Entry #5 - Oct. 5, 1998
''This year we're having a pizza dinner as a prelude
to the Open House, hoping to entice more parents to attend, and I have been
phoning to invite people personally. Staff are to explain some of the new
curriculum expectations to the parents as well as our individual classroom
procedures and routines, and it's important to get as many as possible to
come. ''
Open House is coming up, so I've been busy organizing and reorganizing the
room and the bulletin boards to display students' work and some of the new
curriculum plans, books and materials. It's been a good week overall; I
feel that we are settling into some sort of rhythm and the schedule disruptions
and changes will be minimized from now on. It's sure easier to plan optimum
use of the time when you know for sure what group of students you will have,
and for how long!
The other resource teacher and I did reorganize the student list a bit --
she took on some of the seventh graders and I took some of the eights, because
it worked out better from an instructional point of view. I still don't
have the blocks of time I'd like to have for some meaningful reading and
writing activities, but it is better than before. I was disappointed to
give up the two complete non-readers, with whom I was hoping to try some
new phonemic-awareness strategies, but realistically I would not have been
able to work with them individually when there are so many other students
in the room at the same time, and some, like Danny, needing constant supervision.
John Taylor Gatto, the homeschooling guru, is in town and on a radio interview
he decried the use of the bell to start and stop work, arguing that it taught
students NOT to take ownership of their learning....I found myself agreeing
with him, at least in that regard. I see how students just drop everything
when the bell rings and they feel it absolves them of any responsibility
to finish. This will be one of the things to discuss with the parents at
Open House: by and large, they WANT the kids bringing work home. I feel
we need to set up some kind of homework folder for parents to expect, and
check. I'd like to ask the other teachers what they do, if I get a chance.
This year we're having a pizza dinner as a prelude to the Open House, hoping
to entice more parents to attend, and I have been phoning to invite people
personally. Staff are to explain some of the new curriculum expectations
to the parents as well as our individual classroom procedures and routines,
and it's important to get as many as possible to come. "Danny"
has been away most of the week -- he was suspended, for some incident in
shop, but I couldn't find out exactly what happened and his homeroom teacher
didn't know either. (Do we have a communication problem around here??) On
my way out one afternoon I asked our principal if matters were proceeding
on securing Danny a more appropriate placement. She looked blank and said,
"I think somebody is doing something about that...."
Hmmm. I wonder if in fact ANYBODY is following through on the decisions
of the meeting. Lack of follow-through on things is a very familiar, and
frustrating, aspect to working here! Danny's homeroom teacher warned me
that nobody would do anything unless it became THEIR problem...so we must
document everything, and send Danny to the office with a Discipline Report
as soon as he becomes abusive to other students.
It's true the other students worked so much better without him -- as if
a load were lifted from them. I think they deserve to be protected from
harassment and intimidation, so I will seat Danny separately and stress
he can CHOOSE to join the group by choosing to participate in the learning
activities and behavior expectations, and if he CHOOSES to threaten or abuse
others he is CHOOSING to leave school. We'll see how it goes. Apparently
he has been like this for several years, and no one has seriously looked
at what options would best meet his needs. Incredible!
I like Open House, and am looking forward to bragging about the kids and
meeting their families! Some I know from last year -- the Grade 8 students
I kept are ones I worked with before, and they made such striking gains
last year they are very positive about school, and setting goals for themselves.
One boy in particular has been so gratifying to work with: he really turned
his life around, academically and personally. "Shane" had always
been in trouble, always a "loser" -- now he is confident, working
hard, showing leadership in class and in sports -- yes, he has a ways to
go, but we all know he is going to make it. When you have a part in helping
kids like that get it together -- it makes all the you-know-what worthwhile!
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