tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41940392220754252742024-03-13T22:31:56.903-07:00The Smallest TwineMuch Ado About TeachingJackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-75050192343887823802015-07-24T04:41:00.002-07:002015-07-24T04:41:57.645-07:00I have moved...I've moved on over to <a href="http://mrssecor.blogspot.com">Teaching and Learning in Room 315</a>. Come and join me! I will be posting about teaching AP Statistics and Pre Calculus at the best school in Baltimore City.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-86571223124314255852013-08-02T13:14:00.002-07:002013-08-02T13:14:45.270-07:00Back? Maybe!I've never been a consistent blogger or writer in general. I love rummaging through my childhood bedroom, reading diary entries. Here's a fairly accurate, completely made-up example:<br />
<br />
<i>January 1 </i><br />
<i> Dear Diary, </i><br />
<i> Everything I ever wrote in all previous diaries is embarrassing and the WORST. This time, I'm going to write really great things and I'm going to write every single day, instead of writing three days in a row and then stopping for six months. </i><br />
<i>Love, me </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>January 2 </i><br />
<i> Dear Diary, </i><br />
<i>Look at how consistent I am! I am the best. </i><br />
<i>Love, me </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>September 5 </i><br />
<i> Dear Diary, </i><br />
<i>OMG my life is soooo different nowwwww. I'm going to write here every single day. </i><br />
<i>Love, me </i><br />
<br />
So, I'm not here to make any promises that I'm going to write every day, or every week, or every whatever. For me, I think it's hard to write a blog when I feel like I don't create that much original content. I also look back at previous blog posts and I cringe - at the superficial nature of it, at the lack of focus on teaching, the focus on student behavior and not on student understanding of mathematical concepts.<br />
<br />
I backed off of Twitter and blogging for a long time - I was feeling disillusioned, fairly unhappy, and unenthusiastic about teaching in general. I didn't feel great, or enthused, or creative about what I was doing in the classroom. It occurs to me now that backing off of the mathtwitterblogosphere was the exact opposite of what I should have done, but, you know, hindsight.<br />
<br />
Every once in a while I would dip my toes in - trying to work out getting to Twitter Math Camp in the midst of my honeymoon this summer (fail), participating in one Global Math Dept (amazing!), but then I'd kind of fall off again.<br />
<br />
HOWEVER<br />
<br />
I'm starting at a new school this year, and teaching a new class for the first time since my second year of teaching, and returning to AP Statistics (!!!!!!!! YAY !!!!!!!!!) and all of a sudden, that enthusiasm that I lost? It's back with a vengeance. I also just got married, have a new last name - it all just feels like a wonderful fresh start. And I MISSED it. I really MISSED interacting with amazing and supportive teachers on twitter, I missed loving my job - because, I really do love teaching math, I missed my own enthusiasm and creativity. I think I just lost my spark for a bit.<br />
<br />
I'm teaching four sections of Pre Calculus this coming fall and I'm looking for any and all direction. I'm returning to AP Stats after a two year hiatus and potentially switching textbooks. I'm starting at a new school, so there's learning all of those ins and outs.
I've been doing some champion lurking and adopting of ideas, but I miss participating.<br />
<br />
The #MTBoS has changed A LOT in the last two years, I feel like I have some catching up to do - but it's kind of amazing to see how much BIGGER it is and how much VARIETY there is within it. I just finished going through all of the Made For Math posts ever. I'll probably never catch up with all of the things, but I'll try(ish).
I can't say that I'll ever be a prolific blog writer or tweeter, or that I'll always be an active participant. But even just being a champion lurker for a while has helped bring back that enthusiasm and that spark - because I see it in so many teachers that I admire. I may not agree with what everyone is doing in their classrooms (because... that would be impossible?), but I 100% completely admire that enthusiasm - that verve, you know? And I have it back, thanks in part to the existence of this community. I also took this summer off to do wedding stuff, go on a honeymoon, and just generally decompress and regroup, so I'm thinking that probably helped a bit too :) <br />
<br />
<a href="http://samjshah.com/2013/06/27/my-thoughts-on-mtbos/">Sam's post</a> particularly about the way that we engage with the MTBoS really hit home for me. Previous to reading his post, I had actually felt <i>guilty</i> about my sporadic/lack of participation. I mean, I was raised Catholic, so I feel guilty about 90% of all of the things 90% of the time. Sam's post got me back down to my baseline guilt level of feeling bad that I'm not the greatest/most creative/coolest/funniest math teacher OF ALL TIME - a baseline that I can totally live with.
