The Praxis of Pedagogy

Motherfucker! Seems all I do is school shit. I feel like labor before it got organized and wrestled weekends from the capitalists. On Saturday, I was in a linguistics class from 8:30 AM to 4:30PM. And it wasn't exciting linguistics. It was past participle. Present perfect. Direct object. Grammar. We pretty much spent much of the day discussing grammar. It was painful. Incredibly slow and painful. Time flies when you are having fun. Time creeps along when you are in pain. If I didn't have solitaire on my phone I don't know what I would have done. I will be the solitaire champion of the world after this class. Apparently when the whole language school of thought came in, grammar went out. My teacher said few that went through school starting in the 80s got grammar. So that would be me. I can tell you a noun, adjective, verb. But after that, I can't really get into details. There were mostly older people in my class and a few of them really seemed to be having a ball.

So then I get home and pass out at 8 PM and miss my friend's birthday. That is the 2nd friend's birthday that I've missed cause I just passed the fuck out. I'm always up late on the weekdays and come the weekend I'm fucking out! But you know what...I'm having more fun doing this than I ever did selling pins. And pins was less work with more money. But that shit drove me crazy. Too much bad karma in that for me.

Anyways on Sunday, my buddy Jeremy and I worked on getting Easy Grade Pro up and running to make progress reports. They are way past due by the way. But people weren't getting us grades and we were both swamped with shit. So I talked to the principal and got today a minimum day to do grades. We're still not finished and have to input some Wednesday grades. I have class from 4-7 tomorrow so I can't really input more grades afterschool.

I started off all the classes with SSR as always. Still bothers me that students forget to bring books on Monday. Next quarter I will have to take points off on contracts when students don't have their SSR books. So in 1st period I had a test review game for 1st period. In 2nd period we did our double entry journal and read "Things Fall Apart." The first part of the book really gets into Ibo culture and the kids are finding it kind of boring. They want something to happen. But I think that once the second half of the book starts they will get into it more. The 1st half will really make the 2nd half more interesting because readers will understand the character and background more. In 3rd period, I handed out the reading that I used previously about Islam from the "Cartoon History of the Universe." Then I did a 4 square hold em up exercise. In this exercise, students read a page of the book and then I would ask them a question. They would then write the answer in one square of a piece of paper that had been folded up 4 times. This is to check for reading comprehension. This was actually quite effective cause it allowed me to see that I have one new student with incredibly low skills. I mean the "Cartoon History" is a bit advanced in it's writing, but the pictures sure do help. But this student had very low skills and had I not spoken to her about it after class then I wouldn't have known. This was a very effective lesson for me on gauging student's reading comprehension. Much better than me reading and students just following along. Makes them have to do some work. I haven't even realized it, but the end of this quarter is coming up quick.

The Praxis of Pedagogy

So a lot of my kids in the 3rd period class were into the movie "Elizabeth" with Cate Blanchett. It's a testament to how good the movie is that my poor urban colored kids are into it. It's cool. I stop the movie and break down the fight between Catholics and Protestants and just explain palace intrigue.

I've assigned 1 week drawing projects in various classes and I realize that I have to give students at least 3 times in class to work on their project or they won't. I still have a lot of students that didn't turn in stuff. Assigning homework doesn't work out so well. I still assign homework every so often but mostly I try to do everything in class. Students just won't turn in their homework. So I have to try to set them up in as many situations that they can succeed but still be challenged. I think that I have to scaffold homework. Work up to it. The only thing that I regularly assign is metacognitive plans of action for passing tests. I count them as test points so I tell them to do it or not get test points. That still doesn't ensure 100% completion but a much higher %.

We got contracts at our school and it's a great thing, but I don't use it enough. I don't write student progress on their contracts enough and that is one of our best intervention strategies. We have to let our CTMs know what is going on with students.

So tomorrow morning I have to get up to get to a 8:30-5 class. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
There's nothing good about this. The only silver lining will be that it will be done. I am going to be one burned out unhappy guy. I'm already having a problem with time management. I don't know what I'm going to do next.

