8th grade English

I have taught Pre-K 3 & 4, 5th grade, 7th grade, and now 8th grade!  I am having a blast.  I do feel like I am drowning, BUT it is just part of the experience.  We are currently writing, but it won't last too long because we have to go back to reading and analyzing literature.  In fact, this paper is based on literature!  That is SOOOO much better to teach, at least for me.  I know that I have to teach SOME writing in 8th grade, but it is not EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE!

We have been reading "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe, and the kids LOVED it.  It is gory, mysterious, and gruesome.  8th grade kids couldn't ask for anything more...As we read, we watched a theatrical production of a monologue.  They were gasping and murmuring as the story was being told!  It is wonderful to see that you are able to give them lessons that interest them.  I had them analyze the story for diction and imagery and how those things created the menacing tone.  They were all enthralled with being able to pick the description word for diction and imagery!  Next, they had to write an essay explaining their analysis.  They are enjoying finding the quotes from the story to prove their opinions.  When they see that their peers have a different quote to prove their descriptions they get excited to share and prove theirs.  I LOVE seeing them want to do this.

I am blessed beyond measure and enjoying myself greatly!  I am thankful for this opportunity!

New Journey: 8th grade English

I have taught 7th grade English for three years, and every year, I have asked to be moved to 8th grade.  Clearly, I have NEVER been moved.  This week, I got a call from my principal saying that I was being moved to 8th grade for the coming school year.  I was so shocked, it took me a couple of hours to really comprehend this new journey.  


I have wanted to move for so long, and now I am worried, I will not like it, or I will not be a good teacher.  


However!  I remember that my calling is to teach.  If I can teach MATH to kiddos (and I can....it has been successfully done) then I can teach 8th grade ENGLISH without a hitch.

Okay, maybe their will be a hitch or two, but that is the true test of a good teacher....can s/he adapt fairly quickly and seemingly without a hitch when needed??  There have not been many hitches that have stumped me along the way, and I do not expect any for this coming school year.  


I am sad to leave my team and my 7th grade Writing department, BUT I am thrilled to not have to teach Writing EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE....okay every single day of the school year only....

Father, 


As I approach this school year, and I have some repeat students since I am moving up to the 8th grade and so are they....please help me start with a clean slate with them and help them start with a clean slate with me. We all need to have a successful year, and we need to make sure that we do not hold any preconceived ideas or grudges about each other...I thank you for this wonderful opportunity, and I thank you for allowing me to better my teaching strategies and abilities with this new challenge.  I am looking forward to this new journey.  Please equip me with the wisdom, strength, compassion, and love I will need to be a successful teacher AGAIN this school year.  


In Jesus' name, amen.


Mrs. ABC

Summer School: DAEP style

My last two summer's have been spent with kiddos from the DAEP (Disciplinary Alternative Education Program) in my district.  These students have been given consequences either from the state or city courts or their home campus based on their poor choices and actions.  Many of their consequences come with about a 90 day stay at the alternative school.  If these students do not complete their number of days BEFORE the school year concludes, they are required by law to begin the subsequent school year at the DAEP campus, instead of their home campus.  For 8th grade students going to 9th grade, this is a "bad" thing.  They will not be able to start their high school careers at their home school, with their friends.

So, the DAEP program allows for a select few students to come during the summer at NO CHARGE to the student or parent.  The program is four days a week for 6 weeks and ONLY 8 am-12 pm.  All the students have to do is come to school on-time, in dress-code and do what they are asked or told to do for the four hours they are present.  This should not be a hard thing to do, but for many of these kids, even though they are the among the "best" students on the DAEP campus, it is a very challenging feat.  Two students have already been kicked out, and they will spend their full term at the DAEP in the fall, NONE of the days they spent with us this summer will count for them; they simply wasted a portion of their summer.

