Right...
I opened up my solo teaching with a lot of work on bias and racism. We discussed the systematic basis of racism through activities like tallying what groups of people are represented in magazines and catalogs, watching and responding to Obama's landmark (at least for the public sector) speech on race, and reading from Toi Derricotte's The Black Notebooks. We used that learning to dive into studying the Civil Rights Movement using Seattle's de facto segregated schools as an entry point. We then broadened into employment discrimination, and then moved into labor unions and the IWW.
Overall, the student buy-in is very high. I think the students are sick of studying inane topics and are very into being treated as mature people who can handle tough topics. Having set the tone from day one, they will often 'discover' instances of subtle systematic bias and bring them to the attention of the class. Questions like, "Why doesn't this book I'm reading describe white characters as white when it describes black characters as black?" and "Why is it man-to-man defense even when it's women's sports?" are commonplace. A few days ago, we had a great discussion about bias in dictionaries when someone pointed out that the Merriam-Webster definition of 'guy' claims that it is gender neutral. I took them to the definition of 'right' (the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled) and then to 'privilege' (a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor) and to 'just' ( acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good OR being what is merited OR legally correct) and talked about how these definitions fit together.
I'm having a lot of fun breaking through the encapsulation of these kids, and I think they're enjoying it too; they seem to feel like they're being rebellious. I hope this enthusiasm is something I continue to see in my career. If so, I know there's no danger of me burning out. Sure, my content will be revealing that which is most unnerving about our world, but student enthusiasm is what gives me the most hope for the future. At the very least, teaching this group of 60 students is giving me increasing drive for beginning my career.
May 7, 2008
April 9, 2008
Student Introduction
My first lesson on Friday went quite well. I began by providing a few minutes for the students to think of a couple questions they wanted to ask me about myself, then I opened myself up to any and all questions, providing honest answers. I've done this before, and it can be anxious, but seems to work well. Toughest question I was asked: "Do you have a record?" Answer: "No." Which is true, though admittedly not the entire truth.
As expected, I was either asked or was able to guide towards "Why did you become a teacher?" I prepared for this by asking the students to list all the American wars they could, and as expected, the war of the Philippines was left out, prompting me to discuss how it was left out of my public school education as well, and launch into my desire to teach (and thereby learn) truth about history and the importance of critical thinking. Led a discussion about the complexities of grading and what that means, finished up with asking them to tell me what they have in common with me, what they want me to know about them, and how they learn best as an exit task. I'm logging some of the responses here for my own reference later.
What do you have in common with Mr. Coker?
-Don't like unhelpful questions (I think I'll label these as "dead-end" questions..)
-Dogs, cats, pizza x8
-enjoy history, critical thinking, teaching x9
-have a nickname we won't share (yet.. i'll get there)
-vegetarian
What do you want Mr. Coker to know about you?
-interest in Japan
-have a [insertgrade] despite/because of working hard x3
-no plans for career
-hunt animals, but use all of it
-music interest
-anger management issues
-lots of energy, like to talk a lot x3
-easily distracted
-soccer
-exterior reputation as hard to control but keeps most matters to self x3
-"I think you don't know my name yet because you called on me by nodding" (that's actually true... much to my shame. I knew everyone else's, but blanked on hers and left my seating chart across the room)
-very opinionated x3
How do you think you learn best?
-taking notes x2
-hands-on, games x9
-visuals x6
-groups x3
-'away from annoying people'
-discussions x11
-background music
-repetition/redoing work x2
-writing responses
-not bookwork x4
-flexibility x2
Needless to say, it's a pretty diverse group, though there are some common factors that will help me guide my planning.
Misc. thoughts:
A student who stutters and trips over her responses when called on in discussion is able to speak clearly and concisely when given a moment to write her thoughts first - I may give her a small notepad in order to scribble some thoughts before she speaks.
As expected, I was either asked or was able to guide towards "Why did you become a teacher?" I prepared for this by asking the students to list all the American wars they could, and as expected, the war of the Philippines was left out, prompting me to discuss how it was left out of my public school education as well, and launch into my desire to teach (and thereby learn) truth about history and the importance of critical thinking. Led a discussion about the complexities of grading and what that means, finished up with asking them to tell me what they have in common with me, what they want me to know about them, and how they learn best as an exit task. I'm logging some of the responses here for my own reference later.
What do you have in common with Mr. Coker?
-Don't like unhelpful questions (I think I'll label these as "dead-end" questions..)
-Dogs, cats, pizza x8
-enjoy history, critical thinking, teaching x9
-have a nickname we won't share (yet.. i'll get there)
-vegetarian
What do you want Mr. Coker to know about you?
