Dee Dee's Adventures

Do you still want to follow?

2012-01-02T19:26:00.000-05:00

Some have asked that I do this again. Are you interested?

Assembly for our Code of Conduct

2009-10-24T12:22:00.002-04:00

We had an assembly on Friday. Our first of the year. I am the chair of our school culture committee. We did 4 lessons during the beginning of this year on

Respect your self
Respect for others
Respect for your space
Realizing your Potential

From these lessons we are creating a code of conduct for the students. So we had an assembly to present the information to the entire school of what they had done separately. There was a group of girls that did Step Dancing. They were great. There were videos and pictures and skits. It was a great assembly.

I started the assembly with expectations for the behavior of the students. I helped the students understand how to applaud the correct and polite way. We practiced the applause and one student decided to continue to clap after the speaker started to speak, and he received a detention. That was different.

So, bottom line, the assembly was great. The student participation was outstanding, and the work that my committee has been doing since July has something tangible to show for all of our work.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how students struggle with transitivity in math. The idea that if a+b=c then c = a + b and that c - a = b and c - b = a. They have a hard time knowing that they can change things around.

I had to convince them that if m = a + b = c + d then m = c + d. They don't substitute well into equations. I am beginning to think that the basics of math thinking are being learned too quickly and that we are rushing into algebra and abstract thinking before they can handle the ideas. I am thinking a great deal about this idea and looking for some research to read that affirms that 11 and 12 year olds are ready to handle abstract math concepts.

Two stories

2009-10-21T18:20:00.002-04:00

1) I at times, have an agenda on the board for what we are going to do for the day. (I'm supposed to have it on the board everyday, but I mess this one up). So I had written, -Pass back to imply I was going to pass back work to the students. If I don't write it down, I forget to do it.

So I had erased part of the board and had erased a part of the P on -pass back. It left ass back on my board. The class tried to tell me in a very nice way that there was a bad word on the board. I thought they were showing me the projector was left on, so I turned the projector off and went on teaching. Later, one young man said, "Ms. Dyer, you erased some of the agenda." I told him No Problem, I had only erased what we had already done. He told me that there was a bad word on the board. I looked and said, "Thanks Rog. You handled that really well." The class didn't giggle or go out of control. Thank you to Rog. He is a wise kind young man whose feet don't yet touch the floor.

Story 2)
Ralph is a student in my 7th grade class. He is quite an enigma. He's pretty good in math, but is just weird. He's a class clown and he sometimes falls asleep in class. So yesterday, he fell asleep. I somehow got enough attention of the other student by panomiming. I indicated (ALL WITHOUT WORDS) that on my count of three, via my fingers, we would all say, "Ralph!" The class all understood what I wanted. I raised my fingers, one, two,... Three. And the class, having rehearsed unison answering in every class, shouts clearly and quickly, "RALPH!"
The look of fear and shock on Ralph's round face was priceless. He pounded his fists on his desk and did one of those silent screams. It was so funny. Funny .... I then lost the class.

It took 5 minutes to bring them back. I tried to write notes on the board, but that didn't work. I then had to have the class journal about what had happened. Many wrote the goings on in the back of their planner that has a place for "most memorable moments." I had another teacher in the room. He said that it was the best moment of his teaching career to be there. I'm sure I can't write the story as funny as it was, but the kids were talking about it still today.

another day in the life...

Best Note EVER passed in class

2009-10-18T17:09:00.002-04:00

So one day this last week, I confiscated a note being passed across the isle from one student to another. I put the note in my pocket to read later so that we didn't disrupt the flow of the lesson.

Later I read the note and it basically was a note to everyone in the class from one of the students. It was a note that said "7C, Do your science homework. Ms. Nagin said she would give us crackers if we all did our homework." So it was a note about students working together as a team to receive a reward. Notice the reward was crackers. As a matter of fact it was Saltine Crackers. These students need very little incentive at times.

I gave the note back to the class via their homeroom teacher so that it could finish making its rounds through the class. Sure enough they all did their science HW and Ms. Nagin got them Oreo cookies instead of Saltine Crackers. I shared the note with her before I returned it to the class, so that she was aware of the amazingness of her class.

Love it!

When do the rules apply in math?

2009-10-14T21:17:00.001-04:00

Today, I gave the student an expression to evaluate. I was working on doing math with the appropriate order of operations. So while the students were working on the expression

28-30+6

I had a student ask if this was integer work or order of operation work. I told him I didn't understand his question. I replied that yes, these are integers and that we always use the rules of order of operations. He said, "No, I mean do I still follow the integer rules?" I probably dropped my jaw to the ground.

I guess I hadn't made it clear that once we learn something we use it everytime. Interesting. He had compartmentalized and thought when we are learning a topic, that's the only time we use those rules. Could not believe it. It was truly a moment of understanding that I needed to have.

My students are honest with me

2009-10-03T09:25:00.003-04:00

I have a group of about 15 7th grade students who are my advisees. Once a week we get together and talk. This week's talk was about respecting one's self. While we talked and the direction of the conversation led us to talking about smoking and the dangers of smoking or drinking, some of my students talked about family members that smoke pot. Some brothers, cousins, and even some parents were outed by the students.

I asked if any of them had seen someone smoke pot and every hand went up. OMG, I thought. First of all that the culture in our society is such that talking about this is very okay and that these students don't keep information to themselves. I will never breach the confidence that they have in me unless I am obligated by law. What I will do is to help them learn.

Last week they all told me how they have been hit for punishment (spankings, cords, belts). So drugs and fear of physical punishment, guess I'm getting to know these kids more and more. I have amazing students that are insightful, resilient, happy, and a joy to be with most of the time.

I retaught how to multiply 2 or 3 digit numbers this week. I also tested the 7th grade students on 5 different NYS standards. Hopefully they understand the different classifications of numbers and can tell the difference of a rational and an irrational number now. They also were tested on their understanding of adding and subtracting integers. Most of them can handle the integer laws. This week we finished multiply and divide integers. Next week the 7th grade students will delve into remembering the Order of Operations. This is one of the skills that they need to practice A LOT! My principal is going to observe me on Tuesday. It's my first formal observation. I video recorded myself this week to see what he will see. I am making some immediate changes. First of all, students fill any time you give them. So if I give them 5 minutes to do something that should take 2 minutes, they'll fill the entire 5 minutes. So... I have shortened the amount of time I give them to do tasks. Especially the time to get into the room and to get started. We practiced this on Friday. We reset the room and went back into the hallway and came back into the room and reduced the amount of time needed by 50%. That's a huge amount of time that I can use for instruction.

Enjoyed a night out with many of the staff last night. got home at 9:30 which is so early in a town that never sleeps. I slept and now I need to get my own homework done.

Peace!

Teaching Multiplication

2009-09-29T20:49:00.002-04:00

I taught my students how to do standard multiplication today instead of the lattice system they love. It is a trick method that doesn't teach or help students with place value. I told them that if they needed to use it, not to put it onto the paper that they hand in for their work.

My class with the most IEP students were my last two periods of the day and they were not going to focus or work very hard. Why is handing back papers so time consuming? anyone with any suggestions? I am insistant that only a teacher hand back tests and quizzes to protect the students from others knowing the grades.

I had a boy complain that it was wrong that I had scored his paper an "F." I had asked him to round 3 numbers (no decimals) and he didn't do any of them even closely correct. He also didn't write anything in the area to describe how to round numbers. Some of this was because he had wasted classtime and note completed the task because he didn't know it was going to be graded as a quiz. Failure is Failure in my room. If there is understanding and focus in class, it's hard to fail.

I also learned that if a students grades are padded too high, then the school won't consider testing them for learning disabilities. I need to do my job of being fair. I really don't like students failing at items that they should have some understanding by now in their middle school career.

Struggling so far this week

2009-09-22T21:53:00.002-04:00

I did not have internet in my classroom for 4 class days. It was like working without my left hand. I could do it, but it wasn't easy. I got the internet back this afternoon, so tomorrow I have some lessons to work on tomorrow.

I have a parent information night tomorrow. I look forward to meeting parents and sharing our goals for the year with them. I have a bulletin board that I still need to finish before tomorrow evening. Hmmm.... I guess I'll do that tomorrow afternoon when the students leave because they have a half day. Christian stayed after school to help me clean the bulletin board off today. I miss having Christian as my student.

I am tired from the small struggles of the few days. Bed sounds good now.

OHHHH!!! One of the students decided to "steal" a folder from me. I would have been happy to give her one had she asked me for one. However, she chose to just take the folder from my room and admitted to it. She'll be serving an In School Suspension tomorrow. Disappointed in her I am.

Pictures from this week.

2009-09-20T08:55:00.001-04:00

We traveled to Staten Island on the Ferry and enjoyed a day next to the water. The students simply enjoyed a day without structure.

I'm so tired

2009-09-11T19:40:00.002-04:00

The first week of classes done. Actually, I gave a couple of diagnostic exams and assigned a little bit of homework. Next week we really begin. This weekend I finish up my papers to hand to the kids for classroom policies and such. I also write a couple of lesson plans and do the reading for my own graduate classes. I did take a couple of pictures of my kids using the Macs to take an exam. Unfortunatly I didn't check the camera too well before I snapped the pics. Next week, I'll add more pictures of the kids.