That being said, there are a few really great, funny kiddos.  One of them in my second group struggles with English and Reading as a whole and requires quite a bit of help and guidance from me.  While helping him the other day, he looked up at me with an amused yet quizzical look and said, 

"Mrs. you must really like riding your bike; your calves are huge!"

I snickered to myself and said in an amused voice, "thank you..."

I knew what he meant. :)  My calves are fairly defined generally, but they are even more so now that I have been riding my road bike, this summer.  

He didn't think anything of his statement and didn't realize that what he said was incorrect, and he whole-heartedly meant it as a compliment.  I took it as such, but it really made me realize how socially handicapped our students are, and how poor their vocabulary really is.

He had no idea that was an inappropriate statement or why it would have been considered such.

He had no idea that he should have used the word defined or a synonym of it instead of "huge".  In his world, defined is ONLY used in academic terms when talking about the meaning of a vocabulary word.

As teachers...okay, ME as teacher-- I need to better understand where my kiddos are socially and what vocabulary they know as "academic" versus "social".  There is very little PRIOR KNOWLEDGE with these kids--in their lives.  Situations like these could so easily be turned into "teachable moments" BUT I am so shocked sometimes by what they do not understand/know that I just sit in shock...and awe at the situation for a while.  

Lord, help me be better on my feet when situations come up that I could use to teach my kiddos even more than the prescribed curriculum and state standards.  I do not want to embarrass them or make them believe I think they are stupid.  I want them to know that I am there to help them better themselves, and I want them to be able see how learning to use words correctly and appropriately will help them become more successful in their lives.  I want to help them see that their lives CAN be different and BETTER than what they are currently.  Their lives DO NOT have to forever be just as they are right now.  These kids are children of God, and they have a destiny.  I want them to reach this destiny!  God has a plan for them, He wants to prosper them, He does not want them to hurt.  Please Father, help me be a guiding light in their lives.

In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Mrs. ABC

Schools Out for Summer!

This year was intense to say the least.  I enjoy teaching, but even this year challenged that joy.  I am not sure what was so exhausting about this year, but I am glad to see it end.  Last summer, I taught six weeks of summer school while taking 12 credit hours of Masters coursework, writing three thesis papers and an action research project, all to graduate the Friday BEFORE I was to report back to work for the school year.


This many things on my plate and not having a "real" summer could have been the culprit, but this summer, all I am doing is teaching 8-12 Monday-Thursday for 6 weeks.  I will have two nice trips to take as well.  Here's hoping that the next school year will be lighter on the stress, and allow for the joy of teaching to be restored.


I am glad that I am teaching this summer because I was bored with only one week in, and I still have time to do what I want in the afternoons and on our three-day-weekends.  :)

God is good, regardless of how I am feeling.  


He knows just how to lift my spirits and let me know that I AM doing the right thing!  

On the last day of school a few of my "old" students, who are  eighth graders came by my room and in tears hugged me to tell me that I was the best English teacher they could have ever had, and where I hope that stays true, I am hoping they are blessed with AMAZING English teachers in high school.

There was a student that I did not have as a student, but had to deal with in ITS which is In Team Suspension, the step before an office referral for ISS (In School Suspension).  This student came from another school in the district and had SEVERE attitudinal issues.  Being that I am a fair but strict teacher, I get some of the harder ITS students to deal with (at least this is what the teachers that send them to me, tell me).  So, this student spent something close to 10 days with me in ITS in the FIRST six weeks.  That is CRAZY.  In that time, we talked through the situation at school, about issues with certain teachers and we discussed how teachers are people, too, and we have bad days and crappy attitudes sometimes, too.  I encouraged the student to respond differently to the teachers they had issues with and to sit and talk to them about the issues they had in class.  


Finally, this student stopped coming to my class!  I was ONLY a 7th grade teacher again!  When I would see this student in the hallway, I would speak, and ask how everything was going.  I would get random visits from this student throughout the school year, just to say hi!  So, on the last day of school, while I am sitting in my class with my advisory (homeroom) kiddos, this student walks in and says, "Bye, Mrs. Clemens; thank you!"  and I got the biggest hug EVER!