The Praxis of Pedagogy

What an interesting day today. I went to a nearby local newspaper with my journalism class and met an incredible character. This guy was a big pimp in Oakland back in his day. Ran 7 white women. Was in the jail for 2nd degree murder. He had a crazy life and story and could chop it up. He definitely had the gift of gab. While I have major ethical and philosophical differences with his once chosen lifestyle, I admire his ability to manipulate people and situations using his speaking ability. Pimps are masters of the mind fuck. I mean they have women running around having sex to feed their lifestyle. That's power. One thing that he told me that tripped me out was that 16th and Market was nicknamed Baby Mart cause there were 9 year old prostitutes working the streets. Trip the fuck out. The environment that my students grow up in is disheartening. Enervating. What a unique character that knows a side of the city that I'll never know. Aka the seedy underbelly. Definitely a fascinating learning experience for me. The kids have so many negative images around them that it's hard to transcend the situation. It's sad to see a kid drive their life into the ground looking for the slightest bit of pleasure to escape their miserable existence.

Praxis of Pedagogy

I'm tired of keeping days. It's been a fucking long time. When this quarter ends it will be a year. So fuck the time.

Today was just one of those fucked up long stupid days. I had credentialling classes at 4:00 PM. I didn't get to bed till 2:30 the night before cause i was up writing a detailed week of lesson plans for my 4 o clock class. Then when I got up I couldn't do it so I didn't take a shower. That made me feel stinky and grimy the whole day long. So i'm dogging it the whole day. i mean i was having trouble. At least, teaching wasn't that crazy cause we did a journal write and watched Hotel Rwanda in 1st period. 2nd period we had a guest speaker talk and show a video about the US government desecrating more native american land. Students that participate will get extra credit. 3rd period a test and I started to show the movie "Elizabeth" with Cate Blanchett. 4th period I was saved by a fellow credentialling teacher that is getting her feet wet at my school. Then from work I ran to my credentialling class to be told that my classes are every week instead of every 2 weeks. This is a 9 unit class. 9 units! 1 week of detailed lesson plans every week. She pretty much said she wants to see a verbatim script. That's going to be a lot of work on top of another class tomorrow 4-7 and 6 Saturday classes from 8:30-5. Fucking ridiculous. Then I get home and the toilet overflows on me. I got to bleach clean the bathroom floor and
toilet bowl. I was cussing up a fucking storm. Royally pissed off. I'm still a bit wound up from the day.

You know how when you get home from a hard day you have to decompress. Well when you come back and shitty things happen the decompression cycle is delayed. Now I can semi-laugh about it. Though I still got some residual bile in my throat. This too shall pass.

Day 125-126: The Praxis of Pedagogy

Ok 125 days of blogging I can get off the lesson planning for a while and just talk about what I see and think in general.

There are a lot of hurt kids out there. And they are still little. Their bodies may be physically mature/maturing, but they are mentally and emotionally incredibly immature. Transitioning from elementary to high school was a big jump for me. This has been an incredible experience for me and I'm having fun. Don't get me wrong, there are things that I just hate about teaching, e.g. grading. But overall, I'm having a lot of fun. Working with the kids is great. I don't really have any discipline problems anymore. I can't remember the last time I had to yell at a kid. It's pretty cool. I think I'm required to do far more than I get paid for, but I knew what I was signing up for. The experience and environment is constantly stimulating and challenging. Other than more money, what else could I ask for.

I also feel like I've gained the respect of fellow teachers and students. If there's one thing that I've learned working with kids, it's that you can't get shit from them unless they respect you. That's why one of the new teachers can't get his class on lockdown. They don't respect him. And truthfully, I'm not the biggest fan myself. Gaining the respect of my peers is a nice thing to have too. I just feel like I can be myself around them. My high school teaching experience will be a year at the end of this quarter. The first year is always the hardest. Very intense experience.