Scott said the floor in the bathroom and laundry room looks amazing. I can't wait to see it.

I am so going to sleep hard all night tonight and not set me alarm for 5am. I found one of my students gets up at 4am and then goes to his grandmothers before school. Holy crap!

I so love the kids I can't get over how well they respond to my style. It truly makes me feel amazing that they learn and laugh and then take things seriously as well. We talked just a smidge about imaginary numbers today. I told them I couldn't talk about them that they were reserved for high school or for after school with me.

LOVE TEACHING....

Beginning Year #2

2009-09-08T20:11:00.002-04:00

So tomorrow we start school again. I have a new homeroom partner, new students, a new neighbor in the science room and lots of new supplies. First of all.... Thank you to my parents and all of the other people who bought supplied for my students this last summer. I have so many notebooks, folders, packages of loose leaf paper, and pencils. I am so excited to have the basic supplies so that I can give them to my students.

Scott was here this last weekend and we went to the US Open tennis tournament. What a great time we had. We met really wonderful people and we watched great tennis.

Jeff is on to his second year at RIT. He had a great summer working for Hitachi in Boston. He lived with Andrea and her fiance in Waltham. They did really well together. I went out for a weekend and we all had a nice time.

Tomorrow starts a year of teaching math to 6th and 7th grade students. I am part of a couple of committees, and I've offered to keep track of the money our school collects in various fundraisers over the year.

So, here we go. Oh... two courses at Pace taken over the summer and another two start this week. I graduate in May with a Master's degree. It's a lot of work, but I'll be fine.

Zip me an email and keep me up to date on what you are doing!
D

Time goes so quickly

2009-06-02T20:08:00.003-04:00

I had a great weekend. My mom and dad came to the city and stayed with me. They arrived on Friday with Scott. He drove them down and parked their van near my home. They took naps, had lunch and then ventured via the subway to my school on the Upper West Side. I showed them my classroom and talked about my students.

First we went to 46th street's restaurant Bourbon Street. After a lovely dinner, we went and saw Mamma Mia! that night. I heard my dad and my mom laugh a lot. They really liked the set and the singing. It is such an exciting show to watch. Heck, Mom didn't even fall asleep watching it. We then took the subway back to Queens. We arrived back at my apartment around midnight.

Mom and Dad slept in the bedroom and Scott and I found rest on the couch and floor in the living room. We woke Saturday to a glorious morning. We trekked down to Battery Park and bought tickets on the Circle Line to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We did not debark at the Statue, but instead spent the day at Ellis Island. We learned a great deal, and enjoyed the museum. We came back to queens and enjoyed a NYC Pizza and a fruit salad that I made from the fruit stand beneath my apartment.

Sunday we started out early and went to the Top of the Rock. The views were great and I believe it's a better tour and experience than the Empire State Building. The lobby at Rockefeller Center is simply beautiful. Mom and Dad took lots of pictures. Dad was impressed with mom being quite comfortable with the height. Then we went and took the GreyLine Downtown tour on the double decker red bus. We saw so much and didn't have to drive in the traffic. We ate down at the South Street SeaPort. After showing mom the wooden escalators in Macy's (she really didn't know how large the store was) we went back to queens once again and ate at a local Polish restaurant.

We got to bed at a decent hour, because I had to work on Monday morning. They left after rush hour was over so that the drive would be easier. I think they enjoyed their time here. They frequently commented they were happy to not feel rushed.

My first Panic Attack in NYCity

2009-05-13T21:51:00.002-04:00

No worries... I lost my keys.(found them)

Before I leave anyplace I make sure I have my phone and my keys. Note that my keys are attached to my "wallet" that has my driver's license, credit cards, metro card and cash. It also holds my Dunkin Donuts card so I can get some free coffees sometimes. As I was getting ready to leave work this evening, I couldn't find my keys. I looked in about 8 or 9 places, but couldn't find them. I was stressed a bit. I told myself that they were just in a place I hadn't looked yet.

I called Scott and vented and swore a bit. I was safe and at my school, however, I had nothing else. He was ready to drive down and rescue me with a set of keys and money. But... I again traced my steps and found my keys... but for those 10 minutes, I was scared. I would have been stuck.

Then, I had an angel meet me waiting for the train. A lady asked me how my day was as we waited for the train on the platform. It was a simple question from a stranger. We talked for about 4 minutes, and then her train came and off she went. What a great moment for me. I love NYC.

Students walking Blindfolded

2009-05-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

May 6 & 7, 2009 Princeton-Blairstown Center
7th grade Overnight trip

Pictures from the Overnight Adventure

2009-05-10T09:46:00.001-04:00

NO! I did not kidnap my students and take them to Berkshire. However... they are blindfolded in a rope maze in the middle of the woods.

Read my next post to read about the trip we made.

Always so much to share

2009-05-10T08:30:00.000-04:00

I went to see a show last night! I saw "Exit the King." The comedy play stars Geoffrey Rush. He was Captain Barbosa in the Pirates movies. Susan Sarandon was also in the play. I always think of her as the mom in "Little Women" or the nun in "Dead Man Walking." movies. Some broadway plays and musicals have tickets for college students that are only $26. It makes it affordable to go to see a show. Before the show, I had a small pizza at an Italian restaurant, while I sat at a table out on the sidewalk in Manhattan.

The week's big events were that I finished the Spring Semester at Pace Univ and I went on an overnight with the students in my 7th grade.

Pace classes are done for a few weeks. It feels wonderful to have some space and time in my head to not be doing my own homework in addition to grading my students' work and planning my students' lessons. Whew... nice.

The trip we took was to Princeton-Blairstown Center. It was in NJ, about a 2 hour bus ride on a school bus. When we were there, we did teambuilding activities and games. One of the favorites that my team did was to create a circle, toss a ball in a specific pattern and to repeat the pattern with multiple balls going at the same time. We never quite got it perfect, but they really wanted to try over and over.

Several students who have focus issues were focussed on the bugs. They were not able to ignore the bugs around them. I had one student who tucked his pant legs into his socks, tucked his sweatshirt into his jeans and cinched his belt (too tight) and then pulled the strings on his hoody sweatshirt so that he was completely covered. Of course he couldn't participate in the activities like that. So instead, he would undo his hoody and then slap and swat at the bugs without paying attention to the activity. He slapped his glasses off of his face several times because he was just wild with his arms due to the bugs.

Then there was the student who thought we were going to sleep outside. There was a nightwalk and then a campfire and then we were going to be sleeping in our cabins. So as he headed to the night walk, he carried his sleeping bag. One of the teachers noticed and told him to leave his bag at her cabin and pick it up on the way back after the night's activities. He didn't realize he didn't need his sleeping bag. So we go and do all of the activities. Then, when he arrived in his cabin, he told his cabin leader that he didn't have any bedding for his cot. That means he completely didn't put together that he had left his bag before the activities. Very curious how a student can forget something like this. It's part of the adventure.

The most difficult parts were the lack of sleep (girls were up late, using restrooms in the middle of the night and then up early to shower) and not helping the students solve problems the camp facilitator gave them to do.

Mr. DeWolf and I did a blindfold walk helping each other walk thru a maze of things with one being sighted and the other blindfolded. It was really hard for me to take my glasses off, don a blindfold and trust him in this wooded, uneven ground, lake nearby area. We did a great job. He lead me and I was able to completely trust and listen to his directions. We were a good team.

Enjoy the week!

a Day of Chaos.... could have been prevented

2009-04-30T19:49:00.000-04:00

I think I am the only person in the school that did not receive the "Memo" that there was Science state testing happening today and that it would displace me for my first 3 periods.

As I went to my classroom to start first period, my students were telling me that we were relocated to another room due to testing of 8th graders in our classroom. This was NEWS to me. We had two periods of material to cover and now I am in a foreign classroom with the class that doesn't adjust well to change. (I told them over and over that I don't adjust well to change and that they needed to help me through this. It worked like a charm. wink wink)

We did one period in Mr. DeWolf's room and then we relocated to Ms. Bachman's room for the 2nd period of instruction. That was kind of fun, because my friend Ms. Bachman was able to see me teach the class that she and I live with for the majority of our school days. They were great. They learned a lot (I think) and they handled the change brilliantly.

So now I go to 3rd period and thought it was in my room, only to find out that I would be on the 8th floor and I needed to get my teaching supplies. Oy Vey! We rearranged the room we were placed in and used the space wisely. We did 3rd period on one room and then... Finallyyyyyyy we got to go back to my classroom for the 4th period of my 4 period marathon. The sixth grade class also handled the disruption wonderfully and when we went from the 8th floor to our classroom, they did so quickly and smoothly and we just continued the lesson as though we had never moved.