I may or may not be back for the long haul, but I'd like to participate more because I'm feeling good, back to teaching my favorite subject, and excited to teach a new one.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-2340317828049321552011-11-08T19:11:00.001-08:002011-11-08T19:20:17.946-08:00Film ElectiveTomorrow I start teaching a Film elective that will meet for 1.5 hours each week. I'm super excited about it because I absolutely loved the film class that I took in college (taught by <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com">this guy</a>, Nick Davis, who memorized pretty much all of our names before the 1st class by perusing our ID pictures - this was a big class of about 75 students, so super impressive). I'm selfishly using this elective as an opportunity to revisit what I learned in that intro class in college, and to continue to learn more about film. <br /><br />So, I have 16 kids who signed up for the class. 13 boys and just 3 girls (which surprised me), and the majority of the students are 10th grade boys that I teach in Geometry. I think it will be cool to have a group of kids who chose to be in the elective - talk about instant intrinsic motivation just based on interest! <br /><br />My plan of attack for the first day is a brief survey of what types of movies the kids consider to be "good," what their favorite genre of movie is, their favorite film, and their favorite director. Then, we'll watch A Trip to the Moon and a scene from Broken Blossoms, and begin discussing shot scale and introduce some vocab.<br /><br />Finally, I'm going to put kids in groups of four to create two-minute long silent films. <br /><br />I'm excited!Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-32765928772580099312011-11-02T18:42:00.000-07:002011-11-02T19:06:34.758-07:00Video Scavenger HuntIn addition to teaching math, I also have an advisory group (we call it POD) that meets for about 1.5 hours every day. Ideally, every advisory is with their advisor from 9th grade until they graduate, but I inherited a 10th grade POD from a teacher who moved on to full time graduate school.<br /><br />To make a deliberate effort that our 9th and 10th graders are getting to know each other (which can be difficult, since they're taught on completely different floors), once a week, some of the 9th and 10th grade pods trade half of their kids so that we have mixed grade groups. And then we have SO MUCH FUN.<br /><br />Two weeks ago we did a video scavenger hunt. For an hour, this group of 15 kids who don't know each other very well (and me, of course) ran around the school, ran outside, and generally giggled our heads off as we raced to complete (and catch on video) as many of the items on the scavenger hunt list as possible. I was worried that the kids would think that it was lame, but they threw themselves into it pretty immediately. <br /><br />We finally screened all four groups' videos today, and it was hilarious to watch the kids' different takes on the Maury Show and Cops - because of course those were some of our first choices on the list. I also learned that I'm pretty much the worst videographer in the world.<br /><br />My team won by a landslide. So that makes it even better. <br /><br />Here's the video scavenger hunt list in case you're interested! It was mostly created by my amazing art teacher colleague. I think I contributed The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song idea and that's about it.<br /><br /><a title="View Video Scavenger Hunt on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/71372027/Video-Scavenger-Hunt" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Video Scavenger Hunt</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/71372027/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-12vpumi441q5q325xu1j" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" scrolling="no" id="doc_26094" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script><br /><br />And don't forget to check out my fellow Bmore bloggers participating in NaBloPoMo<br /><br /><a href="http://bmoreschools.org/">BMoreSchools</a><br /><br /><a href="http://nyates314.wordpress.com/">Maryland Math Madness</a><br /><br /><a href="http://epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com/">Epiphany in Baltimore</a><br /><br /><a href="http://survivingthesystem.blogspot.com/">Surviving the System</a>Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-4642009335144528822011-11-01T18:05:00.001-07:002011-11-01T19:03:09.582-07:00Confidence in MathOn the first day at my new school this year, I met 90 awesome kids. I did my introductory thing – rapped the McKennalicious rap, proselytized about the amazingness of math and how much great stuff we’ll do all year, and got to know the kids a bit too. <br /><br />I ended the day feeling great and really positive about the year. And then I found myself cornered by two, very, very anxious students.<br /><br />“We just want to let you know that we really love you and you seem really awesome so we’re so sorry that we’re really awful at math.”<br /><br />“Hold on,” I said. “I’m sure you’re not terrible at math and…”<br /><br />“YES WE ARE. WE ARE SO TERRIBLE AND WE’RE SORRY!”<br /><br />And then they literally ran away. <br /><br />It was really intense.<br /><br />So, we’re two months in now, and those girls who cornered me? Not at all bad at math. In fact, they’re both pretty darn good. <br /><br />So what is it about this super low confidence in math skills? Is confidence what separates successful students from lower performing students (in math specifically – but perhaps other subjects too?)