I have to go into work tomorrow. From 9-1. I know that it's part of the job. I just don't want to wake up. All I want nowadays is sleep. But when I get a chance on Friday I can't do it. My mind is pysched into Friday mode. It's Friday you can't sleep. The Finals are on. I'm starting to like basketball more and more. My two favorite sports are American football and boxing.
The Raiders drafted Fabian Washington and Stanford Rouatt with their first two picks. Fast fast fast cornerbacks. The enforcement of the no contact downfield rule is making speed more and more important. Philip Buchanon was traded and Woodson wants out of Oakland. Woodson is expensive as the franchise player and he doesn't want to be on the team... We gotta trade him and get something good. I want a premier linebacker, though at Charles's age, defensive style, and cost I wonder what we could get.
The Raiders need a better linebacking corps. After choosing QB Andrew Walter the Raiders took Oakland Native and ILB Kirk Morrison. Welcome back to Oakland Kirk! Please wreak havoc on offenses, especially running backs.
Then the Raiders chose DT Anttaj Hawthorne, DE Ryan Riddle, and OT Pete McMahon. Apparently Anttaj fell a lot in the draft rankings cause he likes to smoke weed. Some had tagged him as a first round pick, but the herbage made his stock drop. Welcome to the Raiders Anttaj! Please don't do a Darrell Russell.
I wonder who's going to be playing the FS position. This is another position on defense that the Raiders are weak in. It remains to be seen how Rob Ryan does on defense. The guy comes from a good football lineage, but last year was bad. Raiders couldn't stop tissue paper. The mantra was less pressure on the quarterback please and don't tackle the running back.
Defense is hard though. I love watching a great defensive team. I wish the Raiders just had the ability to shut down the other team's offense, but they can't. However, now they've got a ridiculously high powered offense which should take a bunch of pressure off our defense. My worry with the offense is we'll score too fast and the defense will get tired. Well that and Kerry Collins fumbling, throwing an interception, or whatnot.
I mean the Raiders got Randy Moss!!! Everyone in the AFC West went scrambling for cornerbacks. He's a man that demands defensive coaches' attention. So sweet and beautiful. God Bless the Vertical Offense.
Friday, April 29, 2005
I went out to a bar last night. My college friend Freddie was in from London for the day. I rarely get to see the man so I had to go out. I only had two Guinesses, but my chinese-missing-an-enzyme self just felt faded. Then waking up for class the next morning. It sucked. So hard.
I hate the sound of my alarm.
Lots of people say hate is a strong word. I agree. You can't just go throwing hate to everything. It lacks subtlety and depth. It's very teenager.
I hate the sound of my alarm clock.
It's got this knife-in-your-brain shrill sound that makes me want to throw it against the wall. But I can't... because it's a hatred I'm familiar with. I couldn't imagine hating another alarm clock... I mean I suppose one day I'll have to. But I wouldn't like the transition. The sleep button on my alarm clock is an odd 7 minutes. It's a brilliantly dangerous button. The sleep button is brilliant because it allows you more time to gradually awaken. You can get those precious few more seconds. The sleep that cries for you back. No anger or resentment. Just the pull back into sleep's embrace.
It's dangerous cause the sleep button stops. I haven't calculated the time. But at some point my sleep button doesn't sleep anymore. Some might call it treacherous. Duplicitous. I call it just pain hurtful. I mean damn. Keep helping me up here, cause the body is so not willing. I can only muster the half blind slap at the button. There's not much in the motor in the morning.
I hate the sound of my alarm.
Lots of people say hate is a strong word. I agree. You can't just go throwing hate to everything. It lacks subtlety and depth. It's very teenager.
I hate the sound of my alarm clock.
It's got this knife-in-your-brain shrill sound that makes me want to throw it against the wall. But I can't... because it's a hatred I'm familiar with. I couldn't imagine hating another alarm clock... I mean I suppose one day I'll have to. But I wouldn't like the transition. The sleep button on my alarm clock is an odd 7 minutes. It's a brilliantly dangerous button. The sleep button is brilliant because it allows you more time to gradually awaken. You can get those precious few more seconds. The sleep that cries for you back. No anger or resentment. Just the pull back into sleep's embrace.
It's dangerous cause the sleep button stops. I haven't calculated the time. But at some point my sleep button doesn't sleep anymore. Some might call it treacherous. Duplicitous. I call it just pain hurtful. I mean damn. Keep helping me up here, cause the body is so not willing. I can only muster the half blind slap at the button. There's not much in the motor in the morning.
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 10
I gave the vocab test today and for the most part everyone did better than last week. Using the sticks and flash card drills seemed to make for better performance all around. However, it is somewhat hard to compare since the quizzes that I used were different. Last week I did the blank paper and define. Today I gave them the definition and they gave me the word, Jeopardy Style. However, through the week I had pulled sticks and students that normally appear in a semi-comatose state actually gave me correct answers. While I haven't graded the quizzes yet, kids seemed to do well when I checked the papers as they turned them in. Today was Friday so energy was kind off. Kids seemed ready to go to home... starting with the first period.
In my first period, I had the students make up 5 questions on the various subjects (Islam, Daoism, Buddhism, Major ethnic groups, model minority myth) the test will be on. Then, I will take some of the questions from the students and put them on the test. I'll put the students' name next to the question so they will feel like they contribute to the class and test. And they won't be able to complain that I come up with such hard questions. :)) Also, I showed the students how to make semantic mapping instead of outlines. The ideas is that you should use whatever structure helps you learn better. Some people, like myself, may find outlines more helpful. Some may find semantic mapping better. Then I had students make up outlines for Monday to be used on the test.
In my second period, I answered questions that students had on the text. One question was "What are tariffs?" So I explained tariffs and wandered off into the world of the WTO... I tend to get excited and veer off into other things and then when I look around I see that kids have tuned out. I have to check that. Then I had the students do the 3R part while I called up students and individually checked their questions. Checking their questions I tried to get them to be take their questions to the next level. Instead of "What is yellow journalism?", change the question to "What is yellow journalism and how did it escalate the threat of war and what was its part in the Spanish-American-Cuban war?" For homework, I assigned the last two sections of Chapter 10 along with a 1 page paper critiquing the chapter. We've read about the problems of textbooks and we've talked about the problems with US history, so I want them thinking about possible problems and criticisms they have of the text.
In my 3rd period class, we did the W part of the KWL. I should have done this yesterday but I did it today. I had to try and get the kids to focus and hone their questions better, cause they were being far too broad. But I suppose the question "What was life like in pre WWII?" can include everything before 1939. But I wanted them to stay pretty much in the 20th century. Then we finished looking at pictures while analyzing the picture. This seemed to be interesting to the kids cause they were all paying attention and yelling out their own analyses. Of course I want them to raise their hands, but their enthusiasm was better than nothing. After that I pulled sticks to break the class into 5 groups of 3. It was the end of class by the time I finished with the sticks. But the way that luck fell, when the groups were made "certain" students were in groups with each other. Students made some jokes and I couldn't stop laughing. Then they were laughing at me cause I turned bright red from laughing and they were all laughing... It was bad that I was laughing but I couldn't stop and they thought it was funny too. It was a cool human moment, but maybe not the best teaching moment. But then bell hooks said school should be fun, so that's my excuse.
In my first period, I had the students make up 5 questions on the various subjects (Islam, Daoism, Buddhism, Major ethnic groups, model minority myth) the test will be on. Then, I will take some of the questions from the students and put them on the test. I'll put the students' name next to the question so they will feel like they contribute to the class and test. And they won't be able to complain that I come up with such hard questions. :)) Also, I showed the students how to make semantic mapping instead of outlines. The ideas is that you should use whatever structure helps you learn better. Some people, like myself, may find outlines more helpful. Some may find semantic mapping better. Then I had students make up outlines for Monday to be used on the test.
In my second period, I answered questions that students had on the text. One question was "What are tariffs?" So I explained tariffs and wandered off into the world of the WTO... I tend to get excited and veer off into other things and then when I look around I see that kids have tuned out. I have to check that. Then I had the students do the 3R part while I called up students and individually checked their questions. Checking their questions I tried to get them to be take their questions to the next level. Instead of "What is yellow journalism?", change the question to "What is yellow journalism and how did it escalate the threat of war and what was its part in the Spanish-American-Cuban war?" For homework, I assigned the last two sections of Chapter 10 along with a 1 page paper critiquing the chapter. We've read about the problems of textbooks and we've talked about the problems with US history, so I want them thinking about possible problems and criticisms they have of the text.
In my 3rd period class, we did the W part of the KWL. I should have done this yesterday but I did it today. I had to try and get the kids to focus and hone their questions better, cause they were being far too broad. But I suppose the question "What was life like in pre WWII?" can include everything before 1939. But I wanted them to stay pretty much in the 20th century. Then we finished looking at pictures while analyzing the picture. This seemed to be interesting to the kids cause they were all paying attention and yelling out their own analyses. Of course I want them to raise their hands, but their enthusiasm was better than nothing. After that I pulled sticks to break the class into 5 groups of 3. It was the end of class by the time I finished with the sticks. But the way that luck fell, when the groups were made "certain" students were in groups with each other. Students made some jokes and I couldn't stop laughing. Then they were laughing at me cause I turned bright red from laughing and they were all laughing... It was bad that I was laughing but I couldn't stop and they thought it was funny too. It was a cool human moment, but maybe not the best teaching moment. But then bell hooks said school should be fun, so that's my excuse.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 9
Today I started off all the classes reading "Animal Farm". Then I had them review their vocab flash cards. Then I pulled sticks and had students answer what the vocab words were. I'm thinking of writing the definition tomorrow and having them give the word all Jeopardy Style.