Day 123-124: The Praxis of Pedagogy

Credentialling classes are starting next week. The horror!!! Just when I was starting to feel sane and able to deal with teaching. Then along comes the credentialling process. The process is so ridiculous. No Child Left Behind has been absolutely terrible for education. AL's teacher friend knows this guy that works special ed. The severely handicapped special ed. The kine job where at some point in the day you're going to be wiping a teenager's ass. It's a hard core job. Having worked with the mentally handicapped, it takes serious heart. I didn't have it in me. The job bummed me out frankly. Anyways, this guy can't keep his job cause he can't pass the CSET test. What the fuck does he need to know that's on a standardized test to work with severely handicapped kids??? The process drives good people away. And the fees to pay for the CSET!!!! Ridiculous. But you have to pass the CBEST first. That is the barebones minimum test that allows you to be a sub. There's the fee for that too. Then you have to be in a school. Take out some loans. All to get a low pay job where you're overworked. NCLB has made it where some schools can only hire teachers with certifications. All the impediments to the goal narrow the pool of talent to a few highly dedicated and/or financially comfortable group of people. So we got a lot of white women in teaching. Bless their hearts for being there, but there needs to be more diversity in the pool. Not every kid is able to relate to a middle class white lady. You can read all the books in the world about teaching but it don't mean shit until you get in a classroom full of kids and have to actually orchestrate the kids.

I keep the school counselor very busy. I'm constantly referring people to her. At least 2 kids a week. So many kids need mental health counseling. It's really quite sad. One of the positive things that I have gotten out of teacher ed is the idea of teaching reading as a form of psychotherapy. So I'm really trying to break down the psychology of the character of Okonkwo. He really is a rich character that leads a tragic life. His extreme machismo and inability to truly be intimate with a person is beautifully told. This on the backdrop of European colonialism makes for a very interesting read. I find it very fucked up funny that the "old school" English department at AL's school bashes this book. People have called it incoherent and unreadable. Ok... I'll say it. Cracker ass crackers!!!! There I said it. Wow... I do feel better.

So I helped bring the staff into the 21st century by getting them to use this grading software called Easy Grade Pro. The people that have been using it are all really into it. But there are some on the staff that are so technology-phobic. It's really quite sad. And so since I am the most familiar with the software, I've taken on the job of creating the progress reports using the software. But I can't do my job completely until I have all the names and grades from people. This of course hasn't happened since the techno-phobes haven't got the program up and running.

My school is under heat and is being threatened with shutdown. We are trying to put the ducks in a row so that we can better fight our adversary. Our domain name should be up tomorrow or Friday and hopefully we can have a bare-bones website up by the 1st of the month.

It's big time classist and racist the way public education does the low income urban youth. In my opinion, it is unjust the way my kids are treated by the system. I'm not talking about things parents or kids may have done. Good and bad choices have been made. But if I'm going to do an institutional or structural analysis of the public education system, then I'd say it is totally fucked up and needs some dire help. Yup... my analysis is essentially FUBAR.

I love MLK Day

Let me start by saying that I will enjoy a paid day off for all of these holidays, but MLK is my favorite federal holiday.

So New Year's Day is cool. I like it, but it really has no meaning. It's a time marker thing. Another year. A NEW year. Whatever. There really is no major difference between December 31 and January 1. We just have big hype over it. Chinese New Year's is coming up. It's a different marker, but just a time marker. It's a reason to party and I'm down with it.

Washington, Memorial, and Independence Day. I know the white founding fathers didn't have my ass in mind when they were having their little revolution. The guys fucked up cause they put it in writing. Then people like King could call them on it. National holidays are crazy cause they just reinforce nationalism. An identity that people have taken to a level where it's almost sacred.
My bro is like that. It's a fanatical trip. Protect the state. Anyways, what am I supposed to think about? George Washington is to America what Abraham was to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. That we got one on the man cause he put it in writing? What am I supposed to BBQ and where do I watch fireworks?

Labor Day: Throw the workers a bone and then go back to oppressing them. You can still BBQ in Northern California.

Columbus Day and Thanksgiving: Those are entire rants by themselves. Still able to BBQ in October but you might have to wear a fleece. Thanksgiving you bake or deep fry. No more BBQ.

Veteran's Day: Alright. People served in their own way. I just don't happen to like policies people had to carry out. But that's not the veteran's fault. By any means. Holiday for them. How do I celebrate? Dinner out?