<br /><br />How much time do kids who think that they’re bad at math waste just freaking out <br />about how bad they are, instead of persevering with the confidence that even though they might not get a concept quite yet, they’ll get it in time?<br /><br />I see this low confidence every day. When kids flat out tell me they’re bad, when I see full and CORRECT answers on assessments completely crossed out or erased because of some fear of being wrong. I have students who would rather leave a question completely blank than write down anything they’re not 100% sure of.<br /><br />I have a few students who, when I ask why they aren’t taking notes or writing down the example problems we’re working out, answer “because I don’t get it.” Sometimes I think that’s just a cop out, but in the instances that’s true - students are completely putting a wall up to learning because they don’t immediately understand, which means that learning the topic must be completely impossible.<br /><br />Am I a terrible teacher if students don’t immediately understand a somewhat complicated concept? Am I not breaking it down enough? Sometimes that is definitely the case. Sometimes though, I think my awesome days of instruction aren’t given a chance because of a wall that’s been built up over years. The foundation of that wall (uh oh, metaphor gone crazy alert) can often be found in students’ parents, who had terrible experiences with math. It’s so frustrating to hear parents say, often in front of their kids, that they “just aren’t good” at math, and neither is their kiddo.<br /><br />I’m not at all blaming parents here – it’s just that there’s this messed up idea that seems to be so acceptable, that people are either good or bad at math and that that’s all there is to it. <br /><br />I’m pretty sure I’m rambling here. I missed out on my coffee this morning, so I’ve been a bit off kilter all day. I almost didn’t do this first post of NaBloPoMo – but then I realized that giving up on day one was a bit pathetic. Get ready, Internet! You're in for a month of incoherence and exhaustion! (fact, it just took me 3 attempts to spell exhaustion correctly)<br /><br />For something a little more coherent and worth while, please check out:<br /><br /><a href="http://bmoreschools.org/">BMoreSchools</a><br /><br /><a href="http://nyates314.wordpress.com/">Maryland Math Madness</a><br /><br /><a href="http://epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com/">Epiphany in Baltimore</a><br /><br />S<a href="http://survivingthesystem.blogspot.com/">urviving the System</a>Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-22619440756764901392011-09-20T18:12:00.000-07:002011-09-20T18:28:34.584-07:00I arrived at it independently!!<span style="font-style:italic;">Pete Campbell - Mad Men: “You know what? I have good ideas. In fact, I used to carry around a notebook and a pen, just to keep track. Direct marketing? I thought of that. It turned out it already existed, but I arrived at it independently.”</span><br /><br />About two years ago, though most of my classroom management was OK, I was having a lot of trouble getting kids to transition from being in the hallway to being in math class. I mean, they were physically in the classroom - but I couldn’t get them to engage in actual class stuff, i.e. the “warm up” (or Do Now, or Drill, or whatever the heck you want to call it) without a bunch of cajoling, and I found this to be extremely frustrating. <br /><br />When I say extremely frustrating, what I really mean is that I felt like I was trying to herd evil cats. EVIL cats, not regular ones. Way worse.<br /><br />So, I tried a bunch of things and none of them worked. Bribing children with candy (ugh - gross), collecting and grading warm ups (ugh - the SBGer in me wants to vom), threatening to kill children (not really! That’s ridiculous! Threats? Me!?)<br /><br />And then, one day, I just started pointing out what kids were doing right. <br /><br />“I see that Davonte has his notebook out and has started the Do Now.”<br /><br />“I see that Chelsea is looking at yesterday’s notes to help her with the warm up.”<br /><br />“Chris has his pencil in hand and has begun working.”<br /><br />And that was it. Seriously. I was kind of freaked out. All of a sudden all of my usual hyperactive 10th graders were quietly working. Yes, there was that one kid who looked at me, dramatically pointing to his notebook and mouthing “Tavon is working” - but then he actually started the warm up in a timely fashion. For the first time all year. <br /><br />Obviously I was convinced it was a fluke. Or that it would only work once. Turns out, not only did it work in all the rest of my classes - it worked almost EVERY DAY in ALL OF MY CLASSES for the REST OF THE YEAR. Yes, those caps were necessary.<br /><br />On the third day I had my math teacher colleagues peaking into my room, frantically whispering <br /><br />“how did you do this?” <br />“they’ve been like this for three days?”<br />“I don’t understand.”<br />“I’ve never seen that child do anything.”<br />“You deserve to be teacher of the year. For every year. Forever.”<br /><br />I felt like a god. Like the student whisperer. Or something.<br /><br />Perhaps it wasn’t so dramatic as this.