In my Asian American Studies class, I moved the test to Monday since Pam Africa came in and I didn't get to review with the students the way that I wanted to. I realized because of Pam I had forgotten to teach them how to make an outline. So today I showed them how to make an outline of the reading "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Their homework for tomorrow and the weekend is to make outlines for all the topics we've studied so far. I told them that they will be able to use notes for the test but only notes that were in outline format or semantic (cognitive) maps or other structures. I really want to hammer home the idea of learning study skills.
In my US history class, I had the students finish the SQ3R. They did the reading, recite, and review part. They had to fill in the answers to the questions that they made. I realized that we are coming to the middle of the trimester and we haven't gotten as far into US history 20th century as I would like. I assigned students textbooks to take home, and then I gave them as homework the SQ part for the next section of Chapter 10. I really want them to learn SQ3R so that we can get through the textbook readings faster and with greater retention. That way we can get to other readings that I want to like "People's History of the United States" and "History Lessons".
In my Multicultural Ed class I totally messed up. I did a KWL on what did they know about California Pre WWII. But I only did the K part and didn't to the W part. I don't know why I did this. This class was pretty frustrating today with all the flirting and talking out of turn. But at the same time I had students that rarely speak and do well answer questions that I gave them. Maybe it's the popsicle sticks but I called on 2 students that usually sit around doing nothing or talking and they both gave me the right answer to the vocab word. Then when I asked them something for the KWL and both gave me an answer. Usually they would just say I don't know, but this time they both said something and they were right on target. So I gave him a 10 on his contract today. But I didn't do the W and I will have to do that tomorrow. Instead of going to the W I had them review pictures of California pre WWII. I had them look at the picture, explain what was going on in the picture, was it impromtu, what did it show about life pre WWII. etc etc.
All in all I felt today was a good day. I am more in a groove. I am getting along with students. I have a better idea of what I am going to do in classes. Things are going pretty well. I know that I am going to regret writing these words and that they will come and smack me back in the face.
In my Asian American Studies class, I moved the test to Monday since Pam Africa came in and I didn't get to review with the students the way that I wanted to. I realized because of Pam I had forgotten to teach them how to make an outline. So today I showed them how to make an outline of the reading "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Their homework for tomorrow and the weekend is to make outlines for all the topics we've studied so far. I told them that they will be able to use notes for the test but only notes that were in outline format or semantic (cognitive) maps or other structures. I really want to hammer home the idea of learning study skills.
In my US history class, I had the students finish the SQ3R. They did the reading, recite, and review part. They had to fill in the answers to the questions that they made. I realized that we are coming to the middle of the trimester and we haven't gotten as far into US history 20th century as I would like. I assigned students textbooks to take home, and then I gave them as homework the SQ part for the next section of Chapter 10. I really want them to learn SQ3R so that we can get through the textbook readings faster and with greater retention. That way we can get to other readings that I want to like "People's History of the United States" and "History Lessons".
In my Multicultural Ed class I totally messed up. I did a KWL on what did they know about California Pre WWII. But I only did the K part and didn't to the W part. I don't know why I did this. This class was pretty frustrating today with all the flirting and talking out of turn. But at the same time I had students that rarely speak and do well answer questions that I gave them. Maybe it's the popsicle sticks but I called on 2 students that usually sit around doing nothing or talking and they both gave me the right answer to the vocab word. Then when I asked them something for the KWL and both gave me an answer. Usually they would just say I don't know, but this time they both said something and they were right on target. So I gave him a 10 on his contract today. But I didn't do the W and I will have to do that tomorrow. Instead of going to the W I had them review pictures of California pre WWII. I had them look at the picture, explain what was going on in the picture, was it impromtu, what did it show about life pre WWII. etc etc.
All in all I felt today was a good day. I am more in a groove. I am getting along with students. I have a better idea of what I am going to do in classes. Things are going pretty well. I know that I am going to regret writing these words and that they will come and smack me back in the face.
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 8
Yesterday was a good Wednesday. I started out by subbing for a Tobacco and Drug Prevention class for the first period. We watched "Traffic" so it was easy. Then I had my infamous Meta class...
But it was good!...well ok it was better. Much much better. The removal/expulsion/suspension of a few students had an incredibly calming effect on the rest of the class. It was amazing. The class was almost functioning like a normal class. We started off with a journal write on what we thought our ideal school would look, feel, smell, and be like. Then we did a rules review worksheet that the students had to fill out. Then we discussed those rules. In one of those brilliant examples of anarchy as a political thought (not anarchy with the connotation of chaos) the students make up the rules for the school. After the discussion we did a school wide and outside cleanup. Storefront owners have been complaining that our students leave trash in front of their businesses. While I believe that there are students that are doing that, I know the location of the school and don't believe that we are the only transgressors. However, in order to improve school-community relations we cleaned up trash in front of their businesses. After class Amanda and I were actually relatively mellow. Usually when that class is over our blood pressure is up 60 points or something. I think next time we will have to do assigned seating to make our lives even better
But it was good!...well ok it was better. Much much better. The removal/expulsion/suspension of a few students had an incredibly calming effect on the rest of the class. It was amazing. The class was almost functioning like a normal class. We started off with a journal write on what we thought our ideal school would look, feel, smell, and be like. Then we did a rules review worksheet that the students had to fill out. Then we discussed those rules. In one of those brilliant examples of anarchy as a political thought (not anarchy with the connotation of chaos) the students make up the rules for the school. After the discussion we did a school wide and outside cleanup. Storefront owners have been complaining that our students leave trash in front of their businesses. While I believe that there are students that are doing that, I know the location of the school and don't believe that we are the only transgressors. However, in order to improve school-community relations we cleaned up trash in front of their businesses. After class Amanda and I were actually relatively mellow. Usually when that class is over our blood pressure is up 60 points or something. I think next time we will have to do assigned seating to make our lives even better
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 7
Today I had Pam Africa, Ramona Africa, and Bessima Muhammad come in and talk about Mumia Abu Jamal. They wanted to do it all in one class so we piled 4 different classes into my classroom. The seniors had all gone to Laney Community College so classes were smaller and everyone fit in. They were amazing speakers but I was bummed that we weren't able to prepare for them better. I had thought they were going to be coming in on Wednesday then I thought they were coming in on Tuesday during 2nd period. It wasn't until yesterday afterschool that I found out that they were coming into my 1st period. So I didn't get to tell my class about Mumia and prepare them to ask questions. Those ladies were amazing powerful speakers. I found Ramona to be very powerful and the burns on her body were a testament to the violence that has been done against her by the government. Bessima was great too and she sang Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". The class was really quiet but people seemed to be really affected.
In my US history and multicultural class I gave a writing prompt inspired by my 1st period speakers. The prompt was
Tell me about a time when you or a friend was harassed by the police. What was the situation? What do you think should be done about the harassment?
The students really seemed to enjoy this prompt and I got a lot of writing. There were only a few kids that hadn't had run ins or known someone that hadn't had run ins with the police. After the prompt or if students got done early I had them drill their flash card vocab words. This worked out well because it gave the students something to do quietly and was a good transition for when everyone was drilling. Then after 5 minutes I pulled a stick and had the student look me in the eye and define one of the 5 words. I expected that some kids would have trouble with the vocab but putting them on the spot will hopefully force them to learn the words next time. This has been a good way for checking if students are learning.
In my US history class after everything was done I introduced them to blogging and and gave them the homework assignment to sign up for a blog by Friday. Once again most students seemed to be excited by the whole idea of blogging and having a blog where they could network with friends and post their thoughts and reflections. As always there were some that just sat there and seemed uninterested but sadly those students seem to be like that all the time.
In my Multicultural class I did a seminar. This is a project that was assigned to me for one of my teaching credential classes. I had the students read the "The Exploitation of Women in Hip-hop Culture". Then I gave them a run down on the rules to a seminar and defined misogyny and sexism. Then I had them circle up and I pulled sticks and asked questions of students. My first question was,
What does the author mean by the statement, "For young people that do not hold sexist ideals, mainsteram hip-hop may influence them to do so as it spreads and continuously gains popularity." Do you agree with it?
This was a question went well and caused a lot of responses by the students. Sadly and not surprisingly, many of the boys had the attitude that many of the girls wanted the bad attention and had it coming to them. Then I asked,
What do you think about the sexism and misogyny in hip hop?
I pulled a stick for this one and I was happy that the boy that I called on was against it and thought it was wrong. Unfortunately he was shy and didn't want to expand as much on his thoughts on the issue. My next question was,
What are the roots of sexism and misogyny in hip-hop?
I pulled a stick for this one too and called on a very bright and strong young lady. It cracks me up though cause this girl is hella loud and talkative, but when she was talking in the seminar she all the sudden got quiet and soft spoken. But she had great things to say. Perhaps she was shy to speak against what seemed to be a common consensus among the louder more insistent boy views. My next question was,
Why do women consent and collaborate with their own sexual exploitation?
This question stirred up a lot of differing views once again. But sadly the views were split down down the gender line. My final question was,
What are solutions to the misogyny and sexism in hip-hop?
Students gave good answers, but it wasn't surprising that a few felt that things would never change.
I thought that the seminar went well but I forgot to praise the students for their participation in the seminar. We were running short on time and I just handed out notecards to ask them what they thought about the whole thing. This class is my young freshmen class and they really love it when I talk about hip-hop. I thought it would be good to talk about social issues within the context of hip-hop. I would definitely do this again.
Kids have been telling me they are going to come in after school to get their blog going. Go internet and Blogger!