Christmas: I've previously written about it. I'm not Christian and I think that goes against the 1st amendment. Cider anyone?

But MLK day. The US government recognizing a man who was down with the struggle. A black man! A man whose writings trashed the US government, and if alive would probably still. Now that's cool. That the US really only focuses on his "I have a Dream" speech is bothersome but makes sense. Don't want to go too deep into what he was about. It's almost like Constantine turning Christian. MLK day means something to me. It's the part America that I'm down with. What are we supposed to do to celebrate it? Are there any stores open? Maybe I should conspicuously consume. I'll probably just end up lesson planning and grading though.

Day 121-122: The Praxis of Pedagogy

On Thursday 1st period, I had this group called HIFY come in and do an anti-homophobia workshop. I've scheduled them so they come to every class. This was a great presentation that was really well done. The pyramid of oppression they created was great. At the base of the pyramid were how people were treated and oppressed in everyday life, i.e. pejoratives, . The next level was institutional oppression, and the top level was violence and murders etc. Their final idea was that the top was built on the base and if we change the base we can change the top. Great stuff.

At second period we read "Things Fall Apart" and I asked them basic "Are you alive, paying attention, and getting it" questions while they raised thumbs up and thumbs down. Just getting some to participate at all is like pulling teeth. I'm really happy that we studied Erik Erickson's psychosocial development because this really gives me a framework and developmental structure for analyzing the character of Okonkwo. When we got to the last 10 minutes, I told them to work on coloring and making their bookmark look nice. Instead they just packed up and started talking. That totally didn't work out.

3rd period: I let students prepare for their presentation on Friday. My friend that works in the office doesn't have enough help and the place is totally old school.


Friday 1st period & 2nd period: We did a short read along to "Disposable People" and then we played an I-message communication building activity. I had students get into a circle and we briefly reviewed I-messages vs. You-messages. Then, they took a piece of paper that I gave them and made 4 boxes. From there they all wrote a You-message in one box. Then they crumpled it up and tossed it in the center of the circle. Next, students picked a new paper and wrote an I-message version of the You-message. They did this to fill all 3 boxes. When this was done we had a brief discussion about it. With the remaining time, I had an auction and participation points went for 30 tickets on average in 1st period. Surprisingly, in 2nd period the participation points went for much lower. And that's the class that needs more points... but perhaps it's because 1st period has more tickets out and so there's inflation.

Friday 3rd period: We had the historical figure press conference on the ideal form of government. My pair that played Queen Elizabeth were both absent. How coincidental! Students seemed to have fun with it and there was student acting and character knowledge ranged from well studied to "Are you just going to try to look up the answer on the paper after I ask it and I'm supposed to wait for you?" So next week I have to recap it and give the proper information since some students didn't answer the question that I told them I was going to ask all week long. Holy fucking shit I'm an idiot. This would have been a perfect project to do metacognitively. What the fuck was I thinking??? Well then I'm going to have to apply this to everything else.

Day 119-120: The Praxis of Pedagogy

On Tuesday I started off all the classes with a journal write on if they were happy with the type of person that they were? What type of person did they want to be? And a few other questions along the same line. Lots of people seemed to get into this one. My classes are heavy on self-reflection.

On Tuesday 1st period, we finished up the placards and then I had students present placards and explain what they saw, the symbolic motive that they chose (economic, political, ideological, religious, and exploratory), and why they chose that motive. After that I told them what the picture actually was. Most of the students were dead on with it. I'm really liking the TCI stuff and now I feel like I have a better foundation to work from.

In second period, we read more of "Things Fall Apart." I have to get them more interactive with this. I am having them make a bookmark with me but I have to ask more thumbs up, thumbs down questions. I'm also going to give them time to make their bookmarks better with pictures.

In 3rd period, I gave students time to research their characters. Kids are getting into this. They are researching and getting on the internet and working together. I'm interested in seeing how this press conference goes.