<br /><br />Well, it turns out this is just called behavior narration and I didn’t make it up at all. I mean I thought of it - it turned out that it already existed, but I arrived at it independently. (Thanks, Pete). <br /><br />And what I love about it is that in addition to helping kids transition from being with their friends in the hall to being in math class and doing some math (yay!), it doesn’t make me feel like a crappy human being - like the yelling/cajoling/threatening (jk! I would never do that!) always did.<br /><br />At the end of the day (or the beginning of class...) saying "I see that Ayanna is beginning right away" is just much better for my soul than FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE SIT DOWN AND START DOING SOMETHING THAT JUST LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE DOING MATH. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO ACTUALLY DO IT. JUST PRETEND.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-8877536862844739392011-02-07T19:37:00.000-08:002011-02-07T19:49:08.473-08:00Kobe vs. LeBron BoxplotsThis semester I'm teaching an HSA Algebra/Data Analysis for the first time. It's also the first time that I've taught 9th graders, and so far, the girls are super mature and the boys are a mixture of wise beyond their years and super wiggly. <br /><br />I overheard some of these wiggly boys talking smack to each other about the Miami Heat vs. the Celtics on Friday, so today their "Do Now" assignment was to create boxplots comparing LeBron James' and Paul Pierce's points per game for the last 10 games. As soon as the boys walked in they were excited, but they said they'd rather compare LeBron and Kobe. So, (thank you Internet!) I quickly hopped on ESPN's website and replaced all of Paul Pierce's data with Kobe's.<br /><br />The kids were totally into it, my totally disinterested/too-cool-for-school boy actually changed seats from his usual spot in the back to a spot closer to the front (!!!) <br /><br />After constructing their boxplots (each and every child, without prodding), the boys continued their trash talking. However, they were now overheard comparing the median PPG (!!!) and discussing how even though LeBron's median was higher, Kobe was more consistent (smaller IQR).<br /><br />It was definitely one of those moments when I wanted to run out in the hall just to find someone else to witness the amazingness.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-22028615574274793732010-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:002010-07-07T12:20:22.004-07:00AP Exam ResultsI spent about an hour of my day today obsessively refreshing the CollegeBoard’s AP Score reporting site until I was lucky enough to slip through the overload of teachers, presumably doing the same thing as me (if my Twitter and Facebook friends are a representative sample).<br /><br />I was excited because I was sure that my students had done well. I was sure that at least of few of my students would have passing scores and even crossed my fingers for a 4 (or even a 5!) from my most talented child. Finally I got through, so I paused the episode of Mad Men that I was watching to wait for my extremely slow Internet connection to load the page (I can’t complain – free internet via the computer store I live above). <br /><br />And not one of my 13 students passed the exam. <br /><br />Not one.<br /><br />Of my 13 students, 11 earned 1’s and 2 earned 2’s. <br /><br />There are, of course, a lot of factors that I can blame beside myself. <br /><br />“These kids” have never been challenged before -- Honors classes were only implemented this year, and it is VERY difficult to successfully differentiate instruction with levels that range from I-don’t-understand-the-difference-between-a-rectangle-and-a-square! and Can-I-stay-in-your-room-at-lunch-and-do-extra-trig-identity-problems?<br /><br />“These kids” don’t know how to study because they’ve literally never had to study before, breezing through classes that are not at all challenging. <br /><br />“These kids” have never had to do more that 30 minutes of homework in a night. <br /><br />“These kids” are under-prepared – who knows what they even learned in middle school? And we all know that the 9th grade HSA Algebra class is a joke (or at least it was two years ago)!<br /><br />“These kids” have poor literacy skills, which are extremely important in AP Statistics – in fact, there is more reading and writing than computation!<br /><br />But, the truth is that it’s my job to get “these kids” to understand AP Statistics and to be able to communicate that understanding. And I was not successful this year. I need to make some drastic changes, because my lack of success is absolutely not acceptable. My job is to take the kids from where they are to a passing score on the AP exam. <br /><br />Standards based grading, though I was at first reluctant to use it in my AP class, may be a part of what I do to make sure that students understand the content. Quarterly projects where students must communicate their knowledge orally might be helpful. I clearly need to read some books about literacy and incorporate strategies in my classroom. <br /><br />This is how I will spend the rest of my summer – preparing for a brand new year. The status quo isn’t sufficient. <br /><br />Bright spot. Jaime Escalante did not get the results that we watch in Stand and Deliver in a year or two. He first had to become department head and create a pipeline in which students experienced rigorous math curriculum beginning in middle school. It took him 8 years to get all those students to pass. <br /><br />Now, I'm not Escalante. But, I'm a good teacher. I can be a better teacher. I can guide "these kids" to become "those kids" who triumphed against the odds.