THIS IS WHY I TEACH!


This wasn't even one of my "roster" students and I touched her life!


Father, thank you for giving me the love, wisdom, and understanding to help you touch the lives of my goonies!  

Are your parents still together?

This week has been very challenging.....again.


Thursday, while my students were doing a writing sample for the state, they had to write about someone they admire or someone who has influenced their lives (positively or negatively).


While writing, a student in my fourth period class, whom I call Barney Bernabe, asked, "Mrs. Clemens, are your parents still together?"


I responded, "Yes, they are."


He took a deep breath and said, "Wow!  You are SO lucky!" At the same time the rest of the class exhaled in awe.


This gave me pause.  


Earlier this week I was reminded (through the misfortune of one of my students) how lucky I am to have my parents for a completely different reason, but just two short days later, I have realized that I take for granted the good things that come with having parents that are still HAPPILY and JOYFULLY married.


For being so much older than my students, they teach me so much daily.  Their lives are remarkably challenging.  The sadness seems to never end.  My heart breaks...


There is no "organized chaos" in their lives, and I am beyond grateful to share the understanding that 90% of the time the chaos in my life is organized, albeit chaos.


Maybe the changes that need to happen in my classroom this year are supposed to happen in me!  I hate learning lessons....especially when it is my goonies teaching me. 


They make me feel like I do not have anything useful to teach them when their thoughts, fears and feelings are so profound.  I know that this is NOT the case; I do have things to teach them; however, that does not make it any easier  to know my life is blessed, and theirs seems so disheveled and unstable.  I want them to live the blessed life I did....or at least one excruciatingly similar.

Leap Day/Leap Year

After school today, I had ONE student show up for tutoring.  During this time I was filling out a form that needed the date.  As I wrote, "2.28.12" on the form, I remarked that this is a weird year.  

The student said, "Weird year...what do you mean?"  

I said, "February has 29 days in it this year.  That is weird; it only happens ONCE every four years."

His expression was completely priceless.  He looked at me as if he had NEVER before heard about this phenomenon.

I said, "The 29th of February, when it happens...is called Leap Day and it makes the year 'Leap Year'.  You've never heard of this before?"

He said, "Huh....nope. Leap day?"

This is just another shock to my system.....it absolutely BLOWS MY MIND......my goonies have such little prior knowledge......social knowledge.  It is no wonder that putting things into perspective for them is so difficult.

He didn't even know that February normally DOES NOT have 29 days....

I wonder how many other students would be just as baffled by my statement.

Prayers for sanity are appreciated....AND prayers for helping me know how to best reach my rugrats....

Thanks,

Mrs. ABC

Sudden shock

Today, I received an email for a withdrawal grade for one of my best students.  This student is a very strong reader and writer and although, too talkative most of the time, like many of my students, this student is precious.

I was so surprised by this, as was another co-worker of mine, so we did some research.  I found out that this student was living with friends currently.  Mom was in the picture, but has been AWOL for quite some time, leaving this student with the friends. 

At some point in the past this student and Mom were beaten while at the friends' house, and had to spend some time in an abuse shelter.  The threat was finally out of the picture and this student and Mom were able to move back in with the friends.  Since then is when Mom went  AWOL. 

This past week Mom tried to commit suicide, she was unsuccessful, but was subsequently placed on life support.  This weekend the family made the decision to pull Mom off life-support. 

So fairly short story, even shorter, this student lost Mom.  This student will be moving to live with older brother in a completely different city.

I feel so sorry for my student.  I CANNOT imagine having to deal with ANY of this history at my age, but especially not in the transforming and challenging years of pre-teen adolescents. 

Life is too short.  Make sure you regularly, if not daily, tell those around you that you love them, and how special they are to you.

Please keep this student in your prayers.  Comfort, peace, and eternal love are definitely needed right now.