In my US history and multicultural class I gave a writing prompt inspired by my 1st period speakers. The prompt was
Tell me about a time when you or a friend was harassed by the police. What was the situation? What do you think should be done about the harassment?
The students really seemed to enjoy this prompt and I got a lot of writing. There were only a few kids that hadn't had run ins or known someone that hadn't had run ins with the police. After the prompt or if students got done early I had them drill their flash card vocab words. This worked out well because it gave the students something to do quietly and was a good transition for when everyone was drilling. Then after 5 minutes I pulled a stick and had the student look me in the eye and define one of the 5 words. I expected that some kids would have trouble with the vocab but putting them on the spot will hopefully force them to learn the words next time. This has been a good way for checking if students are learning.
In my US history class after everything was done I introduced them to blogging and and gave them the homework assignment to sign up for a blog by Friday. Once again most students seemed to be excited by the whole idea of blogging and having a blog where they could network with friends and post their thoughts and reflections. As always there were some that just sat there and seemed uninterested but sadly those students seem to be like that all the time.
In my Multicultural class I did a seminar. This is a project that was assigned to me for one of my teaching credential classes. I had the students read the "The Exploitation of Women in Hip-hop Culture". Then I gave them a run down on the rules to a seminar and defined misogyny and sexism. Then I had them circle up and I pulled sticks and asked questions of students. My first question was,
What does the author mean by the statement, "For young people that do not hold sexist ideals, mainsteram hip-hop may influence them to do so as it spreads and continuously gains popularity." Do you agree with it?
This was a question went well and caused a lot of responses by the students. Sadly and not surprisingly, many of the boys had the attitude that many of the girls wanted the bad attention and had it coming to them. Then I asked,
What do you think about the sexism and misogyny in hip hop?
I pulled a stick for this one and I was happy that the boy that I called on was against it and thought it was wrong. Unfortunately he was shy and didn't want to expand as much on his thoughts on the issue. My next question was,
What are the roots of sexism and misogyny in hip-hop?
I pulled a stick for this one too and called on a very bright and strong young lady. It cracks me up though cause this girl is hella loud and talkative, but when she was talking in the seminar she all the sudden got quiet and soft spoken. But she had great things to say. Perhaps she was shy to speak against what seemed to be a common consensus among the louder more insistent boy views. My next question was,
Why do women consent and collaborate with their own sexual exploitation?
This question stirred up a lot of differing views once again. But sadly the views were split down down the gender line. My final question was,
What are solutions to the misogyny and sexism in hip-hop?
Students gave good answers, but it wasn't surprising that a few felt that things would never change.
I thought that the seminar went well but I forgot to praise the students for their participation in the seminar. We were running short on time and I just handed out notecards to ask them what they thought about the whole thing. This class is my young freshmen class and they really love it when I talk about hip-hop. I thought it would be good to talk about social issues within the context of hip-hop. I would definitely do this again.
Kids have been telling me they are going to come in after school to get their blog going. Go internet and Blogger!
Monday, April 25, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 6
So I talked to my friend Bob who was setting up the whole Pam Africa talk and unfortunately she couldn't come into my Wednesday Meta class... My coteacher Amanda and I are totally bummed cause that class would do well to hear her talk. However, she is coming into my 1st period class tomorrow along with Ramona Africa. Another teacher Gina is coming into my class to hear Pam, and Ramona Africa is going to Tracey's class and Lauren is hopping in on that talk too.
So in all my classes today I gave out the vocabulary which was activism, grassroots, Establishment, commercialize, and satyagraha. This time I had students write the words on a index cards with the word on one side and the meaning on the other. I will take 5 minutes each day to have the students drill each other on the words and meanings. I'm thinking then I'll pull a stick and ask a student what the word means and see if they learned it. This will put them on the spot in front of everyone, and no one wants to look bad in front of everyone right?
In my Asian-American studies class I forgot to have them do SSR and we went right into teaching them how to blog. I showed them my blog and my friend Kira's blog. I showed them all the links that I was interested in and stuff like that. I told them that they could write anything on their blog that they wanted (Swearing, poetry, journals, etc). However, when I ask them to post an assignment then they have to follow the rules and etiquette associated with an academic writing. I told them that after I check their blogs then I would write a comment and that comment would be the sign that I checked their work. The students seemed to be interested in blogging and having links and networks of blogging friends. I think it will be good for them to be interested in computers and excited to write in their blog.
My good friends Jeremy and Brian are coming to school to check out the computer system and possibly help set up the computer lab and fix any computer/printer/server problems. These guys know their stuff so I'm stoked. After they get everything all hooked up then I will put Hello and Picasa on the computers so that the students will be able to put pictures and stuff on the computer.
In my US history class I went over the SQ3R reading strategy with them and we did the survey part of it together with the US history textbook. I showed them the things to read and then we talked about questions and how to make questions for the text. Then I had them write out questions for each of the headings in the textbook. Tomorrow we will do the reading and they will try to answer the questions that they made up. I constantly stress to them to work smarter not harder and most actually seem to pay attention to me.
In my multicultural class, I did vocab and then SSR. After that I showed them how to sign up for blogs. This class seemed to be really excited about blogging and I was happy. Finally something that seemed to perk their interest.
After school today I had a few kids come in and actually sign up for their blogs. I don't usually have a lot of kids coming into my class afterschool and was surprised to see the kids that I did see. I'm really excited about blogging and excited that the kids are excited about it. Now I will have less paperwork and be able to access student work online.
So in all my classes today I gave out the vocabulary which was activism, grassroots, Establishment, commercialize, and satyagraha. This time I had students write the words on a index cards with the word on one side and the meaning on the other. I will take 5 minutes each day to have the students drill each other on the words and meanings. I'm thinking then I'll pull a stick and ask a student what the word means and see if they learned it. This will put them on the spot in front of everyone, and no one wants to look bad in front of everyone right?
In my Asian-American studies class I forgot to have them do SSR and we went right into teaching them how to blog. I showed them my blog and my friend Kira's blog. I showed them all the links that I was interested in and stuff like that. I told them that they could write anything on their blog that they wanted (Swearing, poetry, journals, etc). However, when I ask them to post an assignment then they have to follow the rules and etiquette associated with an academic writing. I told them that after I check their blogs then I would write a comment and that comment would be the sign that I checked their work. The students seemed to be interested in blogging and having links and networks of blogging friends. I think it will be good for them to be interested in computers and excited to write in their blog.
My good friends Jeremy and Brian are coming to school to check out the computer system and possibly help set up the computer lab and fix any computer/printer/server problems. These guys know their stuff so I'm stoked. After they get everything all hooked up then I will put Hello and Picasa on the computers so that the students will be able to put pictures and stuff on the computer.
In my US history class I went over the SQ3R reading strategy with them and we did the survey part of it together with the US history textbook. I showed them the things to read and then we talked about questions and how to make questions for the text. Then I had them write out questions for each of the headings in the textbook. Tomorrow we will do the reading and they will try to answer the questions that they made up. I constantly stress to them to work smarter not harder and most actually seem to pay attention to me.
In my multicultural class, I did vocab and then SSR. After that I showed them how to sign up for blogs. This class seemed to be really excited about blogging and I was happy. Finally something that seemed to perk their interest.
After school today I had a few kids come in and actually sign up for their blogs. I don't usually have a lot of kids coming into my class afterschool and was surprised to see the kids that I did see. I'm really excited about blogging and excited that the kids are excited about it. Now I will have less paperwork and be able to access student work online.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Katamari Damacy
I've been playing this really crazy Japanese video game on the PS2. It's a fucking hilarious game with a weird as shit plot line. The stars fall out of the sky and it is your job to roll this katamari (sticky ball) around and pick up stuff and make big katamari balls. As your katamari gets bigger with stuff you can pick up bigger things. From thumbtacks to buildings. When you've made your katamari big enough your dad (king of the cosmos) turns the katamari into a star. The game is
incredibly simple to play and just hilarious. I think the designers were shrooming when they made it. The prince has a space mushroom that he can go to. There are big mushrooms all throughout the game and the size of the katamari is registered by a big psychedelic tie dye orb pulsating in the corner. It's one of those games that's distinctly Japanese. The best part of the game is that it was $19.95. And since I traded in some games it was even less.
incredibly simple to play and just hilarious. I think the designers were shrooming when they made it. The prince has a space mushroom that he can go to. There are big mushrooms all throughout the game and the size of the katamari is registered by a big psychedelic tie dye orb pulsating in the corner. It's one of those games that's distinctly Japanese. The best part of the game is that it was $19.95. And since I traded in some games it was even less.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 5
I got 6 hours of sleep today... I'm so happy. This is waaaay better than what I was getting on the other days. Would you like cheese with my whine?
So today was vocab quiz day and makeup work day. I had all the classes give definitions for the 5 words. (imperialism, revolution, despotism, monarchy, and sovereignty) This was a complete and utter failure. Last week I gave a fill in the blank and that was ok... but I tried to give higher standards this time and it didn't work out so well. I am thinking that I have to do something totally different with the vocab. I can't just give it to them and expect them to study it and learn it, cause it wasn't working. I'm thinking that I will hand out notecards on monday and have them copy the word on one side and the definition on the other. Then maybe find some time at the end of class on tuesday and thursday where they quiz each other on the vocab words. I'll have to see how that will work for them.
After that I showed semantic (cognitive) mapping to all the classes again as a way to flesh out their ideas for their final project. Then I handed out the list of missing assignments and helped the kids get on task with either their assignments or final project. I bought 2 stamp from OfficeMax with a "past due" and a "received and date" and both are getting far too much of a workout.