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-74245768656358981502010-01-11T17:26:00.000-08:002010-01-11T17:39:44.171-08:00Strawberry Cream CheeseI have a very specific plan for AP Statistics, which involves finishing the entire curriculum before Spring Break so that we can just review, review, review for 4 weeks afterward until THE BIG DAY - May 4th.<br /><br />So, as you can imagine, I'm not a huge fan of snow days. They mess up my detailed schedule and they make me all curmudgeony and complainy and generally not fun to be around. Aside: It is awesome being a math teacher and getting to make up words sometimes. However, my kids think I make up lots of words that are actual words - like causation. They're pretty convinced I made that up and I cannot convince them otherwise.<br /><br />Anyway, tomorrow a lot of the students at my school are taking the Algebra HSA, so non-test-taking students don't have to show up until 11:30. Because I'm evil, I'm forcing my Stats kids to come in at 9 am for two hours of Stats. Whine, whine, groan, groan mad faces, etc.<br /><br />Then I told them I'm going to bring them breakfast. Faces lit up a little bit, and they seemed like they actually might show up. A student asked if I could bring strawberry cream cheese for the bagels. Sure, why not. I mean, I think the stuff is gross (just look at it! gah!) But if that's what they want then fine.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ocwiX2q-cPg/S0vStmyPGBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wAMH-ZmvhQU/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 286px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ocwiX2q-cPg/S0vStmyPGBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/wAMH-ZmvhQU/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425661857045092370" border="0" /></a><br />And they cheered. Seriously. I think I can get them to do anything if I bribe them with strawberry cream cheese.<br /><br />Of course, now I have to go plan two hours of statistics - and wake up early to buy a LOT of donuts and bagels (and strawberry cream cheese, of course).Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-63866498509045529612009-08-31T17:23:00.000-07:002009-08-31T17:39:26.100-07:00First Day! So sleepy!I promised myself that I would post today (and more frequently) but I am just so. darn. exhausted. that I don't know how much this will make sense. Or if I will spell words correctly. Bare (bear?) with me please.<br /><br />Why am I exhausted? Why thank you for asking! I will tell you:<br /><br />Reason #1. It was the first day of school. My body is not used to standing and moving and having my brain work nonstop from about 7:15 am to 4:30. My feet kill even though I changed out of my completely adorable peep toe pumps into my super ugly "teacher flats" within 1 hour.<br /><br />Reason #2. I am overloaded. I am teaching 3 different classes: AP Statistics, Honors Geometry, and Geometry. This means 3 lesson plans each day, 15 per week. Also, I volunteered to do this so can't really complain. I DON'T CARE. I AM HAVING A PITY PARTY. SHUT UP.<br /><br />Reason #3. I have two other non-teacher duties: the coordinator of our AP grant and mentor teacher of the math department. I actually will not at all complain about either of those things because I really want to and like doing them. But they are another reason for exhaustion when I also have 3 preps.<br /><br />Gah. I give up for today. I'm too tired and I need to watch the newest episode Mad Men, which just finished downloading.<br /><br />I will write about actual teaching/students tomorrow (maybe). <br /><br />Funniest thing said today: <br /><br />Me: So, I've color coded everything about this class. Your folders are green, your objectives and topics are written in green on the whiteboard, the agenda for this class is written under the green geometry sign, when you leave class you return your green folders in the green crate, and of course, anything written in green on the calendar pertains to you. Oh, also, turn in work under the green Geometry sign.<br /><br />Student: Dang miss. I can't even imagine what your house looks like.<br /><br />This is mostly funny because my house is a MESS. A gigantic tornado of papers/clothes I try on and then don't wear. Also, within about 2 days these students will realize that I'm not actually organized (when I can't find their classwork... or my keys... or my pen which I just had... or my phone..or my brain). Fake it til you make it.<br /><br />I'm sorry this doesn't make sense. Sleepy time now.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-8461883969673579612009-05-06T13:00:00.000-07:002009-05-06T13:05:36.752-07:00Teacher AppreciationThe Internet inexplicably stopped working at my house last week and won't be fixed until next week, so I haven't posted much. So here's a quick update before I run off to Hopkins.<br /><br />Tonight is my last graduate school class! I graduate on May 21st. This is very exciting.<br /><br />This week is teacher appreciation week. This means that students fill out "certificates of appreciation" and give them to teachers. My favorite "Thanks you for..." notes include:<br /><br />Thank you for . . .<br /><br />"Being the best AP Statistics teacher ever. You taught me so many great lessons, plus you restored my faith in all white people." HA!<br /><br />"Never quitting like Mr. ___ did and always inspiring us with [SmallestTwinelicious] and your incredible swagger . . . its contagious. LOL."