See the mess that is my living room? Piles and piles of mostly uninspired, hastily-made poster boards that are  my students' halfhearted attempt at proving to me that they actually read a novel of their choice in its entirety and can apply concepts/terms we have learned throughout the year. Let me tell you...I'm making it a goal to NEVER assign posters as projects ever again. Why?

1. Because they turn out to be a big pile of mess that sits ungraded in my living room for sometimes weeks on end before I can stomach the thought of sifting through said piles to find something that will receive a decent grade.

2. I'm convinced that assigning posters as a form of assessment fools kids into thinking that they really aren't going to have to put that much work into what they're doing, so they wait until the class period before (or maybe even the last few minutes) before it's due to glue, tape, label, etc. leaving the finished product with much to be desired.

3. This part is my fault, but the things I have made them include on book posters save them from having to do the hard work of thinking critically about a text and communicating their findings in an understandable, cohesive manner. Who thinks about carefully crafting well-written sentences on a poster board?? Slap a couple of headings along with a few bullet points, maybe a picture or two, and you're good to go.

4. It's a logistical nightmare. I'm learning that I'm just not the type of teacher who can get everything graded during a planning period at school (honestly, who can?); in fact, I save all of my grading for evenings and weekends because it's just hard for me to concentrate on that type of task when I'm in my classroom. Too many other things to do, I guess. That being said, I haul everything home with me, and toting around boxes full of posters (not to mention the huge tri-fold boards that some of my kids spring for) is just not fun, nor is it convenient. 

Bottom line, the "poster projects" have been a cop-out for me...a way to feel like I'm reviewing important concepts while allowing some student choice in the matter, but if I'm honest, I've been lazy about what I've been asking my kids to do as far as reading and responding to literature is concerned. I'm not sure what my brilliant solution to this will be just yet, but I'm excited to come up with something much more challenging, engaging, and dynamic. Suggestions welcome! 

Lesson Learned

You know how new mothers are always given advice to set aside "me time" for themselves throughout the day so they won't become burnt out on parenthood too quickly ("You'll be a better mommy if you take care of yourself, too!")? Obviously, the same is true in the professional world as well. For all intents and purposes, I'm a full-time mother of 101 rambunctious, wild, uniquely talented, sometimes pessimistic and downtrodden, often loud, energetic, enthusiastic, and nearly always unpredictable teenagers...and let me tell you, this mama has been TIRED.

The weeks leading up to Spring break were a tangled mess of chaos, exhaustion, and bad tempers. Much like the entire month of November leading up to Thanksgiving break, I found myself unable to cope with the day-to-day distractions, not to mention the subsequent breakdowns (on my part as well as the kids'). One wrong word or dirty look, one unnecessary or irrelevant question, one little interruption usually made me lose it. In short, I was an absolute miserable person to be around.

I'm learning--albeit slowly--how to handle myself when I'm in that stressed out, inconsolable state. True, kids sometimes make choices that don't exactly help their academic future, but most of my blow-ups aren't so much their fault but are definitely an overreaction on my part. So here's what I've learned: 1. Be honest. I often find myself saying things like, "I'm making a huge effort to not get carried away right now, but I'm getting extremely frustrated because..." Sounds tacky, yes, but I've it let's me call them out on inappropriate behavior while keeping my own attitude in check. Plus, I've noticed that most of my kids are appreciative, if not a little amused, when I'm upfront about the fact that I'm about to lose it and need their cooperation.
 2. Apologize as often as necessary. Yeah, I'm the teacher, I'm the adult, I'm the authority in the classroom, blah blah blah. But when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Most of my apologies are because I shot back at a kid with some snarky or sarcastic comment that just wasn't necessary. Or I took out my frustration from one kid/class on another and was acting a little crazy. Whatever it may be, it's a humbling experience to stand in front of 27 judgmental teenagers and ask forgiveness, but it goes a long way in maintaining whatever trust has been built  between you and them throughout the year. And finally, 3. PRAY. Pray for grace for yourself and your kids. Pray for good attitudes and vulnerability in the learning process. Pray that your classroom would be a place of refuge and joy for those students who need an escape.  Pray for your own heart to be open to what they can teach you.

That awkward moment when...

...a kid sits you down to give you advice on how "get a man"...yeah, it happens all too often in my classroom. My students apparently think that I must be a pathetically depressed and downtrodden soul since I have no ring on my finger. I feel like they ask me at least every other day why I'm not married or don't have any children ("You don't gotta be married to get a baby Ms. Foxworthy...all you need is a baby daddy!") Sigh. And despite my best efforts and keeping some aspects of my personal life--well--personal, they seem to have this acute radar that can sense whether I am involved in a facebook-official relationship or not, which of course leads to a series of questions regarding exactly what I do in my free time and whether or not I am seriously "putting myself out there". One of my girls went as far as to draw a connection between the book she was reading and my lack of love life in her reader response journal. These little comments and questions are becoming more and more frequent as summer draws near. I think they might be concerned for the health of my social life after I no longer have them to torment and nag all the day long. Bless them, I suppose I should feel flattered...?

Where are All the High School Teachers?

The title says it all. For as long as I have been involved in secondary education (ok, so not that long), it has been apparent that most everything “teacher-related” is centered around those oh-so-adorable elementary school students. Sitting in undergrad classes, there were often audible sighs or groans of protest among my peers whenever a well-meaning professor would share ideas intended to “motivate reluctant readers” or “help design and execute authentic assessments.” Inevitably, their ideas, while good, were always best suited for kindergarten classrooms rather than those of our good-hearted but often misguided and sullen teenagers. And it didn’t stop there on my college campus…have you been in any teacher supply stores lately?! Don't even get me started on the "educational resources" sections of bookstores. I almost snuck some covert pics on my phone while browsing at Barnes & Noble this afternoon. The bookshelves had labels such as, "For parents and teachers of elementary students" and "For parents and teachers of middle school" but not a single thing geared solely for high schoolers. The English and Language Arts section only went up as high as 8th grade. 

So here's what I'm thinking. For the sake of my 101 teenage children (as of the current 2011-2012 school year), I want this humble little blog of mine to be a place to share what's working and what's not in my classroom. True, a lot of it may be specific to my content--ENGL I and II--but there is such a wealth of information, resources, tools, and let's not forget stories to be shared. And while we can often glean some useful gems from the overabundance of elementary school material that's floating around out there, there's something empowering about asserting ourselves as a separate entity. What we do in the high school classroom and how we do it is a completely different brand of crazy. So let's run with it and do our own thing rather than trying to fix, fit, and tweak everything else to suit our own very specific needs. Ready.....go!