Then.... Then.... my 6th and 7th period class got the giggles and I wasn't in any mood to join in. I had a really important lesson to teach them. I had to teach them how to subtract negative numbers for the first time they have seen it. This is a skill they need to have through all of the rest of mathematics into college. Here I was truly introducing something they had not ever done, and they were snickering and giggling. I asked what was so funny, and none of them knew... they obviously just got the giggles. Darn it. Wrong day. I like it when people get giggly, but this was a hard lesson to teach, and I wasn't able to find a "funny" spin to put on it.

Oh well, another day down.

Swine flu is the only thing the news is reporting these last few days in NYCity. I attend Pace University in Lower Manhattan and I have received notice that a student there may have swine flu. I wash my hands a lot. Masks aren't worth getting unless I am the one sneezing. The subway has been free of sneezing and coughing people as far as I can tell. I do wash my hands after every ride.

2009-04-29T21:41:00.000-04:00

Can you tell that I love these kids? Mmmmm Hmmmmm

Yes... I'm washing my hands a lot.

2009-04-29T21:29:00.001-04:00

I have probably been exposed to the swine flu. But no real worries. There is another math teacher in my one graduate class who went to Mexico for the Easter break (week after Easter) to help build a home for their equivalent of Habitat for Humanity. She returned and got sick. She figured it was that sickness from riding on a plane... so she went to the doctors and received antibiotics for what they all figured was bronchitis or another bug. She missed class last week. We did a presentation together this week. (We rocked. She played the role of James Lifton and I was an expert in Parental Involvement in a school.) We had a great time. So yep... in hindsite, she things she probably had Swine Flu and so she was going to go back to her doctor to be tested. She wasn't that sick, but did miss a day of school.

There is a weird nervousness on the subway, no one wants to hold the hand rails to help them from falling in fear of the germs. oh well.

That's all for tonight.

Swine FluI

2009-04-26T12:16:00.000-04:00

In case you are concerned about Swine Flu. The school where the students have the swine flu is about 7 miles from my house and about an hour and a half bus ride from my apartment. The school is close to Met's stadium and Flushing Meadows where the US Open is played.

I need to write some papers and prepare a presentation.

Pictures from a pizza party!!

2009-03-21T06:50:00.000-04:00

More Pictures!

Snow Storm in NYCity

2009-03-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

this is an interesting day in NY. Bottom line...

They don't have many dump trucks, so they put snow plows onto the front of all of the garbage trucks. We have 100s of garbage trucks.

Great Feelings are amazing

2009-02-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

If you know me from IC, you will know that I was not very good at Analysis. As a matter of fact, without Stan’s “sticky points” I might have had a grade less than a B. ICK. So, I didn’t learn as much as I would have liked in that class about proving calculus. However, I learned something from Stan Selzter.
I learned the value of a “sticky point.” Yesterday I implemented my version of sticky points in my math classes. I struggle with the punitive system in the school. I appreciate the support from the administration. My students are really quite well behaved. However, I couldn’t find a way to compliment them effectively and quickly. So I started carrying around a small pack of post it notes. I catch students doing good work while I’m walking around and I write a note to the student and give them the post it on their notebook. I like finding them doing the things I want them to do
• Copying notes
• Trying problems
• Asking good questions
• Being proud of themselves

So, I write things like:
• Nice Work
• Good Job
• Quick work
• Excellent
• Terrific
• WOW! That’s good
• Good Work
• Good question!
• Thanks for trying
• Good Start… keep trying

I thought they would appreciate the positive reinforcement. I explained to them that they could put these sticky notes onto a test or quiz and receive “bonus points.” Other rules include
• I’m not responsible of lost sticky points. They are responsible for them.
• I will not give you one if you ask for one.
• You can give them to other people
• If you want to sell them…. I don’t care. I’m not responsible after I writ it.
• They don’t expire.

So after I started class today, I noticed the kids were amazingly engaged in the class. About ½ an hour into the class my CTT partner teacher came in. She wondered what I had done to get every student so quiet and working so hard. I truly didn’t know…. I thought they liked the topic. Then my homeroom partner came in and needed to ask a few students a quick question. While she was there we told her we had already done Science today (her content subject). Then the class wanted to tell her more.
• They told her we had done ELA when we discussed the word “compound” and how we use it in ELA
• We told her we did science when we talked about chemistry and the word “compound”
• We told her we talked about H2O and the ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen in water.
• We told her we talked about social studies because we talked about what was on the sides of our money.

All of those topics lead up to us learning about compound events of flipping coins and spinning spinners and rolling dice and finding probabilities.

So later, my homeroom partner commented on how amazing the class was paying attention and able to be so focused. I attribute it to the “sticky point” system

So… Thanks Stan! And Thank you Matt M for letting me have your sticky points in Analysis.

A Week off in February

2009-02-14T07:51:00.000-05:00

A moment.
I find myself having a couple of moments in the morning. I am awake, showered, have cleaned the apartment and am packed and ready to get on a bus to go to Binghamton (Berkshire). So… I am never without something to do, so now I’m writing for my blog and watching the Today show on NBC.

I taught Venn diagrams in math this week. My students were confused about the fact that I require a box around the two or three circles. We haven’t done much with the world of “sets,” but instead, I’ve given them enough information to do a few questions if they are posed to them. They can read the Venn and could determine some probability after looking at it.

My students took practice math exams this week. I have one student that is going to have a difficult time getting out of the lowest bracket of scores on the state exam in March. I will work with her when we get back. I also have a student that is going to receive a score in the highest level bracket.

One student did so well on the exam that I was in tears after scoring his exam. I looked back and he has never done so well in the past on his math. Great Gains are what make me the happiest. He has the most disabilities of all of my students. It’s an amazing “high” to have students do that well. It also amazes me to see the students write their math the same way I write my math, which is the same way Jim Gulick taught me to do my math. His legacy lives on into NY City.

So now I have a week off. Unfortunately (fortunately) Scott has the week off also. He is on a furlough because his business isn’t doing so well. The newspaper business is losing money and so they have cut people’s work year by cutting weeks out and not paying them. So we’ll enjoy the time together, but not the reason why we get an entire week together.

Tough Day

2009-02-12T05:21:00.000-05:00

Well... I had tears at school today. The students were disrespectful to me and just pushed my buttons. After they left the room, I had tears. They were tears of frustration. I had lost my pocket of things to do. I had a brain meltdown and forgot to just send the students out of the room. Probably happened because they were taking a math practice exam.

I would like them to finish the math test... Priority should have been to maintain the climate of the classroom.

Looking forward to the week off of teaching! I get to go to Berkshire!!!!!

Middle School Dance

2009-02-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

I was not on my game this week. I did not bring my camera to two different events. First of all, the 6th grade students went ice skating on Monday at a place called Riverbank park. We were south of the George Washington Bridge. As we looked up and down the Hudson River, we commented that this would have been an amazing place to have been when the plane landed in the river. The plane cleared the GWB by a few hundred feet as it came down the river.

The kids had a great time and I even went around the rink a couple of times. They are a great group of students that are easy to take on the subway. We just have to count off before and after we get on a train car. They have clear instructions on what happens if they get lost on the train and miss our stop (which wouldn't happen with two teachers per class). So... we had one boy fall and has a sprained ankle... oh well.

Then on Wednesday the school had a dance. There was a DJ and lots of teachers as Chaperones. The kids are amazing. I only got to see a bit of the dance, because I was working on my grades for report cards. However, the dancing I saw just made me smile. The boys and girls were all dancing. No one was sitting down or not dancing. It was so much fun. The music was loud and fun. They all did Latin dancing also. They all can salsa dance. The amount of fun they had was great. It made my day. I was able to see my students as teenagers and not just students. They had their nails and hair done. They all wore jeans. The rules on what they were allowed to wear included the line

No Boobs, No Butts, and No Bellies.

It worked. They all dressed very conservitately and fun. It was fun to see them in normal street clothes. Note that I only ever see them in their school uniform.

I am in the city for the weekend and have lots of homework to do and cleaning. I need to get my laundry done and buy some groceries. I'll be busy, but it is going to be 50 degrees today. Hopefully I'll find the time for a walk.

I wish I had more time every day...

2009-02-03T21:34:00.000-05:00

Couple of things I want to write about.

Yesterday we took the 6th grade students ice skating. They skated up on 145th street in Harlem at a wonderful Riverside park. what a nice day. About 40 degrees, we didn't need our coats, just our gloves and helmets. All of the students skated. Many had blisters from not wearing thick enough socks.

Today I told my 6th grade class something they had NEVER heard of. I told them that if you put money into a bank to save it, the bank will pay you money. They know about debt and credit card charges, but not savings interest or investments. We had a great conversations about earning money and saving money.

So... that was fun.

I have met a fellow fellow who lives around the corner from me. He is a nice man who graduated from Columbia University and teaches English. He introduced me to a store owner here on Fresh Pond Road. I met people in the neighborhood!!!!! That is so exciting to me. I knew it would happen, just didn't know it would take so long.

I had a large "charlie" in my apartment yesterday. It's dead now. Guess the humidity from the heat encourages them to come up the pipes that heat the apartment. I find my apartment warm for the most part.

Okay... need to get to bed so that I can go to work as early as possible tomorrow. G'night.