At the beginning of 3rd period (after lunch) the administration got on the intercom and had all the students go back out to lunch area and pick up trash. The backyard was a mess. The kids just eat their food and throw their shit everywhere. We have part part part time custodians so everyone is pretty much responsible for keeping the school clean. It bugs the shit out of me that the kids throw shit everywhere. If there is one major pet peeve that I have it's littering. Everyday after class I get my broom and sweep up the class and the place is always full of trash. I am always trying to keep an eye out for kids littering, but it's never them... It's always just around them.
I had an painful experience today in one of my classes with one of my students. This student is a beautiful young lady with a very good heart and I respect her. But she is filled with anger and unhappiness. It exudes from her being and you can see the effect on her face. She is a strong and tough young lady, but I can tell she is forced to put up a tough front when maybe she doesn't want to. I said as much to her and as I was talking to her she started tearing up. It is painful to see so many young kids hurting and not being allowed to be the person that they want to be because of their circumstances. This is Freire's definition of oppression. Not being allowed to be more fully human. Not feeling like you can express the gamut of emotions. Not being able to be soft when you want to be soft. Not being loved when you need it.
I think that students are starting to warm up to me. They all want to trust but are afraid to, because there are a lot of people that cannot be trusted.
So today was vocab quiz day and makeup work day. I had all the classes give definitions for the 5 words. (imperialism, revolution, despotism, monarchy, and sovereignty) This was a complete and utter failure. Last week I gave a fill in the blank and that was ok... but I tried to give higher standards this time and it didn't work out so well. I am thinking that I have to do something totally different with the vocab. I can't just give it to them and expect them to study it and learn it, cause it wasn't working. I'm thinking that I will hand out notecards on monday and have them copy the word on one side and the definition on the other. Then maybe find some time at the end of class on tuesday and thursday where they quiz each other on the vocab words. I'll have to see how that will work for them.
After that I showed semantic (cognitive) mapping to all the classes again as a way to flesh out their ideas for their final project. Then I handed out the list of missing assignments and helped the kids get on task with either their assignments or final project. I bought 2 stamp from OfficeMax with a "past due" and a "received and date" and both are getting far too much of a workout.
At the beginning of 3rd period (after lunch) the administration got on the intercom and had all the students go back out to lunch area and pick up trash. The backyard was a mess. The kids just eat their food and throw their shit everywhere. We have part part part time custodians so everyone is pretty much responsible for keeping the school clean. It bugs the shit out of me that the kids throw shit everywhere. If there is one major pet peeve that I have it's littering. Everyday after class I get my broom and sweep up the class and the place is always full of trash. I am always trying to keep an eye out for kids littering, but it's never them... It's always just around them.
I had an painful experience today in one of my classes with one of my students. This student is a beautiful young lady with a very good heart and I respect her. But she is filled with anger and unhappiness. It exudes from her being and you can see the effect on her face. She is a strong and tough young lady, but I can tell she is forced to put up a tough front when maybe she doesn't want to. I said as much to her and as I was talking to her she started tearing up. It is painful to see so many young kids hurting and not being allowed to be the person that they want to be because of their circumstances. This is Freire's definition of oppression. Not being allowed to be more fully human. Not feeling like you can express the gamut of emotions. Not being able to be soft when you want to be soft. Not being loved when you need it.
I think that students are starting to warm up to me. They all want to trust but are afraid to, because there are a lot of people that cannot be trusted.
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 4
I'm going to sleep soon.
Today I read Animal Farm to all the classes. I told them it was about the Russian Revolution and the fight between the capitalists and the workers. Orwell is one of my favorite writers of all time and I've learned more from his books about politics than many of the classes that I've had. Thie idea is to affect the audiolingual intelligence. All they got to do is sit and listen too and it really calms them and me down when we start off with something where they just got to sit and be quite. I suppose I crave the structure and calm just like them.
In my Asian American class we finished up the L part of the KWL. Oh yeah I also put in a seating chart. People were unhappy and I had to admit a bit of schadenfreude. The little chatty groups were starting to really piss me off and I had to break it up for my own sanity. I tried to put people out of their comfort zone areas of sitting. A student that I like basically said that she taped her voice and listened to it... I was dying. She was basically saying that she loved to hear the sound of her own voice and I was thinking, "oh man I'm in trouble..." but she says good things so I don't mind. Sweet young lady though. And I had a surprise visit by one of the teacher teacher from my credentialing program. I have to admit being nervous when someone comes to watch me. I can stand in front of a rooomful of students, elementary or high school, but when I got other adults in the room...
In my US history, seating charts too. More schadenfreude. It's the little things like that that make my day. Moving high energy away from high energy. Finding people's complements...still a work in progress. In this class I modeled with their help the classic outline format. I am trying to get across to all the kids to learn study skills. To work smarter and not harder. Hard effort for a short period of time is better than to have to work longer and get back less later. The classic outline forces them to think about categories. If they can think in chunks then things will be easier for them. We used the Butler essay and I just did the first chapter with them. Then I assigned the rest of it to be due on Tuesday next week. With the little bit of remaining time, we read a paper on SQ4R reading strategy. Next week we will use the strategy with the textbook and the chapter on US imperialism.
For my multicultural ed class, I had them work on work they hadn't turned in. I did assignments turned in and missing last night on the computer and many people were missing a lot of work. The class that doesn't hand in assignments... Friday was supposed to be the makeup work day but since so many were missing so many assignments I had them start today.
After that I had to go to my Latino experience in US class at uni. I had to present about a paper I am going to have to write on Haiti. The speech went well. Haiti has a fascinating history. I had no idea that the US occupied haiti in 1915 and stayed there for 19 years. Then of course the imperialists say that they provided infrastructure like roads. A common line by imperial powers (I've heard Danes say that about a the Faroese, Chinese about the Tibetans), though the roads are really to facilitate troop movement and movement of goods and resources for easier exploitation. But I was thinking about it too, the US made the roads with forced labor... or slaves. I mean the US invades and occupies Haiti and then forces people to labor for them doing things. That's slavery... some slave conditions. Old habits die hard. Not too far off from 1865. The US ran the show in Haiti and we sent up a local US trained military, which were the only well run institution in Haiti after the US left. I had no idea that Haiti beating off the French is one of the reasons Napoleon sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US. I find it interesting that the US supported Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier because they weren't those godless commies in Cuba. Papa Doc's regime lead to the brain drain from Haiti... that's always good for a country. Oh yeah and the US has basically been through the IMF and the World Bank uses SAP programs to get Haiti into a low wage, no union sweatshop. And of course the US couldn't have a working Black Republic so close to it when it had slaves. Can't have slaves having all these big ideas like freedom. All of this sounds so damn familiar... Got Empire?
Today I read Animal Farm to all the classes. I told them it was about the Russian Revolution and the fight between the capitalists and the workers. Orwell is one of my favorite writers of all time and I've learned more from his books about politics than many of the classes that I've had. Thie idea is to affect the audiolingual intelligence. All they got to do is sit and listen too and it really calms them and me down when we start off with something where they just got to sit and be quite. I suppose I crave the structure and calm just like them.
In my Asian American class we finished up the L part of the KWL. Oh yeah I also put in a seating chart. People were unhappy and I had to admit a bit of schadenfreude. The little chatty groups were starting to really piss me off and I had to break it up for my own sanity. I tried to put people out of their comfort zone areas of sitting. A student that I like basically said that she taped her voice and listened to it... I was dying. She was basically saying that she loved to hear the sound of her own voice and I was thinking, "oh man I'm in trouble..." but she says good things so I don't mind. Sweet young lady though. And I had a surprise visit by one of the teacher teacher from my credentialing program. I have to admit being nervous when someone comes to watch me. I can stand in front of a rooomful of students, elementary or high school, but when I got other adults in the room...
In my US history, seating charts too. More schadenfreude. It's the little things like that that make my day. Moving high energy away from high energy. Finding people's complements...still a work in progress. In this class I modeled with their help the classic outline format. I am trying to get across to all the kids to learn study skills. To work smarter and not harder. Hard effort for a short period of time is better than to have to work longer and get back less later. The classic outline forces them to think about categories. If they can think in chunks then things will be easier for them. We used the Butler essay and I just did the first chapter with them. Then I assigned the rest of it to be due on Tuesday next week. With the little bit of remaining time, we read a paper on SQ4R reading strategy. Next week we will use the strategy with the textbook and the chapter on US imperialism.
For my multicultural ed class, I had them work on work they hadn't turned in. I did assignments turned in and missing last night on the computer and many people were missing a lot of work. The class that doesn't hand in assignments... Friday was supposed to be the makeup work day but since so many were missing so many assignments I had them start today.
After that I had to go to my Latino experience in US class at uni. I had to present about a paper I am going to have to write on Haiti. The speech went well. Haiti has a fascinating history. I had no idea that the US occupied haiti in 1915 and stayed there for 19 years. Then of course the imperialists say that they provided infrastructure like roads. A common line by imperial powers (I've heard Danes say that about a the Faroese, Chinese about the Tibetans), though the roads are really to facilitate troop movement and movement of goods and resources for easier exploitation. But I was thinking about it too, the US made the roads with forced labor... or slaves. I mean the US invades and occupies Haiti and then forces people to labor for them doing things. That's slavery... some slave conditions. Old habits die hard. Not too far off from 1865. The US ran the show in Haiti and we sent up a local US trained military, which were the only well run institution in Haiti after the US left. I had no idea that Haiti beating off the French is one of the reasons Napoleon sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US. I find it interesting that the US supported Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier because they weren't those godless commies in Cuba. Papa Doc's regime lead to the brain drain from Haiti... that's always good for a country. Oh yeah and the US has basically been through the IMF and the World Bank uses SAP programs to get Haiti into a low wage, no union sweatshop. And of course the US couldn't have a working Black Republic so close to it when it had slaves. Can't have slaves having all these big ideas like freedom. All of this sounds so damn familiar... Got Empire?
