Saturday, August 13, 2011

Ding, Ding, Ding. Round 1.

Summer is winding down and the kids on the streets are getting restless. This can  only mean one thing: the school year is amazingly close. I can smell the cafeteria already.

The summer was a relaxing few months of, well, teaching. I decided to teach summer school (Algebra II) for about 15 students. I was reluctant at first, but then realized that I have nothing better to do. These students desperately needed the credit and I wanted to provide an opportunity for them to show what they can do--in a much more relaxed, open forum for learning. I taught M-F from 8:30-11:30, so it was a long day with the same students. We made progress and ended up mastering the five skills of algebra we sought out to learn: slope (rate of change), systems of equations, absolute value equations, inequalities, and graphing. There was great success all around, so the summer was rewarding. After school I would immediately sleep and eat.

This next school year will be a challenge. I will be teaching 10th grade geometry--a tested grade. The pressures and anxieties of standardized testing, and the rewards and consequences that come with it, will be in full effect. My students must perform. I'm ready for this challenge. I'm ready to lead my group of 100 students to mastery in all the skills they should develop by the end of the school year. It's going to be like a 162 game grind in baseball--winning streaks, losing streaks, frustrations, revelations, trades, injuries (absences), in-class fighting, and in-class celebrations. My only hope is that we as a class are clicking in full force come April (I can't help but parallel the 2007 Rockies, when they won 20+ games in a row or something to ultimately claim a World Series birth). I'm excited. Let's bring it.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Round 1.

Friday, June 17, 2011

The End of Year One

It has been quite some time since I last posted on this thing. My apologies that I haven't been updating on a regular basis. I was pretty good at first, but once things got busy it kind of faded away. This has been a great way not only to share my experiences, but also to reflect myself on what has been happening throughout my first year of teaching. Where to begin...

The DCCAS (D.C's standardized test) came and went in April and my students did well. I put such an emphasis on "going blue," or "advanced," in mathematics that my students began to really step up their games. Classes were almost like a competition--they didn't want to let themselves, or me, down in April. I have mixed feelings about it all. I believe more and more that students should not live and die by a test in April. I noticed that the instruction prior to the test was truly cut and dry. While I attempted and succeeded at times in making it engaging, relevant, and fun, the learning for the most part was straightforward--drill, drill, drill formulas, equations, etc. In the context of the DCCAS, it was the only way to go. My students simply had to be able to perform in the format that the test was given--a sad truth. I'm rambling in this paragraph because standardized testing brings up so many questions. It is important to learn the processes and facts, but equally important to explore, fail, and question--something tests don't allow you to do.

With all of this said, post-DCCAS has a been a blast. I have created and incorporated an economics unit to hit the skills we have already learned so my students can become masters of 10th grade math and see the relevance of the mathematics. We have covered supply, demand, opportunity cost, consumer surplus, market equilibrium, and the stock market (terms I didn't know until sophomore year of college!). Amazing stuff for 10th graders. My students are asking extremely higher order thinking questions. They are also asking about etrade and ameritrade stock accounts--they all want to buy stock in Chipotle. Overall I am quite pleased with their progress and the level of rigor they are undertaking.

Outside of the classroom has been maybe even more valuable than the experiences inside the classroom. It is very easy to get caught up in the roller coaster struggles and frustrations of classroom failures, but it is all erased when you engage with the students outside of the classroom--they are normal teenagers just like we were at a moment in time. I have been extremely busy with a multitude of outside activities. I'll highlight some of the most memorable.

Saturday Academy: I gave up five Saturday mornings to play math and reading games with my students in efforts to prepare for the DCCAS. We played basketball, scrabble, taboo, soccer, and football--all with math and reading components. Seeing students on the weekend was actually pretty fun. They appreciated me being there and got to see me in shorts and t shirt.

7 on 7 Football: The head football coach needed some help for Spring football (a 7 on 7 passing league), so I offered to help out with the little knowledge I have about the X's and O's of football (the only stuff I know is from video games). It was a success. The Bell Griffins went 5-1 and reached the semifinals of the tournament. This will be the school's first year at the varsity level in the DC city league.

Prom: I have chaperoned every dance so far this year and they have been quite the experience. It is hard to believe just five years ago I was in their shoes. The event was held at a Hilton hotel right by the Capitol. It was a gorgeous night. I got there early and was ready to assist in any way possible. Instead of limos and cars, the students were walking from the subway and stepping out of cabs. They were all dressed up. They all asked me why I wasn't dressed up and I told them it was their night to shine and I got denied by my date (cough, Kaitlin, cough). The food was great and the DJ played good music. It took a while for the students to start dancing, but they did. I participated in the electric slide and some other dancing with fellow teachers. It was a great way to send off the seniors. At the end of the night all the students rushed to get cabs. I ended up taking the last one--way passed my bedtime at 1 am.