In 1st period Wednesday, we started into the rulebook. Jeremy led that while I went around showing kids their grades. We're going to have the rules test next week and the students have to pass it to pass the class. And they have to pass the class to stay in our school. For the 2nd hour, we had a guy come in and talk about drugs with the students. He's a really good presenter and they are always interested when someone is talking about drugs.

In 2nd period Wednesday, we got final copies from students and started putting together our zine. It's pretty cool cause it's actually coming together. I think once we put out our first one then students will be more excited for the second. When they start to get their first readers they will be more into it.

I was at school Tuesday night till 7 cause we were having a big board meeting. Some folks want to close down my school and we have to position ourselves so that we don't get closed down. There is a lot of planning and shit to do. As I've written before, the school is rather archaic. I just put in the mail a check to get a domain name and hosting for a website. We are going to compile all the information about the school onto this website so that we can start to have a media campaign. Get our name and info out there. My school has been around for more than 30 years but it's the best kept secret in the city. We're going to have to change that.

Day 118: The Praxis of Pedagogy

I started off 1st period with assigned seats. I was surprised because there wasn't really much grumbling about it. Then we had SSR. In 2nd and 3rd period, I made seating charts while they read. I should have done the seating chart earlier, but would-of-could-of-should-of. We'll see how the spots work. When reading was done, I told them about Missing work makeup day and auction on Friday. I'm going to auction off participation points. It's a little cycle where they get the points by participating, but they can also buy points if they bid against others. After that, I had students hand back graded work and I handed back exams with comments on the metacognitive questions I had them write on. I'm trying to get some of them to think about why there is a disparity between what they thought they were going to get with their metacognitive plan of action and what they actually got. Then I handed out calendars and had them fill out information on the calendar. This all should have been done in the beginning of the quarter, but I'll do that next time.

In 1st period, I started off with briefly having a student review the scramble for furniture exercise and then I broke them into pairs and we went over a worksheet on the motives for imperialism. There were 5 motives given and they were to design a visual symbol for it. Then I handed out placards where they describe what they see, motives, and why they chose that motive. The placards are imperialist pictures and propaganda and it's about deciphering what they see. This took a while to explain but I went around and checked students' work out and they seem to be doing ok. I'm continuing and hopefully finishing this tomorrow.

In 2nd period, we read "Things Fall Apart" while working on bookmarks. I'm getting them to buy into the idea of using the bookmark by saying that they might be able to use it on a test if I were to give one to them. Might just maybe.

In 3rd period, we reviewed the survivor game and students defined autocracy, oligarchy, and democracy again. Next, I made a chart listing the advantages and disadvantages of democracy. From there I showed an overhead timeline of democracy. Greeks had democracy in 500 B.C.E. and the Europeans don't come back to it until the 1700s. What a huge break. What kind of continuity is that? The Magna Carta limited power and there was a model parliament in 1295, but nothing really close to a democracy. How can we even talk about an evolution of Democracy. It was more of a regression and return back to democracy. Anyways... there assignment is that we are going to enact a press conference with historical figures to discuss the ideas about the ideal form of government. That press conference will take place Friday. I gave them different historical figures and told them the major press conference questions. "What is the ideal form of government? Why? Can people be trusted to govern?" What's interesting is the implicit assumption that government is necessary. I think after this I would like to discuss a bit of anarchy theory and the question of whether or not government is necessary at all.

Day 116-117 The Praxis of Pedagogy

Thursday was the first day that I used the TCI stuff that I had photocopied. It worked out rather well. The students like group work and I got a lot of positive feedback from them. I've taken to choosing students to stamp and collect homework. They like to feel like they are a part of the class and doing something. In particular, I've started off choosing students that got "problems." The ones that have started to expect failure in school. They are the ones that feel the least included in classroom. Getting them to participate and "buy in" to the class experience is very important to the overall attitude and general mood of the class. The dynamics of classrooms are absolutely fascinating to me. There are some students that head to the back of the classroom as soon as they get there. I know who these students are. Then everyday I tell them the same thing, "Move forward. "Just to fuck with their heads, next week, I'm going to take my rollable whiteboard and move it to the back of the classroom and have everyone turn their desks around. Then they will be in the front of the classroom. I'll later tell them it was a sociological experiment. To be able to upset their routine, their habits, their dead behaviors by changing where they are in relation to the class and teacher. Now if the students were smarter they would start to sit not in the back, but 1 up from it. Shit I've even told some of the students that, But they keep sitting in the back.