<br /><br />"Trying to be funny and teaching us the value of math!" (I love the "trying" to be funny)<br /><br />And, get ready for the tears:<br /><br />"Just being yourself when you teach me. You show me that you really care about me going to college. You are by far the best teacher that I have ever had."<br /><br />Needless to say, I feel appreciated.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-54573723149915378832009-04-24T16:13:00.001-07:002009-04-24T16:17:53.034-07:00Caesar Cipher Search (five times fast...)I've been getting a lot of hits from people google-ing "Caesar cipher." For that reason, and also because it's so cool, I'd like to direct you to the University of Southampton's National Cipher Challenge. The "teacher's pack" is full of lesson plans, worksheets, and a printable cipher wheel.<br /><br />Check it out: <a href="http://www.cipher.maths.soton.ac.uk/rules.html">http://www.cipher.maths.soton.ac.uk/rules.html</a>Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-49481978883701414042009-04-12T19:01:00.000-07:002009-04-12T19:06:34.540-07:00Caesar CipherThere were three days left before Spring Break and I had just finished a unit in geometry, so rather than start anything new, I decided to teach my geometry kids some cryptography.<br /><br />Of course this went well, since every kid (and most adults, I would assume) think basic cryptography is cool. We made cipher wheels and talked about the enigma machine and I got the most rapt attention I have EVER received while teaching.<br /><br />After teaching simple Caesar ciphers (where you basically just shift the alphabet), I challenged the kids to write sentences and told them that I could break any of their codes (there are only 25 possibilities for Caesar ciphers - they're really easy to break - and I told them this, but the kids think I am AWESOME). Messages included:<br /><br />-Yay! Spring Break is almost here!<br /><br />-Ms. Twine is crazy<br /><br />-First period is the best math class<br /><br />-Math is my favorite subject <br /><br />And then, I found an anonymous note left on my desk.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Y TUSYTUT JE JQAU IJQJI<br /></div><br />Which is, decoded: I decided to take stats.<br /><br />I have no idea who wrote it, but someone in my fifth period geometry class has decided to take my AP Stats class next year. AND THEY TOLD ME IN CODE. I don’t think it gets cuter than that.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-62641047792403810222009-04-09T08:39:00.000-07:002009-04-09T08:40:13.734-07:00Get Off My Lawn!Though it’s spring break this week, I just can’t get myself to calm down and take time off. <br /><br />For example, on Saturday I went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Alexander’s Tavern (Tip: Order the Macaroni and Cheese from the kids menu – that plus a gin and tonic = absolute heaven). I walked past Max’s on the way home and saw what looked to be a fight brewing outside and I almost ALMOST walked right over there to tell those people to stop fighting and I was ready to break it up. And then I became sane again and remembered that I was not in school. And also that the last time I broke up a fight I ended up on the ground. <br /><br />I also almost ALMOST told a kid at the mall yesterday to take off his hat. <br /><br />Someday soon sanity is not going to prevail and I’m going to get myself in trouble.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-16541736094147103562009-03-13T13:09:00.000-07:002009-03-13T13:11:26.798-07:00Seven Reasons Why Today Sucked1. I woke up really early to drive a friend to the airport before work. Before leaving, I printed out some worksheets and my lesson plans for today, since I am out of ink at school. I forgot the worksheets at home.<br /><br />2. Realized I had forgotten worksheets at home when I arrived at school an hour after leaving my house. Drove home to get them. When I got home, I remembered to take out the recycling. But then I forgot the worksheets at home for a second time.<br /><br />3. Got to school and made this realization. Shook the ink cartridge and got the last dregs of ink out of it. Printed out my worksheet and saw that I had only 9% of my battery power left on my laptop. Went to get my laptop charger from my bag and realized I had left it at home.<br /><br />4. During my planning period, I went home (again) to get the charger. Also went to CVS to get ink. Got a parking ticket.<br /><br />5. Lunch period. As usual I have about 10 kids in my classroom hanging out because they don’t want to go to the cafeteria. Two boys get in a fight, and I see boys punching each other for the first time at school (also, maybe in my life?) I break it up and get knocked down in the process. <br /><br />6. Another crappy thing happens during 6th period that I can’t write about because it would be TMI, even for an anonymous blog.<br /><br />7. At the end of the day I’m called down to the office. I had forgotten to go to my pre-observation meeting.<br /><br />So yeah, today sucked. I drove home completely ready to get in an accident. I mean, the day isn’t over. There’s plenty of time for this to be an eight or nine reasons why today sucked post.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-21407426092742643722009-03-12T17:10:00.000-07:002009-03-12T17:20:40.637-07:00Quality ControlPlease check out the newest post at the <a href="http://bmorenotless.blogspot.com/2009/03/quality-control.html">Challenge to Care</a> blog. A friend of mine is very, very angry about her situation at Mervo and has expressed that better than I can summarize. She doesn't pull any punches.