Senior Trip: I also had the amazing opportunity to go to Ocean City Beach, Maryland with the seniors. This was after seniors graduated, so they were "free." We boarded up on two charter bus at 8 am on a Monday and stopped at a McDonalds with 100 students--just imagine. Then we made it to the beach and said, "don't drink, don't smoke, don't get arrested, and don't act stupid." Then we had a fun day on the beach. I walked the boardwalk, crashed bumper cars, and ate pizza. It was a fun day with students.

Graduation: This was the culmination of the entire year and most definitely the most emotional moment. I had to dress up in academic regalia and march into the gym before the 200 seniors. Our principals said some opening words and then the seniors marched into the gym with blue and gold caps and gowns. I had about twenty seniors this year, so it was amazing to see them walk and collect their diplomas. Many of them have moved mountains to get where they are at. They put in extra time, finally became invested in their work, and realized the value of succeeding in anything they did. It was equally amazing to see the families shed tears in delight. For many of these families, their child walking on stage was the first to even graduate from high school, as many are immigrant families. It was the most exciting time of the entire family's LIFE. It was great to be part of that. I made sure to give my kids an extra shout out when they got their diplomas.

Overall the year has been an amazing experience. I came in not knowing what to expect, nor really wanting to know. I was blessed with the students I had and the attitude I was able to carry most of the year. It is easy to get frustrated with the difficulties my students face--lack of home support, lack of basic skills, lack of food, lack of role models, lack of investment, and lack of persistence with education. But, with a little support, a little word of encouragement, a little attention, and a little "love," they are capable of succeeding in every sense of the word. My students have miles to go in order to compete for jobs and seats in major universities, but they have started on the right path. Most have one or two more years here at Bell, so there is still time to get to the level they need to be. I can't wait to lead them again next year.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Obama

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I've just got caught up in the business that is Spring. Our students' standardized testing extravaganza begins this week, so I've been making the last few big attempts to get my students to remember the Pythagorean Theorem or how to read data tables.

One great event that happened last week was a town hall discussion with President Barak Obama--AT OUR SCHOOL. It was an amazing opportunity for our students to meet the president and hear directly from him the importance of education and how it is more important than ever to take care of business in the classroom. With the advent of China, India, and Brazil enhancing their competitive education markets, it has brought a whole new meaning to the word urgency in American education. We are falling behind in all categories, most notably mathematics. It may be hard to picture now what implications our lack of skills will have, but I assure you I see scary things every day; such as the inability of 75 percent of my seniors being unable to do basic addition and subtraction.This is not just an inner-city DC problem, either. "High performing" suburban schools are seeing their traditional greatnesses slip dramatically as well. Now by no means do I think this "rise of the rest" is the end of the world. I'm very confident that the American education system with right the ship, jobs will be created, high school and college graduates will create powerful new enterprises, etc. (the U.S. always seems to adapt better than any state on the planet), but I do think we have lots of work ahead in order for our young people to be competitive in the future. I think this is a very unique situation. And I do find it refreshing that both former President Bush and now Obama have put education policy on the forefront. Not every person has to agree with the foreign policy of the country, or the economic direction, but I do ask that you support the current president in his efforts to reform education. Something has to be done, and he is making it a priority of doing so. I think this is one area where we can all agree.

With all that said, the even was very cool. Univision is the main U.S. Latino/Hispanic news station. Jorge Ramos (the Matt Lauer of the community) was the moderator. Several of my students were able to ask him a question. I had the honor of sitting up front, so I had a great experience. The intimate setting in our high school was an opportunity that doesn't come around often, obviously. Not all teachers and students got to attend the discussion in the gym, but every one got to watch it on the televisions in the classrooms. The sub said my second period roared when I was on television. It was just a great day for our school, community, and the education movement. At the end he went around and shook hands. I was lucky to do so as well. I said "thanks for coming" and he winked and nodded.

The event wasn't about me, though. It was about all my students that need the support and extra push to do something with their lives. I took for granted my education. I was always going to college because of my supportive parents. These kids don't have we I had though. They need countless people directing them to a better future. They simply don't know any better. Why would they?

So, I ask that you continue to support your local schools. I know the tax levies, teacher union stories, and ideas that "I don't have any kids in the system" make it hard sometimes to know if the "right things" are going on and are all very valid reasons to become disenchanted by the system. But, do know that most teachers, most students, and most districts are just trying their damnedests to fix things and figure things out. It is hard. It takes a community of support to propel the young people of today--our nation's future--to excellence and opportunity tomorrow . Please be part of that active community. Thanks.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Building Some Excitement

I had a revelation the other day regarding standardized tests. I have found out, finally, why standardized tests are so big. They:

1. Show what students know compared to thousands of others.
2. Show which students can actually persevere through a tedious, boring, usually disconnected multiple choice test.
3. Tap into a student's competitive instinct.