Professional sports

2009-01-29T06:11:00.001-05:00

I went and saw a New Jersey Nets game last night. What a fun and LATE night.

Things I've done...

2009-01-25T20:24:00.000-05:00

I picked up Andrea and Dan on Friday evening after work. We went out for dinner at a nice restaurant because it was Restaurant Week here in the city. We then came home and I picked up my laundry. Saturday, Andrea and Dan went and saw Wicked on Broadway. They had a great time. I met them afterwards, and we again went out for Pub food. Then we went and saw Mall Cop because it was SO cold outside. We took a cab down to 34th and 3rd ave to meet friends.

We had a few drinks with Nicole and Sophia. We have all been involved with community theater together. It was really great to be in the city with old friends.

Andrea and Dan left to go back to Boston this morning. They came in on the North East train. They drove to Sanford Connecticut and then took the train into the city. They said it was so much easier than taking the bus like they did last time.

Work was weird last week, because we had state English exams. Every day was different than the day before. I can handle change, but the students tend to struggle when we change things a lot.

I had a successful lesson on Friday. My 6th grade class got to use the laptop carts in Math class. It was a website that is a partner with the textbook we use. The exercises we used were just like the homework they had been doing during the week. No one asked to use the bathroom. They were that involved in the lesson. It was great. I want to do it more often. While they work, I can work with a few students individually.

This week, I am teaching Proportions to the 6th grade and surface area to my 7th grade class. All of them will be taking midterm exams during the week. I plan to go to Berkshire on Friday, which means that I'll miss the Superbowl on Sunday night. Oh Well!

I do have fun in NY City!

2009-01-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

I don't want you to think that all I do is work 15 hour days. Sometimes, on Fridays... I go out with friends. Here are a group of us who are all Math teachers and we worked together all summer and try to still get together. The lady on my left is my last class' instructor. She taught me a lot of ways to teach math. On my right is Steve. He teaches high school math in a school that teaches with the idea of Social Change as their guiding force.

After dinner this particular night, I met Scott at Port Authority bus station. He came down for the weekend. It was great to have him here. We did a little shopping where he bought new shoes and I bought another pant suit and a new skirt.

Teaching is going along. I've moved onto teaching standard unit conversions. feet to yards, cups to gallons, ounces to pounds and such things. I'm watching the Cardinals beat up on the Eagles at this point. We'll see how it all ends.

Oh... I have tomorrow off from teaching.

It's really about the people...

2008-12-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

Several times while I've been shopping in my local groceries and deli's I have been approached for my opinion and given unsolicited advice. Today, a lady asked me to reach a box of cake mix for her because I was a little taller than she was. That was different. She then asked me if she would be able to use sunflower oil instead of vegetable oil. I said I didn't know, but that if I were her, I'd go with the vegetable oil. Then she was going to put the mix back because she didn't have an electric mixer. I advised her to just use a whip, and she said that made sense. So there... in a moment we had made a connection. Before we had gone on our ways, an older gentleman approached us and told us about smaller box mixes at another store that were on sale at a good price. He was a nice man. When Jesse was here a man told us about where to find the best prices on milk. It's as though everyone is watching out for each other and how to save the most money on groceries. I just found that very interesting.

Tomorrow there is a staff party. I am looking forward to that. I have participated in the secret Santa group this year. I've recieved fruit, chocolate, a spreading knife, and a lottery ticket. How fun. I've given, some potpourri, fruit, a chocolate chip cookie (big one), and a small candle. We reveal our Santa's a the holiday party.

I'm quite sad this weekend. One of my Aunt's passed away quite suddenly. Her daughters are the closest in age as I am and as we grew up together, they were close to me as an Aunt and Uncle. It is my mom's sister-in-law. She was a great person on this earth. I especially enjoyed listening to her tell stories about her family. She knew how to tell a story with just the right amount of detail. Not too many details, but enough so that I could picture everything. I love her a great deal. I worry about my Uncle, in that he had just come home from the hospital on Friday the 5th from surgery on an anurism. It will be a difficult Christmas for our family. She was an amazing, strong, beautiful woman.

Looking Forward

2008-12-14T19:19:00.000-05:00

I am proud. Proud to be a teacher in New York City's public school system. Proud to be the teacher that is straight and honest with my students. They sometime want to get me to kid around and tell a lie to another student. I don't go along. I won't lie. The kids don't understand this. They think kidding and lying is acceptable and the right thing to do. It doesn't sit well with me. I think that Georgia and I talked about this idea frequently. It isn't okay with me to lie so that it's fun for the liar but not fun to the person being lied to. Just a thing I have.

This week will be crazy. The kids are getting spun up because of Christmas. Most of my students are Christian and a large amount of them are Catholic from Pueto Rico or the Dominican Republic. I do have a few girls that where head scarves, I think that means they are Muslim. (guess I should find out). I have to teach multiplying and dividing fractions this week.

I also took care of some business here in the city. I took care of filing paper work so that the city gave me 8 years of credit for my previous experience from work. This helps out quite a bit in the pay scale. That feels good.

What I am especially looking forward to is a gathering in Berkshire of some friends over the holidays. And... this Friday I am going home to spend time with Scott and to finish the holiday shopping.

2008-12-12T05:55:00.000-05:00

We did a project on fractions. More to come later.

Things I want to Remember

2008-12-11T20:40:00.000-05:00

I want to remember the rider on the train who was sketching. He sat across from me and sketched the young man sitting next to me. The young man sitting next to me was sleeping on the morning commute train. He never knew that he had been sketched. The artist drew with a fountain pen and had to change the ink in the pen while he sketched. We rode like this, him sketching, one sleeping and me observing, for over 20 minutes on the number 2 train. I remember that his fingertips were black from ink. Not completely black, but just dark around his fingernail base. It completely looked like the fingers of Will Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love. I just want to remember that moment in my time here. The invisibility people have in a city of millions.

On the same morning I made eye contact with a rider that returned the eye contact. It's really interesting how in a city of millions and the hundreds of people that I see in a day, there are only about 15 people in NYCity that I talk with. People at work and people at school. Note that I don't see everyone at school everyday. So it was just a day of realizing how alone I really am in this city with so many people.

I want to remember that I broke up a "fight" this week. Actually the one girl whom I've mentioned more than once (the thief and liar) was hitting another student. She had him cornered. And... she's 3/4 ths this boy's size and I saw 3 hard punches delivered by her to his chest. I took her (she's quite a bit smaller than I am and she has a respect for me) and took her arm and lead her to the office, where I placed her on the couch. I also told the staff in the office that she did not belong in the school. She ended up in In School Suspension today.

Lots of stories... lots. too many to write.

However, I need to spend some time grading papers and don't have time to write this any further tonight. Good Night!

Two degrees from President-Elect Obama

2008-12-06T10:27:00.000-05:00

I will be only two degrees removed from the Inaugural Ball in January. A dear friends son will be attending the ball and all of the festivities. The son is married to a personal friend of the Biden family. I thought that was exciting.

Teaching and being tired...

2008-12-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

I realized today that I was tired. I was tired enough to sit down in the front of the classroom. I had trouble finding words, I was tired. I taught four periods in a row as I do on every Thursday. By the last period, I felt my energy level drop. I did have coffee in my coffee cup, so I drank that while I taught. My lesson was good.

My students were very "excited" to do fractions. Since when do middle school students enjoy fractions? What really happened was... I told my 6th grade students that fractions were my favorite part of math. Since they like me, they want to like things that I like. So, since I told them I liked fractions, they decided that they too would like fractions.

Teaching fractions are one of the easier things for me to teach. My class at Pace University has been preparing me for these lessons. My students are working on a project and we have a kit of fraction pieces that they made. These kits tend to help them understand some concrete things about fractions.

Off to bed again.

Want to remember the Family Conferences

2008-11-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

So, I want to post about some of my experiences with Family Conferences before I forget.

First of all, the student runs the show. They had work to show the parents, they had reflections on all of the work, and they had goals for the next report period. I acted as a scribe and took notes for the family as they discussed the good stuff and the areas needing improvement.

The majority of my 6th grade students goals were something about "will do all my homework." which is so typical of all students. If they do their homework, they learn the material. Although, I might go a week with no homework for my students and grade heavily on classwork. I just can't see if they understand material with homework that isn't complete or didn't get done because they just didn't do it.

Another item about the conferences is that all but one parent came for my students. I have one parent that still hasn't made it in, but I know has some meetings at school which she must attend, so family conference will be combined with these other meetings.

I could probably start a book on "What Parents should NEVER say to their children." The one thing that sticks with me from the conferences was the parent whose child is having trouble due to lying and stealing. The daughter has been mentioned in my blog before and is a self identified liar. I spoke very firmly with the student about her ability to change during this year and to control her words and her actions. Her mom, however, decided to tell her daughter that people that lie and steal in 6th grade, ... "grow up to be killers." I couldn't believe it. I talked very calmly and directly to the young girl and said that her mom was exaggerating and that young people who lie and steal, can grow up to lie and steal as adults. This young girl is so smart and has a lot of poise when she speaks. The last thing she needed was for her mom to tell her that she is a killer in her future. GEEZE! That is one I won't forget.