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-64111270042081419212009-03-09T11:28:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:31:13.304-07:00Cell Phone ResultsSara over at Inside Ed just wrote about <a href="http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/education/blog/2009/03/baltimore_schools_students_tex.html">students texting in class</a>, so I figured I should tell you all the results of my <a href="http://thesmallesttwine.blogspot.com/2009/03/using-cell-phones-to-my-advantage.html">texting experiment</a>. In a word: meh.<br /><br />Results varied by class. First period was not so into texting their answers. This makes sense since a lot of the students don’t have phones (so why would it be fun?) A few kids seemed into it and asked to do it again, but if not everyone can participate, it’s not worth doing.<br /><br />In fifth period I had more student interest. Unfortunately, I was almost foiled by a girl who first tried to claim that as soon as they took out their phones I was going to confiscate them (really? Am I that evil?) When that was unsuccessful, she told everyone that I was trying to get their phone numbers (to do what with? Prank call?)<br /><br />It was pretty cool that as soon as a student voted for an answer choice the bar graph adjusted to show their vote. But, the kids were too into the texting, and not enough into the math part. It ended up being a huge distraction, and pretty much just took up too much time. <br /><br />When we use technology in the classroom it can’t just be for the sake of using technology (which is what this was). Instead, I have to make sure that either students are learning how to learn technology or the technology actually enhances the lesson in some way. The texting experiment probably took away from the lesson.<br /><br />One unexpected result was that cell phone usage in class actually DECREASED. When we were done texting, I told them that they’d met their cell phone in the class quota for the day, and that they needed to be put away. And they were.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-20748797660556080592009-02-12T18:53:00.000-08:002009-02-13T07:24:28.293-08:00Rigorous Classes and Blob's Park - These subjects are not related.This Tuesday I missed school to attend the College Board Middle States Regional Forum. It was pretty nice outside so I decided to walk from Fells Point to the Renaissance Hotel, which made me wish that I could walk to work every day. The morning workshop/lecture was called "Rigor without Rigor Mortis," and the speaker made some pretty good points about making classes more rigorous (which is one of the education world's favorite words of the moment). The big thing that she talked about was providing support when you amp up how challenging your courses are.<br /><br />What she didn't talk about -- which is my biggest problem, is motivating students to take advantage of the support.<br /><br />Case in point: On Monday my geometry students took a quiz. Only 10 students achieved more than an 80%. Bad. So I reviewed the answers to the quiz on Wednesday and I am offering a "retake" of the quiz tomorrow during lunch. I told students that I would be available every day during lunch and after school to answer any questions. When I asked students how many students would come to these sessions, about 2/3 of the class's hands shot up. And how many students have actually shown up for help?<br /><br />Zero.<br /><br />Seriously.<br /><br />I talked to my fifth period class today about aspiration vs. perspiration. They all aspire to do well, but so few of them are actually willing to put in the effort to achieve their goals. It seemed like students were listening (really! I swear!) But still, no one showed up after school. We'll see how many show up to retake the quiz tomorrow. I have high hopes, though I know I shouldn't.<br /><br /><br />In other recent news, a few weeks ago I had a great time at a polka/beer hall in Jessup. You can read all about Blob's Park (I'm not even kidding, that is actually the name of the place) <a href="http://foodandwineblog.com/2009/02/12/blobs-park-a-german-beer-and-polka-hall-in-maryland/">here</a> at my friend's totally cool food and wine blog. The best part of Blob's Park (seriously, that name is so weird) is that elderly gentlemen ask the ladies to dance. I danced with two such gentlemen and had a great time. So all you Baltimorons should check it out.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-92045836052639633172009-01-29T17:05:00.000-08:002009-01-29T17:29:43.146-08:00Urban Reform + The Office = AwesomeMy first year of teaching was a study in classroom management, culture shock, becoming comfortable in an authoritative role, and the act of desperately throwing things at the proverbial wall to see if they stuck. Certainly, during the first half of the year, my day-to-day focus was survival.<br /><br />In my second year, my focus has been the curriculum of my new AP Stats class, as well as improving (greatly, I hope) upon my skills as a geometry teacher. While I cannot say that my classroom management skills are perfect, “controlling” my classes is no longer something that I think about during every waking moment – or often at all. I no longer feel the need to vent for hours to my boyfriend, my parents, or, let’s face it, anyone who would even <span style="font-style: italic;">pretend</span> to listen, about the stresses of my day.<br /><br />I’ve even branched out beyond my classroom – thinking a lot about the math department as a whole – successfully pushing to change Geometry and Algebra II to full year, rather than semester long classes, and spending a lot of time brainstorming ways to improve my school’s new AP program.