There are many other things that standardized tests do, but these are the three that jump out to me. I was never a fan of standardized tests. In high school I would get frustrated with the wording of questions, the pressure teachers put on you, and the inability of administrators and teachers to explain why in the world we are taking this thing. I tell my students the above three points. Number three really jumps out to my students and enables me to build some excitement for the DCCAS in April. I mention my experiences about standardized tests and preach that "it's not about me, this class, the school....it's about you succeeding at something." We keep track of mastery on standards (on a poster board with their name and standard names like: "Order of Operations," or "System of Equations") and each student gets a red sticker if they are below 80 percent, a green sticker if they get an 80-89 percent, and a blue sticker if they get a 90-100 percent on our weekly assessments.

This has brought great competition to the class not only with each other, but personally. Students mutter in the back of the room, "Man, I need to go blue. I'm tired of this red stuff." This was my goal. No matter how dry the material, no matter how wordy the questions, no matter how disconnected the questions seem to my students' lives, no matter how many time they are preached that "this test is important," without reasons why, my students DESIRE to succeed for themselves. That is refreshing.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

GO BLUE!

This past week was a normal week--no delays, no snow days, no assemblies, no testing, just instruction. I had an absolute blast with my students. My DCCAS (the name of the test they all take in April to determine how our school/students are doing) prep class is all about going "blue." Going "blue" means the student scored advanced on the test--our ultimate goal. Many of my students scored "red" on the test, meaning they were "below basic" in their understanding of tenth grade mathematics. So, it may seem to some that scoring advanced in just two months is totally out of the question. I'd like to think I have them thinking differently. During class we slam our desks and shout "let's go!" and we always help those slipping behind, and we all participate throughout the whole class, and we all shout "YES!" when we get problems right--the class is one big cheerleading convention, where everyone is taking on the role as cheerleader.

On Friday we took our first assessment to see how the class did on the three tested math standards we focused on the first two weeks of the class. I have four groups, or classes, of students and each class averaged around 73 percent on the test. To score advanced, they would need to hit about 90 percent. So, we are not there yet, but we are moving forward. We have 2 months to practice, practice, practice. I know they can do it.

In other news: no broken bones or concussions on the slopes with my snowboarding club!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Snow Days

This past week was rather different because we had 1 snow day and two 2 hour delays! This has positives and negatives, of course. The positives are obvious: I got to sleep in, catch up on some planning, and relax and get energized for this next week. The negatives are obvious for me: this was the first week of classes for the semester, so there will be a struggle to "wrangle" in the students and sell them my procedures and routines after a crazy week; and students lose out on already short learning time. I teach a DCCAS test prep class and I don't have many days with them. The real test takes place in the first few weeks in April--a month that is quickly approaching. The urgency is there and a few missed days is huge. We'll push on....

We have the threat of a huge winter storm again on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is up in the air whether it will formulate or not. For my students' sakes, I hope we don't get it. So much to do, so little time.

Friday, January 21, 2011

New Semester, New Classes, New Faces

Today was the last day of the semester, so that means starting Monday I will have 3 new classes filled with 150 new students. This will be a challenging semester logistically. I have two periods of "DC CAS Prep" (DC CAS is the formal standardized assessment all 10th graders must take in April to show how the school is doing) and one period of "SAT Prep." Each one of those classes contains about 50 students. Obviously, 50 students cannot fit in one classroom at a time, so they have broken each class into 2 sections: a reading/writing section and a math section. I will obviously be teaching the math section and an English teacher will teach the reading/writing section. The students are split into two cohorts and then alternate days between my classroom and the English classroom. If this sounds confusing, just think how the students will take the news...

The "CHILL" snowboarding club has been quite fun so far. I have been twice and am not that sore! We take a charter bus to Liberty Mountain in Maryland and get a lesson with one of the pros. Six students and myself go, so it is a nice, small group. I have had some great conversations with them and have connected with them in a way that you just can't in a big classroom. The first night we went everyone was very timid, so I decided to break the ice by falling really hard and smiling, laughing, and shouting about it. They all laughed and saw that it was absolutely okay to fall...and be bad at snowboarding. With that said, we are all improving greatly which makes for a fun few hours. I have my "toe side" turns down and now am working to improve my "heel side" turns. The instructor jokes that I have a VERY small margin for error when I turn because my center of gravity is so high. I guess that is why I fall regularly...

Overall the first semester was a success. I have grown a lot as an educator and have seen my fair share of peaks and troughs. I can honestly say that every single one of my students saw at least some success this semester. I gave out course evaluations today and I was taken aback by their honesty and thoughtfulness. I'll leave you with some (grammar intact!).

"I have learned to not give up because Mr. Athmer is all ways putching you to succed."

"He is the best teacher from Bell Multicultural Height School."

"Your are a very good teacher Mr. Athmer. You inspire me to do better and push harder. You are my favorite teacher in this school. Remember: DO WORK KID!"

"You could sit down once in a while and relax."

"I think you class was my best period because everything we did we had energy. I learned that making every attempt in this class bettered one and that one of my attempts was noticed so I should do that everywhere in life. Mr. Athmer, I appreciate your motivation and your readyness. I'm grateful for your work methods."

God bless.