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 3
On Wednesdays my school has a totally different schedule. This is a day for electives and stuff. There's a creative expression class, women & men's spoken word, Capoeira, dance choreography, and other stuff. On this day I co-teach with Amanda a class called metamorphosis. This class introduces students to the school, its philosophy, and its history. Like the name implies, the class tries to transform the students and familiarize them with the school through work and activities. That being said, this class is my most challenging class. There are personalities within the class that seem to have the ability to incite and amplify bad behavior in other students. One of the teachers at the school that has been there for 32 years said that this class was a very wild and out of control class... GREAT!!! I don't have a 1st period on this day and when I come in I'm pretty mellow. By the time this class is over, my blood pressure has easily tripled. We've done a bunch of different strategies to try and discipline the class and we've taken A LOT of points off of contracts (each point below 12 on Wednesdays is an hour of detention), but still we got problems. Today we got sick of it and I had to escort some boys to the principal's. Meta is by far the easiest class in the school and everyone has to pass the class to stay at the school. As it stands right now, there will be some students that won't be asked back to the school next school year... and I won't lose sleep over it. But we both want the students that are trying to do better to stay and that will take some work. Out of a class of 22, about 6 people turned in their homework today.
Next week I've arranged for Pam Africa to come and speak to the class about Mumia Abu Jamal. While I think that this class would do well to have someone like Pam come and talk to them about Mumia, I have to admit that I'm worried that they will be rude and wild and the whole talk will go badly.
I have to remember that there is a lot of pain and suffering in this class. One of the few moments when students were listening was when we were going over the statement of philosophy. We were talking about the inequalities within society and the devaluing of students by the very education system that is supposed to uplift them. Then a student asked me about the connection between education and the symptoms of student apathy and alienation (substance abuse, teen pregnancy, materialism, etc.). I spoke a bit about the ideal goal of education to uplift and empower people. But then I gave my personal views on the some of the pain and the root social causes that I see within the black community and I could tell it affected the class. I talked about how when I was working at the elementary school many children latched onto me because I was one of the few male teachers there. Many of the students did not have fathers and I guess I became somewhat of a surrogate father to many. While I recognize that a single mother or extended family can take very good care of a child and love them greatly, I believe that it is very important for young boys to have a male figure in their life. Boys need men in their lives to be an example for them and to straighten them out when needed. If not then manhood often becomes a gross parody of what a man should be. A mishmash of bad tv characters, musicians, and other boys they see and interact with. While I recognize the political, economic, and social factors that can lead to the single parent home, they still exist and the pain still exists. I saw the pain of a missing father (among other things) in the students at the elementary school and I saw the various ways that they acted out this pain. As they get older this wound will only fester unless they take proactive steps to heal themselves. I am 29 years old and I don't speak to my father and I often talking about it in therapy. It affects you. Family problems can fuck you up royally for a good long time.
I suppose that is a positive with that group. The few times that we do get really "real", they are attentive. They want to hear and talk about what no one talks to them about. And in their journals they write for us, they want to talk about their pain. After I gave my experience a student asked me if I was going to cry. People laughed and I replied that I wasn't but if I were to...so what. It is the oppression of the patriarchial machismo culture that says that a man cannot cry or show emotions. Check that, a man can be very angry or very happy. But anything that smacks of feelings is taboo. This type of thinking only perpetuates suffering.
Next week I've arranged for Pam Africa to come and speak to the class about Mumia Abu Jamal. While I think that this class would do well to have someone like Pam come and talk to them about Mumia, I have to admit that I'm worried that they will be rude and wild and the whole talk will go badly.
I have to remember that there is a lot of pain and suffering in this class. One of the few moments when students were listening was when we were going over the statement of philosophy. We were talking about the inequalities within society and the devaluing of students by the very education system that is supposed to uplift them. Then a student asked me about the connection between education and the symptoms of student apathy and alienation (substance abuse, teen pregnancy, materialism, etc.). I spoke a bit about the ideal goal of education to uplift and empower people. But then I gave my personal views on the some of the pain and the root social causes that I see within the black community and I could tell it affected the class. I talked about how when I was working at the elementary school many children latched onto me because I was one of the few male teachers there. Many of the students did not have fathers and I guess I became somewhat of a surrogate father to many. While I recognize that a single mother or extended family can take very good care of a child and love them greatly, I believe that it is very important for young boys to have a male figure in their life. Boys need men in their lives to be an example for them and to straighten them out when needed. If not then manhood often becomes a gross parody of what a man should be. A mishmash of bad tv characters, musicians, and other boys they see and interact with. While I recognize the political, economic, and social factors that can lead to the single parent home, they still exist and the pain still exists. I saw the pain of a missing father (among other things) in the students at the elementary school and I saw the various ways that they acted out this pain. As they get older this wound will only fester unless they take proactive steps to heal themselves. I am 29 years old and I don't speak to my father and I often talking about it in therapy. It affects you. Family problems can fuck you up royally for a good long time.
I suppose that is a positive with that group. The few times that we do get really "real", they are attentive. They want to hear and talk about what no one talks to them about. And in their journals they write for us, they want to talk about their pain. After I gave my experience a student asked me if I was going to cry. People laughed and I replied that I wasn't but if I were to...so what. It is the oppression of the patriarchial machismo culture that says that a man cannot cry or show emotions. Check that, a man can be very angry or very happy. But anything that smacks of feelings is taboo. This type of thinking only perpetuates suffering.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Pope Benedict...Arnold!!
It miter been mine!
By now you've probably heard the news...I'm not the Pope. I hate to admit it. I was outmanuevered. My carefully laid machinations foiled by Cardinal Ratzinger. Excuse me, I mean Pope Been-a-dick XVI. He was supposed to have lobbied for me. I should have recognized his ambition. I should have realized that as soon as he entered the conclave he would turn on me. He got me in the end... like those Cardinals are prone to doing. He violated me like the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact!
He's not a step forward or a step backwards from John Paul. He's a step sideways. He doesn't have the youthful vigor that I have or that certain "je ne sais quoi"! The Popemobile should be mine. I should be the rock upon which His church is built! I should be infallible! I should be the one upholding anachronistic laws! People should be kissing my ring! Pontifex Maximus is my rightful title! I want the cool hats!!!
Pedagogy and Praxis Day 2
Today was journal write day...
For my Asian American studies class I told a Daoist tale which showed that sometimes bad can come from good and good from bad. Then for the journal prompt I gave:
Think about an event in your life that seemed bad but turned out to be good. Maybe you got injured and while you were healing up you learned how to use a computer. What makes the event change from bad to good may be something that you learned as a result, something that you did differently as a result or something taht happened that wouldn't have occurred otherwise. Tell the story of the even taht you experienced and help your readers understand how an event taht seemed negative turned out to have valuable consequences.
For the most part this prompt didn't turn out well. People thought it was too hard to think up something and the stuff that I got back was short and not as good as I know they are capable of.
After that we finally finished up "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Oh yeah...Let me just say that popsicle sticks are gold!!! I ask review questions constantly with them and then pull the sticks and find out where people are at in their studies. This is an excellent way of checking learning and calling people out for greater accountability. After that I did the L part of the KWL (what did you learn). Once again I called on people using the sticks and when they didn't give me anything I took a point off of their contract. Accountability. Class ended with us still doing the KWL and I will have to finish it up on Thursday. I think one of my biggest problems is figuring out how long things will take. I don't have a very good sense of time on projects. Usually I think that things will take less time than they actually do. But I would rather do a few things well than a whole lot of things not so well.
For my US History class the journal prompt was a quotation from Confucius. I felt like a bad fortune cookie using it even though it is a great quote. My dad loves to quote Confucius so I am sure he would approve. The quotation was:
Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is perilous. -Confucius
After explaining what the word perilous meant (All I can think of the whole time was Monty Python and the Holy Grail), I had the students explain what the quotation meant. do they agree with it? Why or why not? Give some real life examples that agree or disagree with the quotation. This one actually turned out a lot better than the 1st period writing prompt and I got more writing from people. Perhaps quotation would be better to use as writing prompts. I'll have to experiment with it in other classes to see. Using this quotation I introed into the idea of using strategies to improve study skills. I handed out 5 notecards and students came up with 5 questions about the reading "War is a racket". Then we did the L part of the KWL on war with me using the sticks again. We ended on this.
In my multicultural ed class we had finished yesterday watching "Real women have curves" and one of the themes in the movie was the parents holding the main character back from going to college. My prompt was:
Think about a time when you felt like your parents were holding you back from doing better. What was the situation? If your parents don't hold you back, then perhaps you hold yourself back. Think about a time when you were holding yourself back from doing better.
After this I worked on a semantic map with them involving themes in the movie. I wanted to introduce the idea of semantic mapping to them for future use. This actually went pretty well and I wanted them to get used to making semantic maps so that we could use them for other things later. This map would be a template for other maps. But then I tried to go into the next assignment and this is when I started losing people. As I said before, this class is young, hormonal, and post lunch. They kept trying to get me off track and were generally uncooperative. Of course I took this out on their contracts and handed out hours of detention to the main culprits. It just bothers me that everything takes twice as long as it should with this class and that the students with less self-control mess things up for the others. So the assignment that I was supposed to do in class I handed out as homework and will penalize students on their contracts for not turning it in. I have to be harsher on the contracts because the last time I assigned homework 4 people turned it in.