Blessings,

Mrs. ABC

Mama Bear

While describing the changes we have to make to our essays for the STAAR test, I was likening my thoughts/actions to that of a mama bear. 

Mrs. ABC: The mama bear in me just came out!

Almost the whole class responds: Awwww...you love us Mrs. Clemens!!!!!!?!??!?!?!?!?!

One student simply states: Mama bears don't actually love their cubs, they just take care of them until they can hunt.

The rest of the class, in a defeated and abandoned-way murmurs: Awwwwww.

The same student responds: What? It's true! 

Mrs. ABC (to the whole class): The truth hurts sometimes....*smirks*

LOL!    Made my day!

 

A breakthrough....finally!

I have battled ALL year long with liking this group of children.  I have spent hours praying for a heart to love them as God does, and for the understanding that I would need to make a positive difference in their lives.  They are just SO lazy and apathetic.  They ARE smart, but they are beyond lazy, and their grades are suffering because of their apathy.


I have never disliked a group of children as much as I dislike this group.  I like most of the children individually, but they are just a beating all together.  A few weeks ago, I had such a hard time that I became almost angry in my prayer time, and I asked God why I was having SUCH a difficult time. 


This was my post about my thoughts that night on Facebook: 

Beaten, battered, and bruised after this week. Words CANNOT describe how defeated, disappointed, and taken advantage of I feel. But when all is said and done, I remember: this IS my calling! Teaching is NOT babysitting like many people outside of the profession believe it to be, and I CAN find good things about my goonies to remind me of why I go to work for them each and every day. I was made to teach, I REALLY wouldn't change it for the world! No matter how often I think I might....prayers for continual strength and wisdom are appreciated.

You can see that God told me what my place was.  He reminded me that I am there in my classroom for a reason.  I was placed on this earth to teach, and to reach my children in a way maybe no one else can.

I have seen some improvement in my attitude/opinions of my students.  But they have been few and far between.  I have noticed periodically that I am just sitting there smiling at my children while watching them interact with each other on assignments.  This is not something that has happened much this year.  They are SO lazy that they annoy me with their actions and questions most of the time.

Lately, however, I have seen a change in the majority of my classes.  They work when they need to.  They are quiet when they should be and they respond promptly to directives and expectations.  They have become polite and, dare I say it, caring individuals.

I have been sick since Sunday night and I missed work on Monday due to fever.  I was not able to pick the sub I wanted and ended up with a sub that I do not prefer.  The sub sits at the teacher desk all day, does not get up and walk around the room, and yells at the kids for EVERYTHING.  Needless to say, I felt sorry for my little boogers having to come back from a long weekend to that person.

I actually worried about them all day long.  I didn't want them to have a bad day.  THIS IS A REMARKABLE BREAKTHROUGH!  I do not miss my students when we are off, I do not wonder how their breaks are treating them, and they are not usually missed when they are absent.  So...the fact that I wanted them to be treated well....and to enjoy the day without me is HUGE!  I thank God.

Most of my students greeted me on Tuesday, when I came back to work with: "Mrs. Clemens!  I missed you!  Are you okay?"  Many of them hugged me or patted me on the back appreciatively when they saw I was back.  It was an interesting day.

Today (Wednesday) my students in every class said something like this: "Mrs. Clemens you're in a good mood today." OR... "Mrs. Clemens you're weird...you know?"  I would just laugh and agree.  I was a good day.  God is so good!

HAHA!  That caught me just right!  I realized that I was enjoying myself AND THEM!  For the first time EVER!  

I expect the rest of the year to be better.  I expect that my positive influence in their lives WILL take place like it is meant.  My God called me to teach, and he is helping me change my heart and my attitude about my lovelies.  

They are crazy....I am crazy....

They need someone to hold them accountable......I hold them accountable...

They need boundaries....I have crazy strict boundaries which they love (I am the favorite of many even though I am the most strict)....