So Jeff was here for almost a week. I miss him. He starts his second semester Tomorrow and hopefully he'll be as successful as he was his first semester. Scott is here now and we will be celebrating his birthday with dinner out tonight. Woo Hoo! Oh... so I did see the windows at Lord & Taylor and at Macy's. Both are amazing! I love the city.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving at Chris' house. I am hoping Athena's camera got some clearer pictures. Mine just aren't meeting my standard. Ugh.

PICTURES from 6th grade trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art

2008-11-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

From our trip to the MET and playing afterward with the 6th grade students.

If only All days were like today

2008-11-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

As a first year teacher, I knew it would take me quite some time to figure out this "teaching" stuff. I'm not saying that I've completely figured it out, but today I had another glimpse of what I want it to feel like more often. I had one class complaining a little bit that I was going too fast. I have a habit (not a terrible habit, but one I need to work on) of going slowly enough so that a snail can keep up with the rest of the runners in the marathon. I need to move along and have the slowest of students see me after class to get some of the support that they need. This was new territory for me and my class to move at a quicker pace. It actually suited the majority of my students. It felt good.

I also had two classes of 6th graders without an issue to be found. Not one student was rude, or disrespectful for the entire time we were together. Note.... we do block scheduling so I am with students for about 90 minutes per day 4 days per week. Its tough for them to all behave all of the time. Today... it happened. And, being the bright teacher that I am, I told the second class that the first class had done it, and I wondered if they could be just as good. They were great.

My favorite part of today was telling students that there are math problems that have not been proven and that there are $1 million dollar prizes for proving them. We got onto this subject because Goldbach's conjecture was mentioned in their textbook. So I talked about it and we took the time to see about 12 numbers that were even and greater than 2 where we could write them as a sum of two prime numbers. Wooooo Hooooo..... .I felt good being a math geek today. I would bet that the other math teachers have not seen presentations on this particular conjecture. I, on the other hand, have had close friends work on this proof.

I had parent teacher conferences this last week. I'll blog about them this weekend. Just know that I had all parents except one come for conferences. We strive for 100% attendance, and if the parents don't make it in, we go to the houses. Sweet!

BTW, Jeff is coming tomorrow. Friday we have a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to look at Egyptian "stuff." Jeff gets to help me!

Jeff is Home!

2008-11-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

Jeff completed his first quarter at RIT. RIT's schedule consists of 4 quarters with the summer quarter being a cooperative or intern time for the students. So, he did really really well. I think he adjusted to college freshman year quite quickly and kept up with studies and homework.

Jeff's biggest complaint was that he was tired. His body still likes a full night of sleep and it isn't always to get that in a dorm room with 3 other boys.

I'm so proud of him. He's coming to NY City later this week and spending next weekend with me in the city. I hope he enjoys it. I know I'm looking forward to taking him to school with me. I think I'll give him an opportunity to tell my 7th grade students about how he had dozens of write ups in middle school. He wasn't the best of students in middle school. He didn't do his homework, he was a pain in the neck student to the teachers. Then he can tell them how he decided he wanted to do better and how he made it to be accepted into RIT and now is at college.

So.... off to a day in NY City where I'm going to go shopping a little bit. I need to start and do Christmas shopping.

I like Thursdays

2008-11-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

So... Thursday is my busiest day of the week. I start it off by teaching 4 periods in a row, which is quite tough. But... the first two periods are with 7A, the class that I struggle the most with. It urns out that they acan be taught in the morning hours. I have less luck with that task in the afternoons, especially Friday's last two periods.

So today, I handled them all by myself. We did the coordinate plane, and plotted points. They were great! And, to top it all off, m principal came in during this time to observe me and the class. I couldn't have felt more proud. They were all working, and working hard. I felt amazing.

It is beginning to get colder in NYCity. It was 43 degrees this morning. I wore my mittens, but didn't really need to. I still haven't really turned my heat on in my apartment. I do cook once a day and that sometimes warms the apartment up tooooo much, so I have the window open right now.

I feel very busy still, but I feel like I can manage the work load. We have parent teacher conferences next week. I have kept up with the work on coordinating this very large adventure.

I'm going to go watch some Patriot football. Enjoy the weekend. Oh... Scott showed me how to get to the mall from my apartment. It's two buses and 15 minutes of a ride. Don't know if that was a smart thing to show me... We'll have to see. Although... now I can find the movie theaters too.

If you had been in my school today...

2008-11-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

I saw 7th grade students moved to tears while they watched Barak Obama's acceptance speech. I hear the kids say things like, "I love this country." "See, we can be anything." I heard kids talking ALL day about the election. When we put up the Thank You list on the board, they insisted Obama be the first name written down. They also wanted McCain's name on the detention list. They asked everyone who they had voted for. They also were exctatic. They had stayed up until 3am in some cases to go out into the streets of Harlem to celebrate in a celebration that was most like New Years Eve. The city was amazing with the energy this morning as people got onto the subway.

I am so happy I was here to see and hear this excitement. Some of our students will be voting in 4 years. They know it, and they are already planning to vote for Barak Obama! wow!

Being In NY City during a Historic Moment

2008-11-05T05:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Mr. Obama was elected the next president of the United States. I witnessed lines for voting that were 1 to 2 hour waits. I saw people snaked around city corners with people waiting to vote. I also saw the large parties in Harlem and Time Square that looked like New Years Eve celebrations.

So today I will make sure the students understand how and why the president elect needed 270 votes to win. It will be a lesson about finding a number of the whole.

The students will be excited. They've been asking my politics for weeks. They are very tuned into the political stage.

Video of CAS singing the School Song

2008-11-01T07:08:00.000-04:00

Lyrics to song they are singing

When you're at C. A. S. you will achieve,
Your goals in math, science, and history.
We are the school that is right on the top
Higher and higher, we just can't be stopped

(chorus)
Community Action School!
Our colors are white and blue.
We're keepin' our eyes on the prize,
So you betta recognize!

(repeat chorus)

For service we go to help other schools
Help little shorties to follow the rules
We work with people both young and old.
The teachers are diamonds, the students are gold.

(chorus)

Halloween Part III

2008-11-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Halloween Part II

2008-11-01T06:48:00.000-04:00

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-01T06:42:00.000-04:00

Is it your son?

2008-10-30T21:12:00.000-04:00

Jesse came to my classroom today. The students were very interested in him, and assumed he was my son. That was cute, since I don't think of him as a son.

I had a good day, but tomorrow is Halloween, and the students are a little nutty ths week because of it. So tomorrow the school has an assembly last period with a crazy hat parade! It should be fun.

JESSE and I went out with HANNA from school. She teaches science in the room next door to me. We had Chinese. Jesse ordered Drunken noodles with Tofu.... that was a dish I would eat again! I had scallops and shrimp in garlic sauce that was great.

JESSE is with another friend tonight and he and I will catch up tomorrow and Saturday!

I miss Ithaca College and Home.

Excuse for being Absent

2008-10-29T21:33:00.000-04:00

One young man told me today that he was absent yesterday because it was raining out. I thought that was an interesting excuse. I find a lack of ability to reason deeply in some of my student. It's as thought they haven't been taught to argue with valid points. They argue with emotions.

The other interesting moment was when a student wouldn't change his seat, and chose to not take an exam because he didn't want to move. Weird kids at times!

A different Week

2008-10-23T19:26:00.000-04:00

One of the most difficult students in my tough class has transferred out of our school. The classroom has changed completely. Note that one other student was out for two days this week (the one who wouldn't acknowledge my existence). With both of these students out of the class, I have fallen in love all over again with this class. I find them to be willing to please and eager to please.

I also did a mini-project with my 6h grade students. I talked about one of my college classmates SUZ. The assignment talked about her bike and build trip across the country. The kids had to use some information I gave them to figure out distances, rates, and time traveled.

JENNY is here visiting JESSE this weekend. It's interesting that Jesse and I haven't needed to turn the heat on in the apartment. It's warm in the apartment. I live in a middle floor and have people on both sides of the apartment. So it's been cold enough to see my breath in the morning, but I haven't needed to turn on the heat. I think we are quite comfortable still. However... riding the train in the winter will be interesting. I live where the train is above ground for over 1/2 hour of my commute. This means that everytime they open the doors, my legs get cold. I need to get some leggings. I wear a skirt to work everyday. My legs get cold. Or.... I change the train ritual I ride and take the L train instead of M to 3. I'd be warmer.... we'll see how cold it gets here.

Teaching is the life for me.

2008-10-18T09:06:00.000-04:00

I am really happy to report that I love teaching here in NY City. I have an excellent administration, I have good colleagues and I have amazing students. I enjoy my days so much. That isn’t to say that every day is perfect…. HA! Far from it.

I have a student who wouldn’t acknowledge my existence for about four or 5 class days. He would defy any direction I gave him. He was sent out of my room 4 days in a row. It is hard to teach a student who isn’t in the room. His mom was called in, we met with him and his mom. He was honest with the Assistant principal that he wouldn’t respond to me and wouldn’t do what I asked. He has a long back story and has some emotional baggage that he hasn’t worked thru in his 13 short years of life.

