The Retention Problem

Today has been a fun day so far. I've done two projects with the kids this week and today was a project day. We've been studying perimeter and area - today we did an application project where they designed their own house and found the perimeter and area of different parts of their floor plan. The kids get creative and have a lot of fun with it, and of course, it's a nice day for me - I just get to facilitate, observe, and enjoy.

But there's still something that's been bothering me. Retention is still such a problem. I teach high school math and I'm still having to teach kids how to find perimeter and area of simple objects like squares and rectangles. Why does this happen? It's not just the fault of previous teachers either. I just taught them this stuff yesterday and they still don't know how to do it today.

Where does this problem really come from? I've been musing on my lunch break about the real origins of the Retention Problem.

Finding perimeter and area of squares and rectangles are ideas that kids are taught in early grade school. It's a very basic concept. How big around is your backyard? How much sand is in the sand box? I know that these things are taught. So why do kids forget things year after year after year? Is it teachers? Is it the long summer break? What is it?

I don't have the answer, but I did start to think about reasons why I retained information...but that didn't help either. I know that there must be a reason why I remembered how to do these things and so many of my high school students don't. I started to try to think of why.

Was it because of my parents? They are educated people who placed a value on my learning. They could help me with my homework and encouraged me to do well. Is that the reason?

Was it because of my teachers? I had good teachers and I had some not so good teachers. Did the good teachers make that much of a difference? There are some specific lessons that I remember clearly to this day. For example, 8th grade earth science with my most favorite teacher - we learned about how the earth rotates around the sun and the moon rotates around the earth. I remember very clearly that Mr. B. let me stand on a table in the middle of the room and be the sun while other students were the moon and the earth rotating around each other and the sun too. That was an amazing lesson and one that I will always remember. Was it because of teachers like that that I did so well?

I don't think that's the only reason either. There are a lot of things that I know how to do and I don't remember the specific time when I learned them. I know how to add and subtract, how to graph a function, and how to calculate an integral within a certain domain, but I don't remember exactly how I learned those things.

Also, I'm sure that Mr. B. and many of my other teachers had lots of fun and engaging lessons that I don't necessarily remember in detail. That's not to say that those weren't lessons, but not all great lessons stick in our minds as we age either.

Is it repetition? Yes, we learn by repetition. I add and subtract every day, so is that why I remember how to do it? No, because I don't necessarily calculate integrals everyday anymore now that I am no longer an undergraduate math student, but I still remember how to do it. Does repetition help? Yes, but I don't think that's the only way to retention either.

Is it my attitude about education and learning? I have a passion for it. I work really hard at learning. Is that what makes the difference? I don't think that's it either, because until the 8th grade I was not as motivated a student as I am now.

But somehow I retained things better than my students do now. I know I did, because I did not need to constantly be reminded of how to find perimeter and area when I was a junior in high school.

Yesterday we had a lesson with dot paper and finding shapes of certain perimeters and areas. We did tons of examples. We practiced over and over. But today I still had kids come up to me and say, "How do I find the perimeter of this bedroom I drew in my house?" or "Can I just count the boxes inside the room instead of multiplying? I don't remember how to do it," or "I don't remember what perimeter is."

So what makes the difference? Is it a combination of all those things? And what can we really do to fix it? I don't know that all the engaging and meaningful lessons in the world will always make a difference. I try to teach with fun activities every day and kids still forget how to do things from day to day.

And I don't know that reading all the "in" literature on how kids retain knowledge have the solution either.

Here's my theory, for what it's worth: In the end, it's up to the kids. I can make great lessons that engage kids and that might motivate them, but, in the end, no matter what the parents do, no matter what the teachers do, no matter what their peers do, if kids don't decide to internalize knowledge, nothing else will really help them remember what they learn.

Almost Midterm

The end of this week is officially midterm. I think things have gone pretty well. All students who have put forth a decent amount of effort are passing. Those who aren't passing are the students who don't do a single bit of homework or work in class either.

Overall, I think things are going pretty well at our little alternative school. Most of the kids are starting to get used to the routine. We as teachers are starting to feel the rhythm too, but we're also starting to feel the work load - or at least I am.

I've tried to be more organized and on top of things. Most nights I do ok, but some nights, I get carried away with all the things I could/should be preparing for that I end up spending my entire night working until I go to bed. I have to reign myself back in and stop myself. Sometimes I have to just do what needs to be done for the next day and then take a break for the rest of the night. Take it one day at a time.

I did have my first evaluation. The class went well except for the one student who simply refused to do anything. I'm pretty sure my evaluator took that with a grain of salt though. I'll find out on Monday when we have our post-observation conference.

I'm getting better at planning for the block scheduling. That's a plus too. It's rather intimidating planning for 75-80 minutes of instruction, but I'm getting better at managing the time.

All in all, a decent week. And this Friday we are having a shortened schedule to take our kids over to the main campus for the Homecoming Assembly. Always fun to have shortened schedule.

A Bright Moment

Today in the middle of the almost unbearable heat of 3rd block, I had a wonderful teaching moment.