For my Asian American studies class I told a Daoist tale which showed that sometimes bad can come from good and good from bad. Then for the journal prompt I gave:
Think about an event in your life that seemed bad but turned out to be good. Maybe you got injured and while you were healing up you learned how to use a computer. What makes the event change from bad to good may be something that you learned as a result, something that you did differently as a result or something taht happened that wouldn't have occurred otherwise. Tell the story of the even taht you experienced and help your readers understand how an event taht seemed negative turned out to have valuable consequences.
For the most part this prompt didn't turn out well. People thought it was too hard to think up something and the stuff that I got back was short and not as good as I know they are capable of.
After that we finally finished up "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Oh yeah...Let me just say that popsicle sticks are gold!!! I ask review questions constantly with them and then pull the sticks and find out where people are at in their studies. This is an excellent way of checking learning and calling people out for greater accountability. After that I did the L part of the KWL (what did you learn). Once again I called on people using the sticks and when they didn't give me anything I took a point off of their contract. Accountability. Class ended with us still doing the KWL and I will have to finish it up on Thursday. I think one of my biggest problems is figuring out how long things will take. I don't have a very good sense of time on projects. Usually I think that things will take less time than they actually do. But I would rather do a few things well than a whole lot of things not so well.
For my US History class the journal prompt was a quotation from Confucius. I felt like a bad fortune cookie using it even though it is a great quote. My dad loves to quote Confucius so I am sure he would approve. The quotation was:
Learning without thinking is labor lost; thinking without learning is perilous. -Confucius
After explaining what the word perilous meant (All I can think of the whole time was Monty Python and the Holy Grail), I had the students explain what the quotation meant. do they agree with it? Why or why not? Give some real life examples that agree or disagree with the quotation. This one actually turned out a lot better than the 1st period writing prompt and I got more writing from people. Perhaps quotation would be better to use as writing prompts. I'll have to experiment with it in other classes to see. Using this quotation I introed into the idea of using strategies to improve study skills. I handed out 5 notecards and students came up with 5 questions about the reading "War is a racket". Then we did the L part of the KWL on war with me using the sticks again. We ended on this.
In my multicultural ed class we had finished yesterday watching "Real women have curves" and one of the themes in the movie was the parents holding the main character back from going to college. My prompt was:
Think about a time when you felt like your parents were holding you back from doing better. What was the situation? If your parents don't hold you back, then perhaps you hold yourself back. Think about a time when you were holding yourself back from doing better.
After this I worked on a semantic map with them involving themes in the movie. I wanted to introduce the idea of semantic mapping to them for future use. This actually went pretty well and I wanted them to get used to making semantic maps so that we could use them for other things later. This map would be a template for other maps. But then I tried to go into the next assignment and this is when I started losing people. As I said before, this class is young, hormonal, and post lunch. They kept trying to get me off track and were generally uncooperative. Of course I took this out on their contracts and handed out hours of detention to the main culprits. It just bothers me that everything takes twice as long as it should with this class and that the students with less self-control mess things up for the others. So the assignment that I was supposed to do in class I handed out as homework and will penalize students on their contracts for not turning it in. I have to be harsher on the contracts because the last time I assigned homework 4 people turned it in.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Pedagogy and Praxis
Today I handed out the 5 vocabulary words to the kids. They are imperialism, sovereignty, monarchy, despotism, and revolution. The definitions were long and the students complained about them, but the words represent big ideas and concepts and they need to understand them so that we can talk about the things that I want to talk about. The students are smart but they lack the vocabulary associated with the social sciences. But of course they don't have the vocabulary, they are only in high school. I hope that by supplying them with the words and concepts now they will be ahead of the curve when they get to college. In addition to the dictionary and encyclopedia concepts, I also gave them definitions in my own words and tried to simplify the words for them.
Yesterday I got popsicle sticks and wrote all the students' names on the sticks so that I could randomly call on them. I used the sticks in all the classes today and found a lot of people weren't prepared to answer the questions I asked. The idea of the popsicle sticks is to keep kids paying attention because they might get called on in class and look silly when they get called on and don't know the answer. This system was widely used at the elementary school that I worked at and I think it's a good one. Also, students won't feel that I am picking on them if I randomly draw a stick.
This is also the second time that I did SSR today. Students aren't used to the agenda that I've given and hopefully by the end of school they will become accustomed to it.
My Weekly Agenda
Mondays: SSR
Tuesdays: Journal Writes
Thursdays: Teacher Read Aloud
Fridays: Vocabulary Quiz
Since we just got back from a week long spring break and the agenda is relatively new, I expected the students to not have books to read. Hopefully next week (with me reminding them) they will bring books to read. Right now a few kids were just staring off into space and perhaps some are not used to reading, but after they get used to the system they will start to do what they are supposed to. I find it interesting that while the students may complain about structure and order, they really actually crave it. Most people crave the security of what they know and want more structure in their lives. I look at my own life which had very little structure and order at home (cause my parents were always fighting) and see how much I needed martial arts. I needed the discipline and order and someone that would just kick my butt.
In my Asian-American studies class, we continued reading "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Before that I used the popsicle sticks and asked review questions on the perception of the model minority and what we had read so far. Some kids had no idea, but a bunch of them really know what's going on. I have to find a way to get to the kids that have no idea. I'm using a KWL (What do you know, What do you want to know, and what did you learn) on Asians and the model minority, and I find it to be really useful. I believe that KWL is a really valuable pedagogical tool and will definitely use it for other things. It activates prior knowledge, puts questions into the students' minds, and finally is a list of things they learned as a result of whatever reading or activity is done. I really like this class a lot. While there are some space cadets (in all my classes), by in large they are a good class.
In my US history class, we started with the vocab and the SSR and I used the popsicle sticks to ask review questions. We then finished up "War is a racket" by Major General Smedley Butler. This took to the end of the period. Tomorrow, I'm going to go over the L part of KWL with them and teach them the classic outline format. While the classical outline format is said to be restricting, I find it useful and use it myself... so I'm gonna teach it to them. I'll also introduce them to semantic mapping and other formats, but first the classic outline. I'll also have them use index cards to make study questions on the reading. If there are some good questions, I'll use them on the test.
In my multicultural education class, we started off doing the same things as the other classes. This is my most challenging class, in part because it is after lunch and also because it is filled with freshmen. There are so many hormones running through this class I want to get a hose to spray them down. This is a real touchy feely class. After the SSR, we finished the video "Real Women have Curves". Of course with my luck, the principal decides to stick her head in during the one semi-"love" scene in the movie. But it's an excellent movie that explores the life of a teenage mexican girl in the months before she goes off to college. The movie is filled with teenage themes such as body image, coming of age, what it means to be a woman, exploitation of labor, working class Mexican family resistance to college, exploitation of labor, and crossculture and class relations. I'm thinking that the journal writeup for them tomorrow will involve one of the themes from the movie... I just have to figure out which.
Even though I am sick with a hacking cough and had a crappy spring break, I'm happy to be back at work. The thing I fear this week is my Latino Experience in the US class. I have to give a 10 minute presentation on Haiti. Fascinating country and history but I'm just overloaded.
Yesterday I got popsicle sticks and wrote all the students' names on the sticks so that I could randomly call on them. I used the sticks in all the classes today and found a lot of people weren't prepared to answer the questions I asked. The idea of the popsicle sticks is to keep kids paying attention because they might get called on in class and look silly when they get called on and don't know the answer. This system was widely used at the elementary school that I worked at and I think it's a good one. Also, students won't feel that I am picking on them if I randomly draw a stick.
This is also the second time that I did SSR today. Students aren't used to the agenda that I've given and hopefully by the end of school they will become accustomed to it.
My Weekly Agenda
Mondays: SSR
Tuesdays: Journal Writes
Thursdays: Teacher Read Aloud
Fridays: Vocabulary Quiz
Since we just got back from a week long spring break and the agenda is relatively new, I expected the students to not have books to read. Hopefully next week (with me reminding them) they will bring books to read. Right now a few kids were just staring off into space and perhaps some are not used to reading, but after they get used to the system they will start to do what they are supposed to. I find it interesting that while the students may complain about structure and order, they really actually crave it. Most people crave the security of what they know and want more structure in their lives. I look at my own life which had very little structure and order at home (cause my parents were always fighting) and see how much I needed martial arts. I needed the discipline and order and someone that would just kick my butt.
In my Asian-American studies class, we continued reading "Streets of Gold" by Curtis Chang. Before that I used the popsicle sticks and asked review questions on the perception of the model minority and what we had read so far. Some kids had no idea, but a bunch of them really know what's going on. I have to find a way to get to the kids that have no idea. I'm using a KWL (What do you know, What do you want to know, and what did you learn) on Asians and the model minority, and I find it to be really useful. I believe that KWL is a really valuable pedagogical tool and will definitely use it for other things. It activates prior knowledge, puts questions into the students' minds, and finally is a list of things they learned as a result of whatever reading or activity is done. I really like this class a lot. While there are some space cadets (in all my classes), by in large they are a good class.
In my US history class, we started with the vocab and the SSR and I used the popsicle sticks to ask review questions. We then finished up "War is a racket" by Major General Smedley Butler. This took to the end of the period. Tomorrow, I'm going to go over the L part of KWL with them and teach them the classic outline format. While the classical outline format is said to be restricting, I find it useful and use it myself... so I'm gonna teach it to them. I'll also introduce them to semantic mapping and other formats, but first the classic outline. I'll also have them use index cards to make study questions on the reading. If there are some good questions, I'll use them on the test.
