More about Alex
I haven't been writing much about my teaching lately, so those of you who are interested, here you go.
I'm now teaching all 4 classes: the two grade 8's, the grade 10 math literacy, and grade 11. My grade 8's are still my favorite. Of course, this is the age level that I want to teach, and some days I even think I would like to teach younger kids: 5th or 6th grade. The kids are sweet, they're still scared when you yell at them, and the subject material can actually be fun.
Cute story: They have Cadbury chocolate bars that can be broken down the middle: one side says yes, the other says no. On the wrapper, there's a question, like "Do you forgive me?" The idea is that you get the chocolate bar for someone that you want to ask that question to, they read it, unwrap, break the chocolate in half, and then (hopefully) hand you the side that says "yes." Anyway, one of the teachers yelled at her grade 8 class one day. The next day, they presented her with the "Do you forgive me?" chocolate bar, with "me" crossed out and "us" written in its place. The best part was that she couldn't even remember what had made her so mad at them.
So yeah, I really enjoy the grade 8's. They give me energy in class. I can talk to the class sometimes, and joke around with them in class and they don't get too out of hand.
The grade 11's are okay. I just started teaching them and we've only really done review work, a test, and more review. They're a standard grade class (they have standard grade vs. higher grade classes: higher grade are harder). However, every time I try to go over and mark a worksheet in class, they look at me like they didn't even do it. This class really drags me down and makes me tired, because they just plain don't talk. I really have to work to myself animated and excited, so that I don't fall asleep! When I mark a worksheet, I don't just say the answers, or work through them myself: I ask students leading questions, and they fill in the blanks for me to work through the problem as a class. But this class takes a LOT of encouragement. It's as if they haven't done the homework, because they have nothing to say to me, and as I write on the overhead, I can see everyone copying down what I'm writing. I know that they have done the homework, because I've checked. But obviously they got every answer wrong since they're scribbling everything down. We were doing a review sheet on the nature of roots of quadratics. We ended up with one value for x, and we had to tell whether the roots were equal or unequal, rational or irrational, and so on. They had no idea whether the roots were equal or unequal. It's so very frustrating. Next term we're doing circle geometry and proofs. I'm a little nervous, because I've never taught this or anything like it. Mrs. Roberts is going to sit down with me and show me all the papers she uses and how she teaches the class, which will help a lot. The textbook for the grade 11's is absolutely horrendous. As a class, they're pretty good though: not incredibly chatty, and when I put them into partners to work, they actually WORK.
My grade 10's: that's another story. Math literacy is really an interesting subject and idea: that you learn the math needed in everyday life. For me, that would mean projects, investigations, and so on. For them (at least right now), it's a lot of busy work (I guess algebra is also an important life skill, but they don't like it). The discipline in the class is horrible: they're bouncing off the walls. I can never get them to be quiet, even after moving their seats. It's very frustrating trying to teach sometimes. The first week that I taught them, I was in a completely miserable mood after every class. Finally, though, I found a strategy that kind of works: I go through the material fast, to keep them busy. I call out the students who are talking in class. I change the seats if someone's talking a lot. And I finally changed the entire seating chart. I found that if I can be in a kinda mad, sarcastic mood, they're much better for me. It seems to kind of shock them back into silence if I have a snappy comeback for them when they blurt out in class. And actually, I kind of enjoy it as well. Some days of course, I still dislike teaching the class, but at least they don't completely wear me out anymore. It's hard not being able to smile in class, but at least most days I don't mind them, and even the days that they're horrible, I sometimes kind of enjoy them.
It's funny how the schools seems so disciplined on the outside, but are really out of control underneath. During assembly, the students are absolutely silent. They all have their uniforms on, they line up outside of class (girls on one side, boys on the other), they stand and greet the teacher at the beginning of the period. However, inside class, they speak out of turn constantly, they talk, and they're generally out of control a lot of the time. I honestly can't remember ever having to yell at my classes this much in the US. Now, I only did teach for 5 weeks in Ohio, but my classes were so much more behaved. I'm glad that I'm experiencing this, though. Before, I had trouble discipling students and I'd never given one of those "teacher speeches." Now, I feel like I'm a master of the teacher speaches. I know many different lines to use when a student is talking or not paying attention. I can easily slide on my "mad face" and look at them sternly. It's all really an act, and I'm learning it well. I feel like if I can survive my classes here, particularly the grade 10's, I can handle anything.
I've found that I sometimes teach things differently than how they've learned things. It makes it a little awkward for me, and it's usually little things. But I realize that I'm going to have to deal with this all the time as a teacher: their teacher the year before may have taught things differently, and once I get used to it, maybe there will be a different teacher. Just a fact of the teaching life, I suppose.
I've also been learning that you have to make split second decisions about everything: "how many decimal places do I round to?" "will I have to do this on the test?" and so on. Some of them are classroom policy, like the decimal places (and I don't know what Mrs. Roberts' policy is for everything, so I give my own: 2 places), and others I can't answer because I don't know. I don't make up the tests, and the teacher who does sometimes doesn't have them ready until that day, so I don't know what is on them. It makes teaching very hard sometimes. I also know that you must have a reason for everything you do. Students will pick up on things that are unfair. "But you moved me up here because I was talking, why aren't you moving them when they talk?" You have to have a reason. I made up a new seating chart for my grade 10's, who just couldn't understand why I would do that.
