Communication with families

This is the 2nd week of my own classes, and the 2nd week of developing classroom culture.  One tool that I’ve been using extensively today is communication with families.

I left a voicemail with a family today because the student hasn’t turned in any work.  This student is also highly disruptive, but I am first trying the approach of letting that student know I am in communication with the family.

I left another voicemail today because the student would not relinquish her cell phone.  It was disappointing to find that each phone number we had was disconnected.  I assume this is due to moving, but I am not sure.  I emailed the attendance office who was able to find current numbers for the parent.

I sent three emails to different families ask for parent’s help in getting their student to stay quieter in class.  I asked for any ideas that they had.  Last year, I had great success from sending e-mails just like these.  While I seldom get a reply, I almost always see a difference in the student the next day.

I had the benefit of calling home just as a student came home, and the mom asked me to hold while she proceeded to loudly reprimand her son.  Some of what she said was “you let the other boys be the class clowns” and “she has her high school diploma.”  I now know that graduation is important to his mom and something that he is expected to do.  It is helpful for me to understand this about this student.

I was in a parent conference this morning.  All the student’s teachers were present, as well as the parents, the student, the counselor, and assistance principal.  It was a crowded room.  It was clear that there were trust issues between the student and the parents.  The student is capable, but easily distracted.  When the student asked me to send an email home saying that he’d turned in his homework today, I understood more about how doing this for him would help.

In my 4th period Algebra class, I sent home a very different homework assignment.  I printed out the assignment, handed it out, and had them read it.  I did not verbally give the assignment.  What I wrote was a short paragraph saying, “We as a class will not be able to cover the required materials that will be needed for future math classes because it’s too noisy and we have too many disruptions in the class.  Clearly, I’m not  giving you what you need.  Write and tell me what you need from me, and what you are willing to do to help yourself and this class.  Write it, sign it and have your parents sign it, because I might need to enlist their help.”   This last sentence really got to the students.  A couple of students then reprimanded the others in class and said that they need it quieter to be able to learn.   I was thankful that the students raised their hands and cooperated in a good discussion facilitated by me.  We then went back to the day’s lesson, and the noise level was very reasonable and the participation was excellent.  After the lesson, I gave them feedback that I thought the lesson we’d just had went well and that I could work with that volume level.  When asked if they could also work with that volume level, most of the students raised their hands.

EDTC6535 Wk 7 Podcasts and Productivity

This week’s reading was focused on Component 2.3 Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively.  The reading was on podcasts.  While I subscribe to a few podcasts for fun through iTunes, this week I explored podcasts and videocasts for potential application to my students.

I can see the usefulness of using online lessons and podcasts as an extension of the classroom.  Studies at various colleges have shown enhanced experience for students and higher quality work. (Ovadia, 2007).  I especially liked the Drexel University chemistry professor who podcasted lectures and then used classtime to review problems. Certainly, not enough of my 9th and 10th graders will listen to podcasts to make it something I can require.  However, I like the idea of giving students options and using tools that are already embraced by student culture.  Some students learn by listening, and those are the ones that I’d be interested in fostering an interest in math by subscribing to math podcasts.

While I am not in an environment where all my students have iPods or internet access from home, I have been considering creating a Google site for my students with links to podcasts and videocasts.  For example, I could send a student who is having problems with solving multi-step equations to http://www.mathtrain.tv/play.php?vid=100 .  While it’s probably needed by the students I send, the fact that it’s made by 6^th graders, might make it feel embarrassing. I have been thinking about adding links to various online videos.  There are a number of Algebra videos on Youtube.com.  They are fairly dry, but perhaps watching a video a few times, even if it’s at the library, might make the words more familiar.  Again, it gives the students choice if they want to watch another teacher explain it a different way.

Bibliography

Ovadia, M. (2007). Poducate me: Practical solutions for podcasting in education. Retrieved 11 14, 2009, from Poducate me: http://poducateme.com/guide/index7.php

Diversity In America 10-20-09 Journal Entry

After reading the first 2 chapters of Banks’ Multicultural Education, I thought about my current students, what I know of my world today, and what I want for my daughter.

Regarding my students, the question I asked myself is, “are my unsuccessful students not succeeding because of cultural divisions? Will they learn more if they owned the classroom more?”  It’s true that I don’t have a democratic classroom.  While I’ve been gradually giving my students more voice, it’s still more autocratic than democratic.  If the students owned the classes more, would they own their own education more?  This is a question that was raised but just lightly addressed in the readings.  I’m currently observing a class with another teacher that is about as democratic as I’ve ever seen for a math classroom.  I am noticing that the students are learning about good citizenship, and am looking forward to how the class evolves in its math understanding.

I have to say that what I read about personal and cultural knowledge, specifically related to how some students have a culture that says doing well academically is betrayal to a group they belong to, rang true.  I wondered if this statement is true for some of my African American, Hispanic, or low performing students.  I can think of two specific Hispanic students last year who were very good at math but chose to be in less challenging math classes.  I had interpreted their decisions as choosing to be with their friends instead of choosing to be where they’d be better prepared for their futures but potentially with people they didn’t know.

I mention my daughter because I think the choices I make for her do reflect my values.  Initially, I had her in a Montessori where she flourished in her academic abilities, but she was going to a predominantly White school with some minorities.  The Asian and White mix is what she gets at home.  She is now going to a public school with more minorities than Whites, with a large Hispanic and mixed race population.  I see that while I can help her academically, school provides opportunities for social development, and I think she needs to be comfortable working and playing with people of all backgrounds to really flourish in her life.

One key point for me was to read that at the time the book was written, multiculturalists saw our nation as divided, and want to bring it closer together, while Western traditionalists saw the nation as united and feared that multicultural education would cause divisions.  More than a decade has passed, and it seems to me that because our nation’s foreign-born population has grown, we see a lot more diversity and are influenced by a lot more diversity.  Because I see our nation as more divided than united, and because I think it is part of a teacher’s responsibility to help students develop critical thinking skills and participate in the democratic process, I will put myself leaning toward the multiculturalists.

EDU6133 9-30-09 assignment

During class, we looked at our self-identification and listed groups we belonged to.   Here is mine:

• assertive, educated woman
• immigrant
• runner
• long term Western Washington resident
• mom
• wife
• oldest child
• sister
• Des Moines resident
• product of Tacoma public schools
• PLU graduate
• former engineer
• former corporate employee
• volunteer
• former big sister
• agnostic
• a woman of Korean heritage
• student teacher
• FOTOGian

The point of this exercise is to recognize that we are all members of microcultures, and we have these different aspects of us that make us unique.  I can see how I might be able to find avenues to relate to students by looking at the microcultures they each belong to.