In my multicultural education class, we started off doing the same things as the other classes. This is my most challenging class, in part because it is after lunch and also because it is filled with freshmen. There are so many hormones running through this class I want to get a hose to spray them down. This is a real touchy feely class. After the SSR, we finished the video "Real Women have Curves". Of course with my luck, the principal decides to stick her head in during the one semi-"love" scene in the movie. But it's an excellent movie that explores the life of a teenage mexican girl in the months before she goes off to college. The movie is filled with teenage themes such as body image, coming of age, what it means to be a woman, exploitation of labor, working class Mexican family resistance to college, exploitation of labor, and crossculture and class relations. I'm thinking that the journal writeup for them tomorrow will involve one of the themes from the movie... I just have to figure out which.
Even though I am sick with a hacking cough and had a crappy spring break, I'm happy to be back at work. The thing I fear this week is my Latino Experience in the US class. I have to give a 10 minute presentation on Haiti. Fascinating country and history but I'm just overloaded.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Sign my guestbook!!!
If this is your first time here or you've been here before I got my guestbook... sign my guestbook! This is all part of my shameless self-aggrandizing. Feed my ahankara!!!
Still Sick
So it's Saturday and I'm still sick!!! Motherfucker!!! My entire spring break week is pretty much over and I've spent it doing nothing but being sick. The only positive is that I've worked on this blog a whole bunch and added a bunch of links that I like and stuff like that. I've been personalizing this blog and am starting to feel that it is a better reflection of my own personality. All the links are 100% approved by Dave. I've put in all the political news sites that I like to visit. They are of course unabashedly liberal by in large. The entertainment links have a bunch of stuff to do in the bay area and links to my two favorite cartoons, The Boondocks and Get Fuzzy. The reference links are links that I like to use often, especially wikipedia and merriam-webster online. And of course I've added links to my friend Kira and Bobbin.
I've decided that I'm going to have the kids at school start up a blog. It's going to be an assignment for all my classes. This way I'll integrate computers into classroom curriculum and hopefully get kids more into writing or fiddling around on the computer. Unfortunately, the school is pretty low tech (a bunch of the computers don't work and they aren't hooked up to the printers) and the computer lab is a dingy lil dungeon. But I believe that all kids need more familiarity with computers. I mean computers are only going to get more and more integrated into everyday life and people can't be running around afraid of computers. My generation grew up around computers. I had an Apple IIc and Atari and shit. Kids nowadays got computers everywhere. I mean shit the amount of memory in a palm pilot nowadays used to take up the space of a desktop computer when I was a kid. I remember my dad getting the first macintosh. 512K!!! That ain't shit nowadays. Now I'm not some computer expert or genius at all, but if I can get one kid hooked on computers and down to show off their blog and all the little computer personalizations they've done, then I'm happy. Of course I gotta have a bit higher standards than that and get more than one kid into it, but you get my idea... ok 2 kids which is 100% better. My goal is that the kids have fun with the blog while learning something about computers and improving their writing skills. You only get better at writing by practice.
I've decided that I'm going to have the kids at school start up a blog. It's going to be an assignment for all my classes. This way I'll integrate computers into classroom curriculum and hopefully get kids more into writing or fiddling around on the computer. Unfortunately, the school is pretty low tech (a bunch of the computers don't work and they aren't hooked up to the printers) and the computer lab is a dingy lil dungeon. But I believe that all kids need more familiarity with computers. I mean computers are only going to get more and more integrated into everyday life and people can't be running around afraid of computers. My generation grew up around computers. I had an Apple IIc and Atari and shit. Kids nowadays got computers everywhere. I mean shit the amount of memory in a palm pilot nowadays used to take up the space of a desktop computer when I was a kid. I remember my dad getting the first macintosh. 512K!!! That ain't shit nowadays. Now I'm not some computer expert or genius at all, but if I can get one kid hooked on computers and down to show off their blog and all the little computer personalizations they've done, then I'm happy. Of course I gotta have a bit higher standards than that and get more than one kid into it, but you get my idea... ok 2 kids which is 100% better. My goal is that the kids have fun with the blog while learning something about computers and improving their writing skills. You only get better at writing by practice.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
ramblings
I like to chat online. I'm addicted to the idea of a transnational internet world. My body doesn't exist in this world. I am only the sum total of my writings (or the rare times I use voice or until I get a webcam). It's like astral projection but a lot less cool than that. I chat with people in Venezuela or India or China or whereever the fuck else they are. We argue. We laugh. We commiserate. We are human. It is an amazing thing to connect to someone so far away. A connection that exists beyond the mere, "Hi, how are you?"
But at the same time the anonymity of it shows the true side of people. All the things that people want to say in everyday life but are too afraid to say. All the racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, just oppressor shit. But I like to see that. Cause it never makes me forget where we are. And these are the people that have enough money to buy computers! Which goes to show that social class has nothing to do with how smart or good someone is.
The Western world likes to believe that material conditions determine people's consciousness. And to some extent that is true, as we are conditioned by our environment. But I think it's a cop-out. We are no better than people 2000 years ago. We may have more stuff and more luxury to allow us to be more civil, but we're still the same. We have the hate and love, lust and nurturing, and all the other complementary parts to our personality. There have always been the people in the world who have done the right thing. People that have lived the Dao. These transcendental actions are not bound by time or material conditions. Nowadays people help feed industries that perpetuate slavery (i.e. chocolate and coffee and such) and go about their lives not wanting to change. We abhor slavery as if it were a relic in time. I often know what is the better more moral choice yet I still take the easier more corrupt choice. Am I to believe that people in the past never felt these ways. There is nothing new under the sun. The betrayal and the altruism have always existed.
Yet I hope for people. Which must make me daft. Cause the history of humanity is a particularly bloody one. Yet I hope for the better. I guess it's one of the reasons I'm teaching. I believe that people can do better. That we are not bound like animals to our nature. That we can choose to do better and be better.
I think about my life. I was a complete asshole growing up. Angry at everyone because my parents were too busy fighting to give a shit about me. Self-destructive and nihilistic. But I worked to make myself a better person and I still am working. I still have a long way to go, but I know that I am choosing to live and be the person that I want to be. My angst lessens as I live the way my heart knows is right. I got crazy family. Angry crazy brother and father. Crazy extended family. Some pockets of sanity, but the crazy ones take up a lot of time and space. Being loved and loving back is what changed me.
That's the thing with my brother and dad. They can't love back. Loving back requires too much. To give someone your love is easy, when you get angry you can take it away. To love them back is hard. They are both too hurt and prideful and macho to really be vulnerable with someone and love them back. And I can see the pain in their pathetic states. And they try to bring others down with them. There is a sense of schadenfreude as they see others as unhappy as they are. Perhaps they are not conscious of it perhaps they are, I guess I'll never really know. But whatever the case, its not healthy for me to be around them.
But at the same time the anonymity of it shows the true side of people. All the things that people want to say in everyday life but are too afraid to say. All the racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, just oppressor shit. But I like to see that. Cause it never makes me forget where we are. And these are the people that have enough money to buy computers! Which goes to show that social class has nothing to do with how smart or good someone is.
The Western world likes to believe that material conditions determine people's consciousness. And to some extent that is true, as we are conditioned by our environment. But I think it's a cop-out. We are no better than people 2000 years ago. We may have more stuff and more luxury to allow us to be more civil, but we're still the same. We have the hate and love, lust and nurturing, and all the other complementary parts to our personality. There have always been the people in the world who have done the right thing. People that have lived the Dao. These transcendental actions are not bound by time or material conditions. Nowadays people help feed industries that perpetuate slavery (i.e. chocolate and coffee and such) and go about their lives not wanting to change. We abhor slavery as if it were a relic in time. I often know what is the better more moral choice yet I still take the easier more corrupt choice. Am I to believe that people in the past never felt these ways. There is nothing new under the sun. The betrayal and the altruism have always existed.
Yet I hope for people. Which must make me daft. Cause the history of humanity is a particularly bloody one. Yet I hope for the better. I guess it's one of the reasons I'm teaching. I believe that people can do better. That we are not bound like animals to our nature. That we can choose to do better and be better.
I think about my life. I was a complete asshole growing up. Angry at everyone because my parents were too busy fighting to give a shit about me. Self-destructive and nihilistic. But I worked to make myself a better person and I still am working. I still have a long way to go, but I know that I am choosing to live and be the person that I want to be. My angst lessens as I live the way my heart knows is right. I got crazy family. Angry crazy brother and father. Crazy extended family. Some pockets of sanity, but the crazy ones take up a lot of time and space. Being loved and loving back is what changed me.
That's the thing with my brother and dad. They can't love back. Loving back requires too much. To give someone your love is easy, when you get angry you can take it away. To love them back is hard. They are both too hurt and prideful and macho to really be vulnerable with someone and love them back. And I can see the pain in their pathetic states. And they try to bring others down with them. There is a sense of schadenfreude as they see others as unhappy as they are. Perhaps they are not conscious of it perhaps they are, I guess I'll never really know. But whatever the case, its not healthy for me to be around them.
Wedding stuff
So I'm on my spring break from work and of course this is the time that my body decides to get sick. It's one of those things where when you finally get a chance to rest your body crashes and you are all fucked up. But I can't just sit around and feel crappy, I still have to do work.
One of the things that I need to work on is stuff for the wedding. Since we are trying to cut down on costs (ridiculous how much these things cost) we are looking to hire a photography student. I'm posting online job posts and might have to do some leg work and post actual real life paper postings somewhere. I'm excited for our wedding but shit there is a lot of planning. We are getting married on August 14, 2005 finally. The wedding has been postponed a few times but because of that we are actually ahead of schedule on things. We got the place, caterer, DJ, bateria, and all we need now is the photographer.