-interest in Japan
-have a [insertgrade] despite/because of working hard x3
-no plans for career
-hunt animals, but use all of it
-music interest
-anger management issues
-lots of energy, like to talk a lot x3
-easily distracted
-soccer
-exterior reputation as hard to control but keeps most matters to self x3
-"I think you don't know my name yet because you called on me by nodding" (that's actually true... much to my shame. I knew everyone else's, but blanked on hers and left my seating chart across the room)
-very opinionated x3
How do you think you learn best?
-taking notes x2
-hands-on, games x9
-visuals x6
-groups x3
-'away from annoying people'
-discussions x11
-background music
-repetition/redoing work x2
-writing responses
-not bookwork x4
-flexibility x2
Needless to say, it's a pretty diverse group, though there are some common factors that will help me guide my planning.
Misc. thoughts:
A student who stutters and trips over her responses when called on in discussion is able to speak clearly and concisely when given a moment to write her thoughts first - I may give her a small notepad in order to scribble some thoughts before she speaks.
April 7, 2008
Welcome Back to Life
For those who are new to the readership, the introduction: http://lifeasprocess.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html
Last week I began my spring student-teaching placement at a Thurston County middle school we'll call "CMS" for safety purposes. My classroom is in a portable, but it's a reasonable space. I'll be working with two groups of students, 7th and 8th graders who, because of their gifted/talented designation, take Language Arts and Social Studies in an integrated Humanities double-period block format. They also work with the same content, switching subjects each year. For instance, the eighth graders began middle school with American History, studied Medieval History in the first semester, and is now studying Washington State History. The seventh graders will study American History next year.
My mentor teacher and I are, once again, an excellent fit. Social justice minded, non-proprietary of the classroom, open and flexible to allow me to do what I want. This is going to give me the freedom to try out a couple strategies I haven't been able to work with before, such as reverse-chronological history studies. The math/science instructor for this group of gifted students also has a student teacher from my program, so we'll be working on a multi-disciplinary cross-content area culminating project at the end of the year.
Demographically, the gender balance of the two classes is slightly skewed in each direction. The 7th grade group 11:18, and the 8th grade group is 16:12 (M:F for each). Ethnoracially, the group (which pulls from the entire district, not adhering to middle school boundary lines) does not reflect the diversity of the district, as is often the case in gifted/talented programs due to overidentification of white students and underidentification of other groups. Some stats below:
Ethnicity---Gifted Program (Raw)---Gifted Program (%)---District (%)
Native American---0---.00---3.8
Asian-------------3---.05---12.6
Black-------------3---.05---9.2
Hispanic----------1---.02---9.4
White------------50--87.71--63
Clearly, this population of students is very different from those I've worked with in the past in terms of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ability. Of course, these students deserve good teachers as well, and are independently beginning to question concepts of race, class, and gender. It will be an interesting opportunity for me to broaden my scope of experience within a framework I enjoy using: Humanities as portal to social justice.
Last week I began my spring student-teaching placement at a Thurston County middle school we'll call "CMS" for safety purposes. My classroom is in a portable, but it's a reasonable space. I'll be working with two groups of students, 7th and 8th graders who, because of their gifted/talented designation, take Language Arts and Social Studies in an integrated Humanities double-period block format. They also work with the same content, switching subjects each year. For instance, the eighth graders began middle school with American History, studied Medieval History in the first semester, and is now studying Washington State History. The seventh graders will study American History next year.
My mentor teacher and I are, once again, an excellent fit. Social justice minded, non-proprietary of the classroom, open and flexible to allow me to do what I want. This is going to give me the freedom to try out a couple strategies I haven't been able to work with before, such as reverse-chronological history studies. The math/science instructor for this group of gifted students also has a student teacher from my program, so we'll be working on a multi-disciplinary cross-content area culminating project at the end of the year.
Demographically, the gender balance of the two classes is slightly skewed in each direction. The 7th grade group 11:18, and the 8th grade group is 16:12 (M:F for each). Ethnoracially, the group (which pulls from the entire district, not adhering to middle school boundary lines) does not reflect the diversity of the district, as is often the case in gifted/talented programs due to overidentification of white students and underidentification of other groups. Some stats below:
Ethnicity---Gifted Program (Raw)---Gifted Program (%)---District (%)
Native American---0---.00---3.8
Asian-------------3---.05---12.6
Black-------------3---.05---9.2
Hispanic----------1---.02---9.4
White------------50--87.71--63
Clearly, this population of students is very different from those I've worked with in the past in terms of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ability. Of course, these students deserve good teachers as well, and are independently beginning to question concepts of race, class, and gender. It will be an interesting opportunity for me to broaden my scope of experience within a framework I enjoy using: Humanities as portal to social justice.
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