They need someone to believe in them and speak life into them....WHO BETTER to do that than me!  My Heavenly Father believes in me when I have nothing for him to believe in and he speaks life into me providing me with ENDLESS possibilities.  

My job is to make sure my students AT LEAST HAVE POSSIBILITIES! 

I CAN DO THAT!

SAMUS ARAN CLEMENS

Samus Aran went to meet her brother, Ghost on Monday, January 30, 2012.  When Colt and I came home from work we found her.  It was most likely a stroke or heart-attack.  There were no signs of struggle which is somewhat comforting.  We miss her greatly, and the sudden-ness is the hardest thing to get through.  She was our sweet princess, and there is a hole in our hearts and lives that is bigger than she ever imagined being!  

She believed from day one that Link, our fattest and youngest cat, was her baby, and he believed her to be his mama.  They were of no relation, but they were both calico mackerel tabbies.  She mothered him, snuggled with him, played with him, and reprimanded him. He is the one taking it the hardest out of the cats.  Ziz is looking for her, but Roger doesn't seem to realize anything has really changed.  Samus and Roger were not the closest of friends.

Colt is having a hard time.  He has called her to bed and then realized....  He has called Zizzy, Sammy....and then realized...  He still says bye to her each morning when we leave the house.  He misses her so much.  It is not fair that he has had to endure the loss of two cats (both with more relationship to him) in less than one year.  He needs to be able to catch a break....AND SOON!

We love you with all of our hearts Samus Aran. You are missed SOOO MUCH!  Make sure you snuggle up close with Ghost as he stares into your soul.

Kids say the darndest things....

Over the last few years, I have heard some remarkable things being said by my students.  I would like to share a few of them with you.

1. When asked what the plural of woman is the response was "ladies".  :)

2. When sitting in class and saying I could/should be famous.  I would do well in the spotlight, and making lots of money.  The students agreed and ONE lovely boys says, "Mrs. ABC, you should be the cat-whisperer.  You would be really good!" HAHA!  I have a tendency to agree with him!

3.When reviewing for the test on the I before E rule, I hear a students say, "It's I before E and something about a neighborhood."  After a few seconds he realized he wouldn't get it, so he shrugged his shoulders in defeat and sat down.  HE DID JUST FINE ON THE TEST!

4.  One day while suffering through a migraine in the middle of class, my kids detected something was wrong and began whispering their answers to me.  Class continued just fine, and the next day they were whispering until I told them I was fine.  Maybe I should have played that one out a little longer.  :)

5. During the middle of class, all the students are working silently, rating their essays with the STAAR rubric, and a student blurts out, "I have mood problems.  I have to take pills for them.  They are $110." Just like that the student was back to work as the rest of the class and I stared at each other in wonder.  I just shook my head and motioned for them to get back to work.  Nothing was ever said again until the end of class, and that student had no idea we were bewildered.  

There were many more to write, but they have slipped my mind.  I will have to add them later!

The life and times of Mrs. ABC!

STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness)

As an educator, I understand that all teachers, students, and districts need to be held accountable for what is being taught/learned, but as an educator I realize that this is NOT the appropriate method of measurement.

For 15+ years, the TEKS (skills and knowledge taught to the students at each grade level) have not required the students to think for themselves. They have not had to think in depth or for themselves.  EVERYTHING they have ever needed to complete an assignment was handed to them.  The tests at the end of each year for this type of learning were TAAS and eventually TAKS.

Neither test was terribly difficult and the students had ALL THE TIME THEY NEEDED to take the test.  If they needed to be in school until 10 p.m. to finish they could be!  They could not be told to hurry, or be reminded to stay on task.

Starting this year, 2012, our kids are taking STAAR.  This test is timed to FOUR hours per testing day and the amount of work has not lessened.  Should our students be able to test in four hours?  YES!  But we have not raised them to understand how to work like this.  They ARE NOT prepared.  