So on Thursday, he started to raise his hand in class and when I asked him if I could help him, he asked me to check his work. That one moment where he didn’t ignore me helped me to put my toe in the crack of the door he had just opened. I hope to keep this door open for him and me. I called his mom that afternoon and told her that I was proud of her son and that she deserved to hear that he had had a successful day in math class. Again on Friday, he was kind and courteous to me. I even spoke with him one on one and told him I saw a difference these last two days in his self control. Maybe … Maybe…. He’ll have a good week next week.

I have been accepted by my students in so many ways. One piece of evidence of my acceptance is that the girls want me to do the “Harlem shake.” I see them dance and move their shoulders and won’t even pretend that I would do this, but the simple request that they want me to do it with them, says that they accept me. They like to laugh with me and are very kind with their compliments to me. They frequently tell me I look nice or that they like my shoes. It seems trivial, but in an environment where I’m still learning the rules and language, these moments are assuredly an acceptance of me into their circle of trusted adults.

The math is going well also. I have taught my 7th grade class why multiplying a negative times a negative equals a positive. I did it while teaching some geography of cities or places on our planet that are cold. We demonstrated that each city’s temperature dropped 5 degrees as fall set in. We represented that decrease in temperature with a -5. We did that to 4 cities. Then global warming came along and TOOK AWAY the -5 degrees from each of the cities. It turned out that the temperature went up when we took away -5 degrees and if we took away 4 times then (-4) (-5) = 20. That was a successful lesson. I know because I had many students having that great mathematical moment called the “Ah-Ha Moment.”

So these students can learn and they want to learn. They can be lazy, but if I compliment the hard working students, the rest of the class craves the attention and public praise and try hard to receive it from me. My praise is genuine and warm. The students want to hear good things about themselves. I’m trying to do that more and more each day.

From Oct 6

2008-10-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

Written 10/6

It’s early Monday morning and I’m nearly ready for work. Jesse is sleeping on the floor in the living room. I hope I haven’t woken him to the point that he can’t fall back to sleep. Today will be interesting. I wasn’t in my classrooms on Friday because of a visit to another school to look at CTT models. Collaborative Teaching. I understand that my students were NOT on their best behavior with a substitute. I felt that I had done everything I could by providing a seating chart, clear instructions, plenty of work, and had spoken to my class about their behavior.

Needless to say, I am disappointed in them right now. So, we’ll see how today goes. I have the week planned out already, and I’ve made the exam for the 7th grade class for Friday already. It’s so much easier to teach when the exam is written. 7th grade is reviewing Order of Operations. It’s a difficult concept, and we work on it all year long. Then they will be working on positive and negative numbers and their operations.

My 6th grade classes are working on solving single step equations with one unknown. We have evaluated expressions to the point that over 80% of my students are completely bored with it. Now to challenge them and to maybe bring along some of the others that are lost.

I researched a lot of things over the weekend to help me teach these topics. Hopefully, my research pays off and I’m more prepared for their insecurities and questions.

2 days off this week

2008-10-01T20:51:00.000-04:00

I was off yesterday and today. I worked on Monday and then I work tomorrow. On Friday, I go to another school for some Professional Development. On Saturday, Jesse moves in and then on Monday I get to see a fellow fellow from NYCTF.

So as for teaching stories. I have one boy who I continue to send out or give detention. I wrote an email to his mom, and told her that one of the infractions her son had was to pretend to hold a joint up to his lips. He pinched his first finger and thumb together and put them to his lips in a smoking movement and facial. Of course, his mom tells me he knows nothing of drugs and that I shouldn't assume he was pretending to smoke a joint. I didn't reply back, but if her son doesn't know about drugs, then my question to her is, "Why not?" he should know about drugs at 13 years old from his mom's instruction as to the dangers of drugs, especially marijuana. So, she can be critical of my assumption as to what he was mimicking, but I know she is being naive. This young man just needs to settle down

I had another student write a note that started, "Dear Life, I hate my life. I hate my school." It went on to call me a vulgar term along with my assistant teacher in this class. She got in school suspension for the infraction. She is the same girl I called Pasha in a previous post and she had stolen from a fellow classmate. She really has some issues she needs to work through as a pre-teen girl. Her mom is real supportive and she frequently comes up and hugs me, but this is just a tough child to figure out.

I went home for the weekend. JEFF was home. I am so happy I saw him. I felt like I just wanted to hug him over and over and over. OMG... It was so good to go home. I enjoyed the leaves on the trees. I visited so many people, we went to Mom and Dad's house Saturday morning for Coffee. Then Donavan came over (Walt's step-son)and he visited. Then Athena, Mark and Leah came to my house so that I could meet Leah, my new Great-Niece. She was a sweety pie. I loved having her at my house. She is a happy girl and is just perfect in all the ways a baby should be perfect! Then mom and dad came to my house.
When they left people were coming for dinner. We had Randy and Giorgi, Joanna and kids all over for dinner. I made Macaroni Roma. It's a family recipe that I love to make because it takes so long to make. Then they all left. Slept in my own bed.

Sunday morning Jeff, Scott, and I went to Ithaca to see DREW, KATE, ALANA, MATT, and MIKE. OMG we had a wonderful breakfast. Thank you Drew... just you wait. I loved hearing about IC life and the math classes and professors.

Scott and I came back to the city. We then went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday. We saw some of the most amazing art, and we were in a little hurry because we only had about 3 hours. The VanGogh paintings just bring me to tears. Those and the Georges Seurat and the Jackson Pollack paintings were amazing. We saw some Andy Warhol, and Picasso. We spent some time in the hall with Roman and Greek statues. there were several students there drawing what they were seeing.

There is a suggested admission there, so we paid $15 for the two of us. Perfect. We had a great couple of days. I slept the one night for 12 hours. I think I was exhausted.

So... there was a fight at school today

2008-09-24T19:19:00.000-04:00

First of all.... NO WORRIES!
Our school building houses 3 different schools. Ours resides on the top two floors of the building. Today, after a day where I gave out 3 detentions, 1 send out (kinda like in school suspension for the period) and about 19 warnings, I had the job of walking my homeroom down to the first floor to dismiss them for the day. I do this 3 days every week, so it's nothing new. However...
On the way down the stairs, I had one young man, who continues to challenge me, raise his hand as if to strike another student. I called him to the front and informed him that he would be going back upstairs with me to serve detention for the action. (This is the same student I sent out during my class). When we got to the door to the outside, he proceeded to leave me and go to the play yard. When I looked down to the yard, I noticed a fight and a group of about 40 students. none of the students were from our school.
I thought quickly and knew that my place was to protect my students from becoming involved. I corralled them to the sidewalk and attempted to get them to leave the school property thru the gated fence. Most stayed and wanted to watch the fight. I promised them that whoever stayed would be serving detention. Turns out that worked, and 90% of my students then left the area and I was able to maintain the walkway from the door to the sidewalk and get our students out of harms way. Another class was following us down the stairwell and I got them to leave also. Their teacher checked on the yard, and by this time other adults had arrived and the altercation was over and the students dispersed.
I felt good that I kept my cool, and wasn't really upset over all of this. It just was surprising. Many students from our school wanted to go and see... and they finally realized the excitement was over and left for home.

So... I've made it thru seeing my first fight. I've had a student sent out of my room... and I've played with lunch bags and cubes to demonstrate "unknown." I'll have to write about that another time.

I am still very encouraged by some of the work my students do. If I give them work, they do it and they are pretty good at it. I don't see many students who can't learn what I'm presenting to them.

Okay... I need to write a quiz. 2b + 4 anyone?

2008-09-23T06:02:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/education/22teacher.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin
I have many friends from the NYC Teaching Fellows program that are without jobs this fall. They've changed their life for a promise to teach in the city and to make a difference in the students' lives. However, they struggle every day because there aren't enough jobs for the total number of people hired.

By the way, avoid NYCity when the United Nations is in session. It's absolutely crazy around here. Even the subways are running slower, the traffic is not pretty.

But... David Blaine is in Central Park, and I'm going to go see him today.

I GOT PAID TO TEACH!