I've realized a few things about weddings... First off they aren't about me. It's the woman's day. It really is. As much as it is supposed to be our day, its not. But hey I'm ok with that. I love her so let her have her day. I get concessions, like I'm wearing a Hawaiian shirt and black pants. But nobody cares how I look. Everyone is interested in how the bride looks. Secondly, if we can get through the planning then the whole marriage thing should be ok. I mean some of the worst fights we've had have been over the wedding. My good friend Christine said that she read that weddings rank up there with some of the most stressful events in someone's life. Up there with funerals and stuff. GREAAAAT!!! Third, I don't like the patriarchial transfer of property that is most wedding. We aren't doing any veils and her dad ain't handing her over to me as I wait in front of God and the altar.
We are going to do our own thing. We are writing our own vows and my lil buddy Jare is going to officiate the wedding. Jare is going to get a one day license to marry and marry us. It's cool, I like it cause it's personal. Jare is my good buddy, even if I do irritate the shit out of her sometimes.
I'm not even going to have a best man. Though my buddy Stevie will be giving the first toast. We thought a lot about the whole best man thing and the bride's maid. We decided to not go that way. Everyone will be there to witness as our friends. However, I thought that Stevie would be a good choice to give a toast. He's my boy, I trust him, and I know he'll be good. We're close like brothers. People roll their eyes when we get together cause we argue right away. But it's all in good fun and we never get offended, though people think we are really going at it. We just like to argue and debate about things. It's our natures.
We are also going to be dancing samba at our wedding. Allison and I met when I was doing capoeira and she was doing samba. So we're going to have a bateria (brazilian band) and a DJ play music at the wedding and rock the house. We're dancing samba for our first dance and we're going to have someone teach some samba moves so that everyone can get up and dance. We love to dance so we're going to force everyone to dance at least once.
One of the things that I need to work on is stuff for the wedding. Since we are trying to cut down on costs (ridiculous how much these things cost) we are looking to hire a photography student. I'm posting online job posts and might have to do some leg work and post actual real life paper postings somewhere. I'm excited for our wedding but shit there is a lot of planning. We are getting married on August 14, 2005 finally. The wedding has been postponed a few times but because of that we are actually ahead of schedule on things. We got the place, caterer, DJ, bateria, and all we need now is the photographer.
I've realized a few things about weddings... First off they aren't about me. It's the woman's day. It really is. As much as it is supposed to be our day, its not. But hey I'm ok with that. I love her so let her have her day. I get concessions, like I'm wearing a Hawaiian shirt and black pants. But nobody cares how I look. Everyone is interested in how the bride looks. Secondly, if we can get through the planning then the whole marriage thing should be ok. I mean some of the worst fights we've had have been over the wedding. My good friend Christine said that she read that weddings rank up there with some of the most stressful events in someone's life. Up there with funerals and stuff. GREAAAAT!!! Third, I don't like the patriarchial transfer of property that is most wedding. We aren't doing any veils and her dad ain't handing her over to me as I wait in front of God and the altar.
We are going to do our own thing. We are writing our own vows and my lil buddy Jare is going to officiate the wedding. Jare is going to get a one day license to marry and marry us. It's cool, I like it cause it's personal. Jare is my good buddy, even if I do irritate the shit out of her sometimes.
I'm not even going to have a best man. Though my buddy Stevie will be giving the first toast. We thought a lot about the whole best man thing and the bride's maid. We decided to not go that way. Everyone will be there to witness as our friends. However, I thought that Stevie would be a good choice to give a toast. He's my boy, I trust him, and I know he'll be good. We're close like brothers. People roll their eyes when we get together cause we argue right away. But it's all in good fun and we never get offended, though people think we are really going at it. We just like to argue and debate about things. It's our natures.
We are also going to be dancing samba at our wedding. Allison and I met when I was doing capoeira and she was doing samba. So we're going to have a bateria (brazilian band) and a DJ play music at the wedding and rock the house. We're dancing samba for our first dance and we're going to have someone teach some samba moves so that everyone can get up and dance. We love to dance so we're going to force everyone to dance at least once.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The reasons I got into teaching
Why I teach
These are the reasons that I got into teaching. I started working at an afterschool program at a nearby elementary school to earn some extra cash and try my hand at teaching. While I did get a serious hazing by the kids, I got hooked. I looked forward to going to work and hanging out with the kids, unlike my other job. It is truly inspiring to see kids that come from so little, try so hard to be better. The kids were beautiful, caring, and truly good. But for some reason I decided that I wanted to teach high school history. Maybe one day I'll get my multi-subject credential and go back to working with the little ones. Who knows.
I'm gonna be Pope!!!
My Next Hat
Well I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag too early... But I'm gonna be the next pope. I look great in hats and behind bulletproof glass. As the next pope I will bring back reverence and wrath. Folks nowadays can't pull off wrath. There's some anger, indignation, and sometimes even fury, but no wrath. I, on the other hand, have that certain "je ne sais quoi" that will allow me to bring back that old time wrath.
I also want papal power! Heck, I just like saying papal power. Throughout the years, papal power has been waning, but I promise to aggrandize the office. This Dalai Lama cat is trying to muscle in on my turf and wanting to be a bigger theocrat. I've seen his hats and they ain't shit. And is he infallible??? I think not.
I'll also be a people's pope. I plan on having my own line of pope pasta, pontiff puff cereal, pope soap, and other accoutrements befitting my papalcy. Since I'm Chinese, I'll deliver China to the Catholic Church. One billion Chinese!!!! See the Muslims catch up to that!I have my machinations in place, and once you see white smoke from the chimney you will know that I am your Pope! I'm still working on a proper papal name for immortality. Maybe Pope Ice D or Pope the Wrath!
He's a Raider alright!
Randy looking for a joint.
I just want to say that I'm excited for the upcoming Raiders season because of this man. From the pot, to the mooning, to hitting a cop with his car Randy shows that he has what it takes to really be a Raider. Other than that, now we have 2 very credible deep threats in Moss and Porter. Maybe Ronald Curry will be getting a lot of balls too as a 3rd WR. With Moss it is the end of 8 men in the box and Oakland will finally have a run game with LaMont Jordan.
Of course my greatest worry is the defense. Hopefully the 3-4 has been scrapped and we go back to the 4-3 and maybe some 4-6. We just didn't have the personnel for the 3-4. Rob Ryan came in from the Patriots defense with too high expectations. Hopefully, he'll work better with what we have, but I'm expecting some high scoring losses.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Long time no blog
Shit.... I forgot that I had this thing for the longest time.
Well life has changed a lot for me. I'm now teaching high school history at an alternative high school in West Oakland. I'm teaching Asian-American studies, US history 20th century, and Multicultural Ed. I got spring break right now and need the break. I've been teaching for about a month and am worked. I was hired on a Friday and started on a Monday. I'm lesson planning for 3 different classes and going to school to get my teaching credential. While I'm not worried about my content knowledge, I am worried about my pedagogy.
I used to hate school and hate history, but then my life changed and I fell in love with knowledge. Now I have trouble remembering how much I hated school. My teacher mentor, Dr. Epstein, told me that I need to tap back into when I hated school. I need to find a way to connect to the students. I have an insatiable need to connect to people and I think that teaching was an avenue for me to help fill that need. Business just wasn't cutting it for me.
Right now though I've been getting the student hazing. I feel like Cartman going around saying "Respect my authority!" Considering the way that I treated teachers when I was a student, I suppose this is my karma. I've been talking to my therapist (everyone get one) and she was saying that my expectations are too high. Perhaps...
When I think about it, the kids probably won't remember half of what I teach them. If they get one thing from me I hope it's to look inside themselves. Some philosopher said that the unexamined life isn't worth living, I think it was socrates. In my asian-american studies class I teach the kids various religions and beliefs all to get them to look within themselves. I don't want them to be a specific religion, they must choose their own path, but I do want them to look within and have a path.
I have to do more reflection on my pedagogy and I suppose I'll start to use this blog to keep a record. Maybe someone will be interested and maybe some will offer help.
Well life has changed a lot for me. I'm now teaching high school history at an alternative high school in West Oakland. I'm teaching Asian-American studies, US history 20th century, and Multicultural Ed. I got spring break right now and need the break. I've been teaching for about a month and am worked. I was hired on a Friday and started on a Monday. I'm lesson planning for 3 different classes and going to school to get my teaching credential. While I'm not worried about my content knowledge, I am worried about my pedagogy.
I used to hate school and hate history, but then my life changed and I fell in love with knowledge. Now I have trouble remembering how much I hated school. My teacher mentor, Dr. Epstein, told me that I need to tap back into when I hated school. I need to find a way to connect to the students. I have an insatiable need to connect to people and I think that teaching was an avenue for me to help fill that need. Business just wasn't cutting it for me.
Right now though I've been getting the student hazing. I feel like Cartman going around saying "Respect my authority!" Considering the way that I treated teachers when I was a student, I suppose this is my karma. I've been talking to my therapist (everyone get one) and she was saying that my expectations are too high. Perhaps...
When I think about it, the kids probably won't remember half of what I teach them. If they get one thing from me I hope it's to look inside themselves. Some philosopher said that the unexamined life isn't worth living, I think it was socrates. In my asian-american studies class I teach the kids various religions and beliefs all to get them to look within themselves. I don't want them to be a specific religion, they must choose their own path, but I do want them to look within and have a path.
I have to do more reflection on my pedagogy and I suppose I'll start to use this blog to keep a record. Maybe someone will be interested and maybe some will offer help.
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