We were playing Review Jeopardy today because my classes have a test tomorrow. All of a sudden, RJ (alias used for a student) turns to me and says:

"Why is it that you make this class so fun and interesting when no other teachers have done that before? Not even at the regular high school. They never make math fun."

My heart just breaks. The best part of my day. I tried not to get too emotional. I just said, "Well, maybe it's because I really love high school students. They are my favorite students to teach. I love math and I love my students, and maybe that makes all the difference."

Phone Calls Home

I made my first real batch of phone calls home today.

But these are not the type of phone calls that most people think of. These are my positive calls. This is one of my most favorite things to do.

I only had to make one negative call today. I have one student who is failing my class because he does no work, but he got an 85% on his quiz last week. If he would only do his work, he would have no problems passing and probably would pass with a B.

But because I had to make that one call, I decided to even it out by making a good phone call home. As I looked at my list of students, I just couldn't pick one. I kept seeing more and more students who have done great work in my classes and couldn't stop with one. So I picked two from every class even though it was still hard to pick just two. Since I teach four blocks, I made eight phone calls. I only have 40 students, so that was almost 10% of my students' parents that I tried to contact tonight.

And I love it.

Almost every time I tell them who I am I can hear them cringe on the other end of the phone - waiting for me to drop the bomb and tell them what terrible thing their child did that day. But instead, I get to tell them something great.

I called almost all of my Students of the Month and several others. I heard from almost every parent the same thing.

"This is the first time I have ever had this kind of phone call from a teacher."

I even had one mother who told me, "I never thought I would see the day when I would get a phone call like this."

What a good feeling and what a way to end the day.

The Results Are In

The first two weeks are over. I have given two tests - one on rules and procedures and one an actual math test. The scores are entered and it's finally time to evaluate how the first week of math instruction went.

So far all of my students are passing my classes except three. The three that aren't passing have not done a single homework assignment and consistently don't participate in class activities. Overall, I think that's pretty good.

All of my students but two passed their first math test. The two that didn't pass gave up halfway through the exam and didn't complete it. If they would have finished, they would have passed - they were really doing quite well.

The first test is always nerve wracking for me. I want to see if I've reached the kids and it's the first real indicator of how well my instruction in the subject has actually worked. At this point, I'm feeling ok.

But tomorrow starts a new week. We'll see how this one goes.

The First Day from ... the Bad Place

I just want to vent.

Today started like any other day, but it all went downhill.

1st Block was fine. 1st Block is supposed to end at 10:20 am, but today one of the teachers forgot and thought it was dismissed at 10:25. Since we have no bells, that meant everyone was a little behind. But that's really no big deal. My kids start coming into 2nd block and I remind them that even though they got out of 1st block a little late that it's time to get to work on the warm up because we had already lost a few minutes.

I had one girl who was showing off for a boy and decided she did not want to do her warm up. She informed me she was going to the bathroom. I told her this was not the time because we needed to get started with class, but that we would have time for a bathroom break later in the block. She proceeded to argue with me and I gave her a verbal warning. That stopped her for the moment, so I thought things would be ok.

Class continues and later on I catch her with her purse on her desk (one of those big huge purses - and just as a side note, I'm not one of those girls that carries a big purse. My small black one suits me just fine). She has both hands in her purse and is obviously texting. The school policy is no cell phones period, but I asked her to please put her purse under her desk and I would ignore what I had just seen that time. She then proceeded to argue with me about putting her purse under her desk and pretended that she had not been doing anything inside of it. I informed her I was not stupid and I knew what was going on and if she would simply put her purse under her desk I would forget all about it. She continued to yell at me at which point I reminded her that it was her choice to be at this alternative school and if she wanted to, she could leave. So she left.

Great. But at the time I had 9 other kids in the room and it was better to remove her from the situation than keep her there. Maybe some day she will realize that acting up in class and getting asked to leave will not really impress any boy of consequence.

So later when I spoke with the school's director about the incident, she had not told him about her cell phone (of course, no surprise there). So then the whole thing made more sense to him, but he proceeded to tell me that I probably should have spoken to her differently about the matter. He didn't want me to tell her that she could leave, because really she can't. These kids don't have the option of going back to the regular high school building right now. The regular high school won't take them back until they prove themselves with us. So he's right. I have to just talk about that fact that these kids chose to be here....not that they can choose to leave.

Talk about feeling like crap. That was me right then. I wanted to cry, to be honest.

So I go back to my room and try and have some lunch and pull myself together for 3rd block. The special ed teacher comes in and is really nice to me. I tell him what happened and he told me I did the exact right thing and that I'm doing a great job. That was really nice to hear, especially since he does inclusion in my 2nd block every day and watches me teach almost the whole period.

Later in the day, I talk to the social worker who says I did the right thing as well, but I still feel guilty. I don't want any of my kids to feel like they're not welcome in my class. The social worker says that I can't allow her to do those types of things in my class, and I know she's right. I completely agree. The tough part is that this alternative school is so different from any other teaching that I've done. I'm a strict teacher, but I also know how precarious some of these students' academic situations are. I want them to come each day. I want them to be comfortable. I want them to have fun and feel safe. But I also want them to respect me and do what I ask them to do. It's a fine line to walk.

