. Having familiar faces would make the transition a little easier. But then again, there are many of his peers whom I would rather not see again.

Then I also got a different call: A call into the associate pricipal's office. She wanted to tell me about a new student I'd be seeing on Monday. He is much like the character Russell Crowe played in A Beautiful Mind, as it was explained to me. He has an aide who will help him with his work. My class which he will be a part of was let in on this student's abilities and was told about what to expect. Some of them have had courses with him before and they seemed to deem it no big deal. I've had special needs students with aides helping them before, so it also is no big deal to me. And, I don't know if I should see this as sincere or as smoke being blown up my ass, but I was told that my course was specifically chosen for him. For now, I'll take it positively.

How Hard is it for a High School Student?

I can’t even imagine how difficult it is. I observe them and wonder why the education system makes it so difficult to really learn. And trust me, I have looked at various models that have been researched and are better than this traditional model.

Think about it:
Could you learn about seven different subjects each day, five days a week?
Could you switch gears every forty-eight minutes to adjust to each of seven (and for some kids, eight) different teachers’ rules and routines?
Could you be to your place of work by 7:15am each day ready to go?
Could you wade your way through 2000+ students in five minutes in 10’ wide hallways to get to your next place of “learning”?
Could you get anything done with the girls (if you’re a guy) dressed in barely there clothes?
Could you, after work, get down to the business of sports, activities, and/or band?
Could you then go home and do the ersatz homework (because, really, the work that is asked of them is really bullshit)?

My high school system was a little better, in that there was not 2000+ students, we had eight minutes to maneuver 15’ hallways, and classes were sixty minutes long. But really, I didn’t learn much in high school. Oh sure, I learned German because I really wanted to and it got me out of level 100 classes in university.

So I then wonder: Am I expecting too much of my students? Am I giving too much homework? (I’ve given about five pages of reading two of the six school nights we’ve had so far.)

Back After the Long Weekend

As I sit and sign students in who have a pass to the restroom, I feel sad for my former junior high coworkers. I seriously have more time at work/school to do school stuff during school time than I ever had. I get so much done during this restroom sign in duty. And it is so silly to have. I mean, I have to make sure students use the bathroom appropriately? What is that for? That was not fully explained, but I am sure it has something to do with security.

And then there is the beginning of the whining: This book is sooo heavy? Do we have to have it? Do we have to finish this story (five pages) for tomorrow? How do we actively read? (That after going over all hour and after they took notes on those terms previously and after I explained the assignment in three different ways. Ugh.) Welcome to the world of high school (although it really, at least right now, is not much different than junior high).

The First Day With Students

I survived the first day!!!

Not as if I didn’t expect to, but as in I am glad it’s over. I finally slept by 1:30am and had to get up at 5am. This adjustment to the time is rough. Unfotunately I napped for about the last hour, so I’ll likely have a tough time falling asleep today too. It shouldn’t feel so rough, but I am guessing all the new suroundings and the new staff are partly affecting this rough feeling. The reason it can’t really be the amount of time making me feel so wiped out is because I just figured out that I was physically in front of students for ten minutes more this summer when I taught summer school than the number I am now. Plus my day is broken up by a prep, a lunch hour, and a hall duty. My nervousness is truly due to the adjustment of being in a new place.

So the students: They are much like the students I left last spring. Now that isn’t too shocking because I finished last year teaching freshman and now I am teaching sophomores, so it is as if I have followed them through to the high school. The two German classes I have (one level one and one level two) were much quieter and subdued. This could be due to a number of things. 1) The German students have elected to be in that class. 2) The German classes are smaller (19 in level one, 27 in level two, and 30 in each Sophomore English). 3) The English classes are in rooms that aren’t designated as English rooms (one in a Math, one in a Japneser, Spanish, French, and one in a Spanish room).

I need to put together my syllabus, or rather, my class information, objective, classroom rules, and materials needed packet.