For example on TAAS the writing test was a one day test.  The students would answer editing and revision questions AFTER reading passages with mistakes.  The students would get ONE writing charge (prompt).  It could be of three different varieties (if I remember correctly): how-to, persuasive, personal narrative.  All students would write to the same essay type and writing charge.  They had ALL the time they needed, and two pages to write the essay on.

For TAKS, the writing test was also just a one day test.  The students would answer the editing and revision questions AFTER reading passages that needed to be corrected.  The questions about editing and revision were more specific and in depth compared to TAAS.  The students would receive ONE writing charge.  It could ONLY be a personal narrative essay.  Each students would write to the same writing charge.  They had ALL the time they needed, adn two pages to write the essay on.

The state realized that our tests were a joke and that they needed to be tweaked, so they came up with these guidelines.  The writing test for STAAR is split over the course of TWO days.  The students will ONLY have four hours to complete the test each day.  

On DAY 1 of STAAR Writing the students will be given 16 Revision questions which will be 40% of the multiple choice score, and 24 Editing questions which will make up the remaining 60% of the multiple choice score.  On top of those questions there will about 6-8 field questions sprinkled throughout the test, and of course they will not be identified. AND they will receive a writing prompt.  They will have to read the prompt, brainstorm, write a rough draft, edit, revise and cast a final copy.  (ALL OF THIS--and they still ONLY have FOUR hours!)  

DAY 2 of STAAR Writing: the students will be given TWO MORE writing prompts.  They must write to BOTH of them.  They must read each prompt, brainstorm, write a rough draft, edit, revise and cast a final copy for BOTH essays (IN FOUR HOURS).

The unfortunate thing is this:  these students have been given ALL the time they have needed to do menial tasks on every test before, but now they are being required to do literally double the work in ONLY EIGHT TOTAL hours.  That is NOT fair to the kids.  Not to mention....the state did not give us all the information about this test before school started for the 2011-2012 year.  Our first meeting with information came in SEPTEMBER...literally ONE month after school started and ALL we found out was the daily format for the tests, and that there will be 3 essays...all of the personal narrative (extension) and expository variety.  We do not know which the 3 essay will be, and we do not know which essay is the field test...so they all count just as much in our minds.

This would not be a huge fiasco IF and ONLY IF the students had not been "babied" for all of their schooling lives.  Catering to them and SLOWING them down and then requiring them to speed up without warning practice is NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Every year, before TAAS and TAKS there were benchmark tests in every subject to be tested.  The students had the opportunity to sit and test as if it was the real day, to get a feel for the pacing they needed to use.  This year, no subject is getting that privilege.  These kids have NO IDEA what is about to hit them.  They are panicked NO MATTER what the teachers try to tell them.  In my class I have students for 50 minutes every day.  We have practiced as best we can by timing them and giving them FOUR full class days to do the assignments, but they do not get the real feel for it since it is split over an entire week.

So it is needless to say that educators and students alike will need lots of prayer in the upcoming weeks and months.  We are capable of doing well, and we want to beat the socks off of TEA and their expectations.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Mrs. ABC

The NEW and NOT SO IMPROVED Texas State Test: STAAR (they couldn't even come up with an acronym that makes sense in the English language stAAr..REALLY?!))

My Dearest Texas Education Agency,

This may come as a surprise to you, but I do not like you. I do not like the emphasis you put on standardized tests; I do no like the stress you cause the students, teachers and other educational faculty to endure; and I do not like that you "trickle information down". Imagine going into surgery and that your surgeon does not have the proper information about your condition..therefore your leg is removed instead of getting your new healthy organ...THAT WOULD NOT FLY! This is the EXACT situation you are placing teachers in when you do not provide ALL THE NEEDED INFORMATION! But--I have good news. I am a fighter and YOU WILL NOT BEAT ME! So here's to the challenge. I AM BETTER, STRONGER, & MORE FIERY THAN YOU--and SO ARE ALL MY GOONIES! (They just may not know it yet...)

Thanks for nothing,
Mrs. ABC