2008-09-20T07:17:00.001-04:00

Another week of teaching is finished. Here are some highlights and lowlights:
• I got paid. So after three years of not getting any significant salary and attending school, Monday was my first New York City Department of Education Paycheck. It wasn’t too small either. I can live on what I get paid. I know teachers don’t make a ton of money, but I’m not here to make a lot of money, I’m here to make a difference.
• I had to talk to my Assistant Principal (AP) because I am having some difficulties teaching my CTT class. First of all I think that the 27 of them are wonderful individuals, but some of the personalities are difficult together. I spoke with my AP about the co-teacher in my room. She tends to yell at the students and I wanted to get advice on what to do. He asked me if I was comfortable in talking directly with her about the yelling, and I said I was. So I did sit down with my co-teacher and we did talk about classroom management style. I asked her to never yell at the students and if she felt that she was at a yelling point to get my attention, and I’ll take over. She hasn’t yelled at them since, and has started using other strategies with them, such as raising her hand and counting to five. It works well for them; they sit down and quiet down. Also, the principal came in to observe us as well as my math coach. They are all trying to guide me into helping my co-teacher into doing what we need her to do in the math room. So I felt proud that I had an issue early on and addressed it and showed my administration that I can handle difficult interpersonal issues professionally and positively. I made sure that I they knew I needed my co-teacher and I just want to help both of us to work together to teach these students.
• I had two notes from students. One respectfully asked me to change where she sat, which I did. The other was a note of admiration from a student. She realized that the noisy students in our class were a challenge and she appreciated and how I handled them. That was a great note to receive. I call it my first “love note.” The students respond very well to me and this is what I was hoping for.
• I had parent information night on Thursday. I met many parents and saw hope in them that their student will be successful. I hope to help them. My advice to the parents for homework help was to ask the student to show them their notes from class. I did however feel this strange feeling. It’s the feeling that many white middle class female teachers feel. It’s almost like we are part of the problem as we are trying to be a part of the solution. In the auditorium on parent information night, the only white women there were teachers. We have two teachers on staff that probably call themselves African-American women. I feel that I’m making a difference, but I wish there were more black and Hispanic teachers and role models in the school for these students.
• The SETSS teacher (he is a Para-professional in one of my 6th grade classes) gave me wonderful compliments at parent information night and told the parents that I could teach to all of the differing levels and skills in my class. I felt hopeful. I think that this teacher is a good support for my students and he has already seen from me, the skills that I have to get each student to participate. However….
• I started doing participation points this week. It constitutes 25% of the students’ grades. I have to keep track of hand raising, cooperation, compliments and things like that so the students can get really high participation points to help with their grade. I also track behavior warnings and detentions. So far the majority of my students max out their participation points each day.

So, it’s been a busy week. I administered exams to my students on Thursday and Friday and now I need to grade all of them. ICK. However, Andrea and Dan are here from Boston for the weekend and I’ve hired them to help me! We are going to go be tourists in Manhattan today and that should be fun.

Advisory Field Trip

2008-09-14T13:54:00.000-04:00

Here are some images for you to appreciate the wonderful students that I teach.

First Time

2008-09-11T19:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Wednesday September 10th, a student in one of my classes came up to me on the street and screamed my name and gave me a huge bear hug. She was so happy to introduce her math teacher, Ms. Dyer to her mom. It was great!

Being in NYCity on September 11th is really quite interesting. There are a lot of moments of silence in many formats. We observed about 5 minutes of silence in homeroom. There are a lot of services happening all over the city. It's really quite warming to me that so many people want to feel connected to each other from this tragedy in the city. The students in my class were about 5 or 6 years old when the towers fell. They do not remember the skyline with the towers.

Class is good. I had a rough time with my 7th grade class today. I blame my coteacher and myself. We need to work with our own teaching styles. We need to get on board together.

I gave 5 students detention today for uniform violations. Ouch! They made it to 3rd period without anyone reminding them... well... I'm not so nice this second week of school even to the young sixth grader students.

Tomorrow I go on my first NYCity field trip to Battery park with my 6th grade advisees. They are all wonderful, yet there are a few I haven't even met yet, because they were assigned to me this week. OY!

Oh... They were taping Law and Order right 1/2 block from my school today. I looked around when I was done working, but I didn't see anyone who even looked like an actor. Cool though... lots of trailers and such.

First Week is over

2008-09-05T19:01:00.000-04:00

Up one day and down the next.

So yesterday I felt like a real teacher. I had three classes (that’s all I have but they are double periods) and I administered an exam and collected homework. Real Teacher. I think the kids are great and they figured me out quite quickly. I don’t put up with giggling at other peoples mistakes. I don’t put up with picking on other people about anything, and I especially don’t like it when people touch my things. Thursday was a lot of fun for me and I left with a smile

However, things change quickly. Today… Friday. I had 1^st and 2^nd periods free so I planned/prepared a great lesson for seeing data put into a table. I was going to do this with my 7^th grade class. The 6^th grade class came in and I had my first teacher issue. One girl Annie accused Pasha (names have been changed) of stealing her eraser during the time we passed papers out. There are four people in the group.

I took all four out into the hall with their back packs and no one had the eraser. Pasha claimed not to have touched Annie’s eraser and certainly didn’t take it. Hmmm…. I told Annie I was sorry and we’d try to sort it out. When Pasha asked to go to the bathroom later in the class, the others at the table looked in Pasha’s desk and found the eraser. So I confronted Pasha in the hallway (I have a second teacher in the room) and asked her to think wisely before she answered my question. I asked her if she had touched Annie’s eraser (I had it in my hand which I don’t think she knew) and she admitted to picking it up and looking at it but did NOT take it. So, I gave her the thank you for being honest this time, but you lied earlier speech. I told her she was in trouble for lying and NEVER accused her of stealing the eraser. She just didn’t get it. I asked her, nope, I told her to apologize to Annie about lying. In order to make sure she had the right words, I asked her to tell me what she was going to say. She said, “I’m sorry the teacher found the eraser in my desk, I didn’t take it.” That was interesting and I instructed her that an apology was about something you did wrong yourself. It took MANY minutes to rehearse with her what she was to apologize about. OH MY!

Annie took the eraser and told Pasha some good things, like, “My mom works hard so that I can have school supplies.” She was a good kid in a bad spot. So… I took care of that one. Then…

My homeroom class was with me for 5^th period for what is usually small groups of 10 for break They couldn’t control themselves and I ended up giving the entire class lunch detention. OMG. That means that I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch. So they just wouldn’t settle down and I felt inadequate as a teacher to give them detention on day 4 of school. It turns out that they wouldn’t behave for my partner homeroom teacher either. That made me feel better. And where did they have to go after homeroom? MATH with me. I was with them from 5^th period to the end of the day. I did get the control I needed during our math class. I just started putting names on the board with warnings. It worked. Oh… then

Then….

We had a fire drill. 7 flights of stairs down and back up, with this same group of students. I was exhausted. I am so glad to be home. I was nearly in tears after they all left.

So it wasn’t the worst day in my life. It was frustrating and I made it through. I got the most difficult class in the school (it turns out). Oh well. We’ll all figure it out.

Math note. I collected summer packets from the students. The sixth graders were asked why math was important in life. EVERY single student mention money. They didn’t mention problem solving or logic or other jobs, just the knowledge to make sure you get the right change at the store, could pay your bills properly, and could calculate taxes and discounts. NOT ANY OTHER thing mentioned about math.

So, since you can do all that math by the end of 4^th or 5^th grade, these students wouldn’t need to take math seriously by 7^th or 8^th grade in their mind. How to let them know that math is more than money.

I need to go get my dinner. NYCity Pizza. Great place down the street. I’ll pick it up tonight.

First Day of Teaching!

2008-09-02T21:13:00.000-04:00

So,
I'm tired. My feet hurt, my head hurts, I'm tired. What a day! I loved every bit of it. These kids are great! They are exactly what I expected. There are many students with great stories, and many who don't want to share their stories.

We have a school with a TON of rules, which makes life easier for me the teacher. The students wear school uniforms, and if they break a uniform rule, they get uniform detention. Just like that... break the rule, get detention.

I would love to write more, but I'm really tired and need to get to bed. I'm going to watch Andy Roddick on the US Open and fall asleep as he beats his opponent. Wish I was watching it live, it's only about 5 miles from my house. Next year, I'll go watch!

Talk with you soon!

Orientation for the new teachers

2008-08-28T19:42:00.001-04:00

Today we had our first day with all of the staff at the school for this upcoming year. I must say that I appreciate the work that Arlene and I did in the Math office at Ithaca College. I helped her review the schedule and we checked the rooms, the assignments, and every detail many many times. I also knew it was right everytime I communicated the information to other people. I appreciate it, because today I witnessed a school trying hard to do scheduling correctly, but having simple errors. And since a schedule is so intricate, one mistake can cascade into many other problems.

So I was told today that instead of being on the 6th grade team, I'm on the 7th grade team. That's all good and whatever. But... they didn't go thru and make sure that I could have a 7th grade advisory, and so since I have a class during the 7th grade advisory period, I have a 6th grade advisory. So I am a little bit 7th grade team and a little bit 6th grade team. I'm all good with that. Schedules are big algorithms and are complicated by not difficult. One class had been scheduled for Art 5 periods in a row. Imagine those kids, let alone the teacher! Oy vay!

I have great people around me. My neighbor teacher Marc, helped me with his skill at moving a cabinet in my room without scratching the floor. THANKS MARK! His wife and CUTE CUTE 11 month old daughter were in today to help him. I was wishing I had a someone to help me.

So team meeting, teacher handbook, regulations, send-out policy, how kids go up and down the stairs... details detail day. Oh... funny one. the school is on the 7th and 8th floor of this building and when they take the elevator up, the class goes all in one elevator car and they must be silent. I can just see 20 6th graders all squished in the car and being quiet. I can't wait to witness this. Oh, and they take the stairs down and they must be silent, and we were advised that once during the first week we have to find someone talking and forcing the entire class to walk all of the stairs back up and then go down quietly again. I was told it only takes once and they will NEVER talk again in the stairwell.