I'm also starting to dislike groupwork: unless it is actually a big project, that everyone really has to do work for. They also need to be reminded of how to work in a group every single day, or they get off task. I gave the grade 8's guidelines for groupwork, and a peer and self evaluation form before we even started. They had to fill out the form at the end. Even then, they got off task. I think part of it was that they knew they weren't getting marks for the work. It didn't hurt their grade at all if they didn't do the work or didn't do it correctly. I wish I could give grades for what I wanted to do.
The teachers dress pretty much the same as teachers back home. They wear sandals a lot though, and maybe it's just a thing that I have, but I feel much more professional if I wear close toed shoes with a back.
It's starting to feel like home here, I'm very much settled in, but P.E. is definately not a place I would want to live: kind of like Athens. It's fine for a quick stay, but not to settle down in.
The little things still frustrate me the most. Shopping in the supermarket is the WORST because I don't know where anything is, if they even HAVE these things (powdered sugar and bags of chocolate chips don't exist; and I still swear they don't have sour cream), or what the different brands are. And (maybe it's just my imagination), but everyone seems so RUDE! People walk right in front of you, push past you with their shopping carts, block whole aisles, and so on. Again, maybe it's just my imagination and I'm already in a bitter mood from not being able to find anything, but it seems to me that shoppers in a grocery store have no consideration for others. Even something as simple as going to the movies is different here: first of all, you choose your seats when you purchase a ticket (if it's busy, I think they select the seats for you), and I guess you have to sit in those seats. It's kinda nice when it's a crowded theater, but still weird. Then everyone stands in long lines waiting for the theater to open up: they wait til the last minute, clean it quickly, and then let everyone file in. All the doors to theaters are right next to each other, as well: no long hallways to walk down searching for your theater (at least not at any of the 3 theaters I've been to). Speaking of movies, "V for Vendetta" is one of the most incredible movies I've seen in a long time (other than the blatent "Dell" product placement). So yeah, I still get frustrated by little things that make it obvious that I'm not at home.
Also, I've been uploading more pictures that I got from friends here, so check those out. I also tried to rename the animal pictures from Kragga Kamma, and I'm pretty sure that there were either wildebeast, or buffalo. Can't remember and can't tell anymore.
Only 3 1/2 more weeks til I come home! The countdown begins.
I'm now teaching all 4 classes: the two grade 8's, the grade 10 math literacy, and grade 11. My grade 8's are still my favorite. Of course, this is the age level that I want to teach, and some days I even think I would like to teach younger kids: 5th or 6th grade. The kids are sweet, they're still scared when you yell at them, and the subject material can actually be fun.
Cute story: They have Cadbury chocolate bars that can be broken down the middle: one side says yes, the other says no. On the wrapper, there's a question, like "Do you forgive me?" The idea is that you get the chocolate bar for someone that you want to ask that question to, they read it, unwrap, break the chocolate in half, and then (hopefully) hand you the side that says "yes." Anyway, one of the teachers yelled at her grade 8 class one day. The next day, they presented her with the "Do you forgive me?" chocolate bar, with "me" crossed out and "us" written in its place. The best part was that she couldn't even remember what had made her so mad at them.
So yeah, I really enjoy the grade 8's. They give me energy in class. I can talk to the class sometimes, and joke around with them in class and they don't get too out of hand.
The grade 11's are okay. I just started teaching them and we've only really done review work, a test, and more review. They're a standard grade class (they have standard grade vs. higher grade classes: higher grade are harder). However, every time I try to go over and mark a worksheet in class, they look at me like they didn't even do it. This class really drags me down and makes me tired, because they just plain don't talk. I really have to work to myself animated and excited, so that I don't fall asleep! When I mark a worksheet, I don't just say the answers, or work through them myself: I ask students leading questions, and they fill in the blanks for me to work through the problem as a class. But this class takes a LOT of encouragement. It's as if they haven't done the homework, because they have nothing to say to me, and as I write on the overhead, I can see everyone copying down what I'm writing. I know that they have done the homework, because I've checked. But obviously they got every answer wrong since they're scribbling everything down. We were doing a review sheet on the nature of roots of quadratics. We ended up with one value for x, and we had to tell whether the roots were equal or unequal, rational or irrational, and so on. They had no idea whether the roots were equal or unequal. It's so very frustrating. Next term we're doing circle geometry and proofs. I'm a little nervous, because I've never taught this or anything like it. Mrs. Roberts is going to sit down with me and show me all the papers she uses and how she teaches the class, which will help a lot. The textbook for the grade 11's is absolutely horrendous. As a class, they're pretty good though: not incredibly chatty, and when I put them into partners to work, they actually WORK.