So in first period, I read "Disposable People" with them doing thumbs up/thumbs down when I asked yes or no questions. To do the activity, I broke them up into pairs and had them move all the desks except 7 desks to the back of the class. Next time I will clearly delineate what is in play in the class and move all of the desks to the back of the class. Then I handed out instructions that were different for one pair. The pairs then went to their task. So then the one group with the different instructions then went to claiming desks in the name of their country and flag that they had made previously. Other groups were making maps. Then groups started to get into it when they saw 1 group already starting. Then there was a relative frenzy for trying to claim objects in the class. Kids were claiming everything. Next time I'll limit it to desks. After this exercise I had them put desks back. I had told them they were going to rearrange furniture but didn't let them. Next time I'll let them. Then, I put an overhead up that had a bunch of discussion questions. Finally, I keyed them into the fact that the exercise was essentially how the European colonists broke up Africa. Some groups got started before the rest and ended up with more stuff. Then, I tied in the idea of social darwinism, though I didn't go into that as much as I should have. Their feelings of control were the same ones that the imperialists felt. We all have it in us.

In 2nd period, I started off presenting a powerpoint presentation that AL had made up for background info on Nigeria. Great powerpoint that she made. Really well done. Then we started reading "Things Fall Apart." I am very interested in seeing how AL's lesson planning turns out with this class, cause I'm using all her shit. I'm not an English teacher and I'm teaching an English class. So I'm pulling from the English teacher. After reading the 1st chapter and a bit of the 2nd, I stopped and had students make bookmarks. They folded paper into 3rds and they wrote columns for title, characters, setting, quotes, and human issues and conflict. The last column they continued quotes but I'm going to change it to add on more place for characters.

In 3rd period, we just read "Things Fall Apart" and made bookmarks to start. I didn't do the powerpoint and I'm interested in comparing the two classes and how well one does compared to the other. It won't be a fair comparison since one class only reads once a week. For the activity, I gave student directions and told them they were on a deserted island and had to build a community. They had to come up with a rulebook and everyone had to sign and approve the book. While they followed the directions I sat back and took notes. It was very interesting to see latent tendencies in students. A group of students have taken control of the classroom and are the "power centers" of the classroom. As such, they did all the deciding for the class. It was "Does everyone agree to that? Ok good?" My little oligarchs. People expressed the desire for violent punishment for violators of law. My little flies. Next time I'm going to teach "Lord of the Flies" to World Cultures I instead of "Things Fall Apart." It was funny cause students signed a paper approving the rulebook without ever looking at it. And my greatest lil autocrat called out rules after the book had been signed. He assigned jobs to people without their input. It was great. My budding Mobuto. Then I put up discussion questions on the overhead and I spoke about some of the things that I observed. I like observing classrooms. I learn a lot about students.

All in all the TCI shit was great. Very fucking helpful. Imagine that. Premade simulations to make my life easier. It doesn't allow me to sit around and do nothing. But now I have a foundation with which to work from.

On Friday, every class did the same thing. A student stamped and collected homework. Then the metacognition quiz and binder check. After the quiz, I taught the I-messages lesson to them. This went very well. I started off by having students come up with words that have similar roots as communication. Then I talked about linguistic roots of communication and stressed the idea of communication as being the foundation of community. This led into the exercise. You can't talk "social" studies without people being able to communicate effectively. I don't believe that social studies should be just an academic subject taught. I believe that it is the study of humanity so that we can address our own. We can gather examples of how to live our lives and often how not to live our lives.

So then I get home, have dinner with AL, and fall asleep at 7pm on a Friday night. Then I get up at 5:00 in the morning. Awesome!!! I'm so fucking exciting!