Even though most people seem to think I did the right thing, I still feel badly.

I'm just out of practice I guess.

After school I find out that one of my BD students has decided that my math class is too hard and he doesn't want to be there anymore. Even though the special ed teacher tells me it has nothing to do with me, it still breaks my heart - especially since the kid had done so well in my class today.

After that I had to go to a meeting at the district office. It wasn't a bad meeting. It was kind of fun, but it ran over. I really just wanted to get home.

After that I finally found out why I haven't been able to log in to my online grade book - I didn't have the right password! We use Skyward which has an Employee side and an Educator side. Employee side has pay stubs and personal information like that. Educator side has my gradebook. For some reason I have a different password for each. I don't think that's the way it's supposed to be, but it is. I hope they can fix that.

So I finally get into my gradebook after a week and a half of school and I have tons of grades to input. I grade the warm ups we do each day, we usually have an in class/participation grade, I've given a test, and we've had several homework assignments. So I get into my grade book and I expect to be able to get it all in tonight and finally be caught up on everything, right?

No way. No way would it be that easy on a day like today.

My 2nd block is all wrong. Everything is ok with 1st, 3rd, and 4th, but 2nd block isn't my class. 2nd block is a totally different class - it's the list of kids in the computer lab class across the hall during that period, not the ones in my class. So on top of everything else, my OCD half is not satisfied because all my grades are entered except for 2nd block.

Great.

I have a lesson plan for tomorrow, but I haven't worked out the kinks - trying a new one tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

8:15 pm and I need a shower.

The First Mistake

I think I made my first regrettable mistake today.

Nothing ever goes perfectly, but most of the time the mistakes made by teachers are simply things like not knowing exactly how to answer a question right after it is asked, or drawing a blank in front of a group of high schoolers. Things that kids don't even notice most of the time. Today I had a situation that I wish I could have done over.

I have a boy in my 3rd block class. He's very bright and very energetic - the type that can't stop moving. I usually don't have any problems with the kids that can't stop moving. My class is generally a movement oriented class anyway, especially since I am a kinetic learner myself. But today was rough.

I had several activities planned for today. It was fraction day. We started with a demonstration with apples and fractional parts, moved to a few minutes of direct instruction on addition and subtraction with fractions, break that up with a racing game with practice problems, a few more minutes of direct instruction on multiplication and division, and end the day with the guitar and learning the Fraction Song. Pretty fun day. Most kids love fraction day. Lots of moving around. They always love games and bringing in the guitar and singing the fraction song is usually a hit.

This boy is usually great in my class, but for some reason he started off the day poorly. He's really very bright and quick and also very energetic. The first five minutes of class is always devoted to the warm up. The students do their warm up that is on the board already when they come into class. My energetic student usually realizes that this is one of the only times in class that I want him to be calm, and for the first week and a half of school, I haven't had any problems with him.

But today, he just could not do what he was supposed to. He didn't want to do his warm up. When I asked him to turn around for the apple demonstration, he wouldn't do it and simply drummed on his desk. While I was teaching the class a new trick to add and subtract fractions without finding common denominators he was glaring at me and rapping to himself while I'm teaching the class. I asked him to stop and gave him a verbal warning. Then this young man decided that he already knew how to do what we were doing in class (even though he missed questions on fractions on the Diagnostic I gave him last week) and tuned out. But I let it go and figured he would tune back in as soon as we started the game. Pick your battles, right?

We started playing the game which was a get up out of your seat kind of game, but this boy decided he just didn't want to play. I gave rewards to each team when they won a round, but this boy would throw away his rewards and told me not to give them to him. So at one point, I had the class work on a problem while I took the boy out in the hall to talk to him.

"What's going on today? You having a rough day?" I asked him.

"No."

"What can I do to help you participate in class today?"

"Nothing."

"Would you like to come back in and play the game with the class?"

"No. This is stupid stuff."

"I know it may seem easy to you, but there are other students who still have trouble with this kind of stuff."

"I don't care. It's stupid stuff."

"All right. Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you two choices. You can either come back in and change your attitude or you can head down to the office. No one is making you stay here. This school is special and you choose to be here. So it's your choice whether to stay or go."

"Well, I was going to come back and treat you (i.e. he was going to behave badly and give me a hard time), but now I'm going to be the bigger man and go to the office."

And with that, he went to the office.

I don't really know what I should have done differently. I tried to be patient in class and I tried to discuss things with him calmly in the hall, but he just didn't want to be there today.

It's difficult to have very bright kids in a class with kids who are really behind. I'm used to that, and I try to vary the activities so that no one is bored. We play games, we sing songs, and all the time we do math, but today this boy just didn't want anything to do with it.

I tried not to let this one event get the best of me though. I wish I could have handled the situation differently, but the rest of the day was great! Kids loved the game we played and had fun singing the Fraction Song. But it's still a bummer when things like that happen.

Tomorrow however, he and I both start all over. New day; clean slate.