My grade 10's: that's another story. Math literacy is really an interesting subject and idea: that you learn the math needed in everyday life. For me, that would mean projects, investigations, and so on. For them (at least right now), it's a lot of busy work (I guess algebra is also an important life skill, but they don't like it). The discipline in the class is horrible: they're bouncing off the walls. I can never get them to be quiet, even after moving their seats. It's very frustrating trying to teach sometimes. The first week that I taught them, I was in a completely miserable mood after every class. Finally, though, I found a strategy that kind of works: I go through the material fast, to keep them busy. I call out the students who are talking in class. I change the seats if someone's talking a lot. And I finally changed the entire seating chart. I found that if I can be in a kinda mad, sarcastic mood, they're much better for me. It seems to kind of shock them back into silence if I have a snappy comeback for them when they blurt out in class. And actually, I kind of enjoy it as well. Some days of course, I still dislike teaching the class, but at least they don't completely wear me out anymore. It's hard not being able to smile in class, but at least most days I don't mind them, and even the days that they're horrible, I sometimes kind of enjoy them.
It's funny how the schools seems so disciplined on the outside, but are really out of control underneath. During assembly, the students are absolutely silent. They all have their uniforms on, they line up outside of class (girls on one side, boys on the other), they stand and greet the teacher at the beginning of the period. However, inside class, they speak out of turn constantly, they talk, and they're generally out of control a lot of the time. I honestly can't remember ever having to yell at my classes this much in the US. Now, I only did teach for 5 weeks in Ohio, but my classes were so much more behaved. I'm glad that I'm experiencing this, though. Before, I had trouble discipling students and I'd never given one of those "teacher speeches." Now, I feel like I'm a master of the teacher speaches. I know many different lines to use when a student is talking or not paying attention. I can easily slide on my "mad face" and look at them sternly. It's all really an act, and I'm learning it well. I feel like if I can survive my classes here, particularly the grade 10's, I can handle anything.
I've found that I sometimes teach things differently than how they've learned things. It makes it a little awkward for me, and it's usually little things. But I realize that I'm going to have to deal with this all the time as a teacher: their teacher the year before may have taught things differently, and once I get used to it, maybe there will be a different teacher. Just a fact of the teaching life, I suppose.
I've also been learning that you have to make split second decisions about everything: "how many decimal places do I round to?" "will I have to do this on the test?" and so on. Some of them are classroom policy, like the decimal places (and I don't know what Mrs. Roberts' policy is for everything, so I give my own: 2 places), and others I can't answer because I don't know. I don't make up the tests, and the teacher who does sometimes doesn't have them ready until that day, so I don't know what is on them. It makes teaching very hard sometimes. I also know that you must have a reason for everything you do. Students will pick up on things that are unfair. "But you moved me up here because I was talking, why aren't you moving them when they talk?" You have to have a reason. I made up a new seating chart for my grade 10's, who just couldn't understand why I would do that.
I'm also starting to dislike groupwork: unless it is actually a big project, that everyone really has to do work for. They also need to be reminded of how to work in a group every single day, or they get off task. I gave the grade 8's guidelines for groupwork, and a peer and self evaluation form before we even started. They had to fill out the form at the end. Even then, they got off task. I think part of it was that they knew they weren't getting marks for the work. It didn't hurt their grade at all if they didn't do the work or didn't do it correctly. I wish I could give grades for what I wanted to do.
The teachers dress pretty much the same as teachers back home. They wear sandals a lot though, and maybe it's just a thing that I have, but I feel much more professional if I wear close toed shoes with a back.
It's starting to feel like home here, I'm very much settled in, but P.E. is definately not a place I would want to live: kind of like Athens. It's fine for a quick stay, but not to settle down in.
The little things still frustrate me the most. Shopping in the supermarket is the WORST because I don't know where anything is, if they even HAVE these things (powdered sugar and bags of chocolate chips don't exist; and I still swear they don't have sour cream), or what the different brands are. And (maybe it's just my imagination), but everyone seems so RUDE! People walk right in front of you, push past you with their shopping carts, block whole aisles, and so on. Again, maybe it's just my imagination and I'm already in a bitter mood from not being able to find anything, but it seems to me that shoppers in a grocery store have no consideration for others. Even something as simple as going to the movies is different here: first of all, you choose your seats when you purchase a ticket (if it's busy, I think they select the seats for you), and I guess you have to sit in those seats. It's kinda nice when it's a crowded theater, but still weird. Then everyone stands in long lines waiting for the theater to open up: they wait til the last minute, clean it quickly, and then let everyone file in. All the doors to theaters are right next to each other, as well: no long hallways to walk down searching for your theater (at least not at any of the 3 theaters I've been to). Speaking of movies, "V for Vendetta" is one of the most incredible movies I've seen in a long time (other than the blatent "Dell" product placement). So yeah, I still get frustrated by little things that make it obvious that I'm not at home.
Also, I've been uploading more pictures that I got from friends here, so check those out. I also tried to rename the animal pictures from Kragga Kamma, and I'm pretty sure that there were either wildebeast, or buffalo. Can't remember and can't tell anymore.
Only 3 1/2 more weeks til I come home! The countdown begins.
posted by Katie | 11:47 PM
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