Bucky Katt

Day 115: The Praxis of Pedagogy

We started off meta talking about homework and stuff. Students haven't turned in anything. More than half the class is failing right now and we're coming up on the midquarter assessment. Lovely. Anyways, we started off finishing up on what we were doing for the class project and hammering out the details. Our main lesson was talking about communications and I messages. We started off breaking them into groups and then having those groups come up with feeling words for 5 minutes. Then we made a board full of their feeling words. Then we discussed sharing feelings as opposed to blaming. We showed them an overhead of I messages vs YOU messages. Then we had them fold up paper into 4 squares and write an I message to their friend, a relative, a classmate, and a teacher. Finally we had them review their I messages in their groups and change any YOU messages to I messages. This is a cool exercise that we could have executed better but the class is a bunch of slugs. We are going to have to make a seating arrangement cause this isn't working out. There are a lot of knuckleheads in the class. We were going to do a rules intro but we didn't get the material together in time and there were no new rule books out.

In Journalism, we started off telling people their tasks and we told them we would meet back up 20 minutes before the class was over. More than half of our "writers" didn't have any writing to hand us in. 2 weeks before our final product is made and we don't have any content. Sweet. I looked over the few writers' work that was turned in and discussed their work with them. People were being pretty active and the layout team put out a rough draft cover and table of contents from the computer. It was pretty sweet. The student led part of this class needs to be ramped up more but I appreciate this class cause we can step out of the room every so often and not have it be chaos.

Day 114: The Praxis of Pedagogy

So today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was dreading today. My brain had turned to mush. I didn't want to be there. But then things started to go and it wasn't so bad. I started off the day with a journal write about what they did on break. Then I had students share. Many are a lot more into the writing if they have to share it. So much of school is making a kid feel good about themselves. Self-esteem means a lot and so many of my kids don't think very well of themselves. It's sad to be around that energy and feelings.

Next, I handed back students' tests. We went over the test answers together and then I gave them a paper asking metacognitive questions about how they actually did on the test. This was tied into how well they developed and executed their plan of action. I didn't do it, but on Friday I've decided to have them compare their evaluations that they wrote during the test and the evaluations they conducted today. In many cases there was a disparity between what they thought they were going to get and what they got. A good meta question is, "what is the reason for that disparity?" to have a binder check where students keep all their work, especially their metacognitive plans.

After this, I read through the syllabus with them and broke everything down. I've done the very useful thing of posting my syllabi and other stuff on the back wall. Now I be able to deal with less excuses about, "I lost this paper and I didn't know this or that." I'm sure I'll still get them but then I'll be able to bust on them for using the excuse. All my classes were going far faster than I realized they would. Lessons weren't as long as they should have been.

I told them they were going to have a metacog test on Friday and that it was going to be a blank paper and they would write down 3 questions for developing a plan, 3 for maintain/monitoring a plan, and 3 for evaluating the plan. Their homework/quiz grade was to develop a plan to turn in Thursday. Maintain/monitor that plan and turn it in Friday. Then on the test I have questions evaluating their own plan.

With that done, I had about 10 minutes left in classes and so I did contracts and wrote students test grades on the contract. I'm hoping that constantly answering metacog questions will improve their thinking. I have to admit that teaching metacog has made me more aware of it and improved my thinking. I'm not just the president, I'm also a member.

Happy 2006! Resolutions...

It's finally a new year. I'm really happy to be done with 2005. There were some really great things that happened, like getting married. But there were also some really really crazy things that have happened. It was essentially the rollercoaster/sine wave that is life.

All in all though, I am happier now than I've ever been in my life. So...New Year's resolutions. I've decided to set more attainable goals this year. I want to be a more DIY kind of guy. I want to take better care of my physical health. I want to cook more vegetarian food and brownbag it to work more. If I can do any little bit of those 3 things then I'll be golden. I suppose that I should put in that I want to be a better teacher, but that goes without saying. But the way that I look at it, I can only get better. When you start at the bottom you can only go up. I don't have time to plateau right now.

Here's to hoping that 2006 will be better for everyone than 2005. A little respite in the vida loca would be greatly appreciated. I would be incredibly happy if the rollercoaster/sine wave chilled out at the node for a while.