That's all for now. I have made friends with the science teacher by giving her eyedroppers I found in my supply cabinet. :)

Off to bed and then work tomorrow. I sure will either get a lot of grading done or a lot of reading while riding the train.

Setting Up My Classroom

2008-08-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

I have spent the last couple of days setting up my classroom. I need to go to the teacher store and get some letters for some bulletin boards. I have met so many people, and everyone says the same thing. They all say, "This is a great school." That makes me feel really good. It turns out that many of the teachers were Teaching Fellows, but most of them transferred to this school.

I love the math department. There are three teachers. Elizabeth, Shana, and myself. We have a math coach and that's Gail. Gail has been in education for many years and is just an amazing resource of information.

I still haven't received my start up supplies. I am planning to get them tomorrow. I also bought some cleaning product to get rid of tape residue. This school is masking tape happy and I do not like tape residue on doors or cabinets. So, tomorrow I am taking care of the sticky mess left on a lot of surfaces. I did see our text book for 6th grade. Still haven't seen the 7th grade text, but again I'm hopeful for tomorrow. One other thing I'll look for tomorrow is a power cord for my projector. Hmmmmm.....

I think my classroom is set up pretty well. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. I have to be at school at 8am so I need to leave my apartment at 6:45 for the at least one hour commute. We'll see how it goes. I am getting a chance to read a book or two on my commute! I guess that's a good thing.

How about a picture or two...

2008-08-20T09:21:00.000-04:00

I have a long list of things to do today. I hope to be able to check them off systematically. One of them is to post pictures and to blog. Last night Scott, Jeff, and I went to Randy’s and enjoyed an evening of visiting. Jeff rode with Randy in the 280ZX, and then played some ping-pong with him. Randy beat Jeff 2 out of 3 games, and the one game he lost was close and went to Deuce. Jeff felt proud to have improved his ping-pong skills while he was on vacation last week in Cape-Cod.
I spent some time with John Curry on Monday. He is the principal of Community Action School. I hope he realizes how excited I am to work for him. Scott helped me arrange the desks and chairs in my room. I happen to have the classroom right next door to the office. It’s a large room and I have about 27 student desks and my own desk. I have a wall of lockers in the back of the room that are for me to use. I have a standing cabinet that locks, and several bookshelves. I have a wall of brand new white boards with a smart board included. If you aren’t familiar with a SmartBoard, just know that it’s a way to use a computer and a white board together. I used one all summer, and will definitely use it as I teach. There is an air-conditioner in the room, so it will be reasonable in the beginning weeks of school. Our school is on the 7th floor. That’s great… except when it will come to a fire drill and going down 7 flights of stairs. I am looking forward to returning to the school next week and spending some hours there working. I will have a computer in the classroom.
As for my apartment, Scott helped me so much in getting it ready for me to live in. We got the keys on Saturday morning and then spent the next two days cleaning and fixing things. We spent hours on the stove/oven and the grease around it. I think it’s going to be just right for me. I live in an amazing community and I’m looking forward to meeting my neighbors in my building. I think that it’s between 400 and 500 square feet of space, which will work fine for me. I have a queen size bed in the bedroom and the couch opens into a queen size pullout, so I will have room for guests.I return to the city on MONDAY and start work on Tuesday next week. Of course before I go back, I help Jeff get settled into RIT. He moves into his dorm on Sunday. That will be an exciting day for him.

I have a classroom

2008-08-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

I went yesterday to my new school. I have my own room! Wooo Hooo! I set up a few things and got really excited about the beginning of school. Scott and I also set up my apartment in Queens. I love my neighborhood!

I will write more later and add some pictures, but right now, I need to put away groceries.

2008-08-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

I’m in Berkshire this week and some of next week. I’m just enjoying the Olympics from China and reading as much as I can. I have purchased 264 spiral notebooks for my students this year. They were $0.05 each at WalMart and at Staples. This will allow me to give the students a notebook whenever they need one in my class.
I’ve studied the 6th and 7th grade state exams and reviewed the standards. I’ve written myself notes on some lesson plan ideas for some topics:
For Central Measurement (Mean, Median, Mode, Range): I think I’ll do a discovery lesson plan. This will mean that groups will receive data sets of numbers and the actual mean, median, mode and range. Their task will be to “guess” the definitions of each term. Then they will get another data set and see if their definition still fits. Maybe they will need to modify their initial definition. After reviewing all of the data sets, their groups’ definitions should hold up to all the data sets. For identifying radius, diameter, chords and central angles of a circle, I think I’ll do the same type of lesson.
I want the students to experience the discovery of mathematics. I had an excellent class in college that allowed me to have guided discovery learning and I remember thinking that students that don’t think of themselves as being “good at math” could see these lessons as a place where they see themselves as being good in the math classroom.
I think that many people confuse the ability to do computations quickly with being “good at math.” I think the student who creates logical problem solving processes can be equally good at math. I am reminded that future workers who are prepared to perceive patterns and to solve unconventional problems will be the sought after employee. Calculations are being done more and more by machines.
Our country should think of Mathematics as a pump rather than a filter in the pipeline of American education. Students shouldn’t be filtered out of careers by our math education, but instead math should be the key that helps push students into career paths.

Quick Update... a link to my new school

2008-08-02T06:34:00.000-04:00

Here is the website to my school:

http://www.communityactionschool.org/home.aspx

Soon, I'll be on the staff list.

I got a Job!

2008-08-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

So yesterday was an amazing day. I was offered a position at I.S. 258 Community Action School. It's located on 154 W 93rd Street in Manhattan. It's on the west side of Central Park. The school is reviewed on a site called Inside Schools. here is the link

http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=96

I'll be teaching both 6th and 7th grade math. I am mostly excited about teaching students as they begin learning about algebra. I find introduction to the topic to be so important, and I think I'll be a really good bridge between elementary and middle school mathematics. I am especially excited that the students in this school seem to have some real connections to the staff and faculty. The homeroom students are with the homeroom teacher 4 times per day.

They have recess, which I'm so happy about. After recess they go back to the homeroom to settle back down before the classes in the afternoon. I also will have an advisory group. I look forward to that quite a bit. We meet one time per week to discuss life in general. There is a curriculum guide, but it isn't dictated. I like the idea of having some free form time with the students.

Also in this school, there are not parent-teacher conferences. There are Family-Conferences in which the students also participate in the discussions. They orally share with their parents, their personal reflections on each of their courses. I like this idea.

I also have acquired an apartment in Queens. It's in the Ridgewood neighborhood and the bakery downstairs is a Polish bakery, where I can't even read the awning sign because it's in Polish. It reminds me of my Aunt Charlotte and my Uncle Ed. I like the European feel of the neighborhood. I am also really close to the M train. I won't have to walk far in the winter. Of course I will have three trains to take to get to work. That won't be fun, but I think the right school and the right apartment didn't talk with each other before they came to me.

As for my summer school experience, I am going to miss the students. I want them to succeed on their exam next week, and I hope I prepared them enough to do just that. I loved them. I had good relationships with them and they were a bit sad that I was leaving. I found students to not know their multiplication tables, not understand that "solve for x" meant that we could find a value for x to make the equation true. They struggled with the idea of adding a negative number. It was interesting.

Student's do NOT want to be bored and given low expectations. The higher I set the bar, the higher they reached. I will be looking forward to the fall and having my own students and my own classroom.

Enough for this post. Enjoy the read.
D

Teaching Summer School

2008-07-16T07:24:00.000-04:00

I'm teaching summer school, attending Graduate Courses at Pace University and then attending sessions for the NYCTF program.

www.nyctf.org

Tomorrow I have a job fair to attend. I'm hopeful that I will connect with a principal that will want to hire me.

I am looking for an apartment with my friend Kayleigh.

So... I'm busy. I still haven't been to a Yankee's game, I think it's important that I go see one since it's only 4 stops away on the 4 train. Hopefully this weekend will be filled with time relaxing and enjoying the city.

The students in my class don't know their multiplication tables and they are in 8th grade. They also have a hard time adding numbers with negative values. They are great kids and are pleasant to be with and I love it when they smile and want to write up on the board. We use a SMART board and the kids respond well to that. I've been observed by my field visitor, and I feel good about the feedback he's given me.

All in all... I'm doing great! more to come soon....

2008-07-06T20:08:00.001-04:00

Here we go... July 6, 2008. Let's start a blog for my life as a teacher in New York City. I have already finished my first graduate course and now have started my second class. Actually, as I write that, I realize that I have more reading to finish before class tomorrow.

Tomorrow at 9:30am I report to1573 MADISON AVENUE, New York, NY 10029. This is quite close to where I currently live. Today, I met with Kayleigh Rose. She and I are looking for an apartment in Brooklyn together. We are looking in Prospect Heights. It will serve her and my need to get to Manhattan easily.

So... here is my first Blog in this part of my new life. Oh... I went to Coney Island with my two favorite men and watched the Hot Dog eating contest and I rode on the Cyclone!