<br /><br />Up to now though, my department has really been the extent of my educational thoughts. Of course, I read the Baltimore Sun and the NYTimes and <a href="www.detentionslip.org">Detention Slip </a>(ahem), for updates about education as a whole, and I greatly enjoy reading <a href="http://bmoreteach.blogspot.com/2009/01/martin-omalley-dr-alonso-and-budget-for.html">other</a> <a href="http://survivingthesystem.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter.html">blogger’s</a> <a href="http://baltimorediary.typepad.com/baltimore_diary/2009/01/call-to-action-and-a-little-more.html">input</a> about major issues going on in Baltimore. But, for the most part, I’ve never felt informed enough about these issues to express my own opinions.<br /><br />Which is part of the reason why I am so, so glad to be taking an urban school reform course this semester. Now I'll get to go all Hermione Granger on everyone and tell you all what is RIGHT! <br /><br />I think I may have just officially announced what a nerd I am -- full disclosure: I love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, the Dune novels, His Dark Materials, regularly wear a <a href="http://www.snorgtees.com/piberational-p-564.html">math t-shirt</a>, <a href="http://www.bustedtees.com/prose">Shakespeare t-shirt</a>, and <a href="http://www.bustedtees.com/vivalaevolucion">evolution t-shirt</a>, majored in chemistry, play kakuro fairly obsessively, and calculate how to get more pizza at Iggie's when on a date (split the 14 inch pizza rather than getting individual 8 incher. This is not to be more romantic but rather to <span style="font-style: italic;">eat more delicious pizza</span>. Also, order the Alice).<br /><br />Now, enough about nerdiness. Let's get back to the important topic of Urban Reform. I am very excited that not only will I be learning about reform in urban schools, I will also get to blog about it -- and not just here! I’m sure a lot of you already know about <a href="http://bmorenotless.blogspot.com/">The Challenge to Care in Charm City</a> blog, and will be happy to know that it’s starting up again for the spring semester. I think the first post is supposed to be up next Monday.<br /><br />So, Thursday is shaping up to be my favorite day of the week this spring. My Urban Reform class is on Thursday nights and so is The Office. Enough said.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-9308038946159598672008-12-23T09:00:00.001-08:002008-12-23T10:18:58.129-08:00Two days before Christmas complainingI got to school late today (well, late for me, not actually late) because I was exhausted from staying up late making a packet for my AP students to complete over the break. Don't worry, it's not that bad -- and it's all review for the midterm. I'm not THAT evil. <br /><br />As soon as I got to school I tried to print out the packet. My printer was working fine and then, suddenly, in the middle of the last page, it stopped working. And then a cockroach crawled out of my printer. Please let me repeat. A COCKROACH CRAWLED OUT OF MY PRINTER.<br /><br />Then it crawled back in. I had a student kill it -- but he was unsuccessful in getting the thing back OUT of my printer. So I have a dead cockroach in my printer. Eh, at least it works.<br /><br />Then, I went downstairs to make copies of said winter break packet only to find that someone had jammed the copier and then just left it like that (bastard). At this point I have about 8 minutes until first period. I unjammed the copier, made my copies in record time, and then sprinted back up to my classroom. Good thing I had sneakers on.<br /><br />And then only 3 students showed up to 1st period -- there are 33 on roll.<br /><br />Six students (out of nine) showed up to AP Stats.<br /><br />Four out of 33 students showed up to 5th period.<br /><br />So I saw 13 students today. The geometry classes were a complete waste -- kids just did make up work or worked on an activity from the show Numb3rs. At least Stats was successful -- I sold the kids on doing the packet and they wanted to get right to work on it.<br /><br />I'll leave here today at exactly 3:05, run home to pack, and then a long drive to Massachusetts. If we hadn't had "school" today, I'd be home by now.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-1748774804462298872008-11-28T10:05:00.000-08:002008-11-28T10:14:14.461-08:00Thanksgiving "break"I would like to jump on the complaining-about-not-having-the-day-before-Thanksgiving-off train. I wrote three office referrals on Wednesday because the kids were all kinds of wound up about the impending holiday. I left work at exactly 3:10, ran home to pack and left Baltimore at about 4:45. I arrived at the Cape (Cod, that is) at about 3 am. I am exhausted. I need to do some major lesson planning for the coming weeks. The first part of my Hopkins portfolio is due on Monday (resume, professional goals, educational philosophy). <br /><br />BUT, Monday is also the day that I can upgrade to an iPhone. So, it's all good.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-67046801957673849112008-10-31T15:12:00.000-07:002008-10-31T15:17:43.081-07:00In case you were wondering...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ocwiX2q-cPg/SQuDIrdEHaI/AAAAAAAAAC4/XH7QxAtonUo/s1600-h/my+foot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 254px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ocwiX2q-cPg/SQuDIrdEHaI/AAAAAAAAAC4/XH7QxAtonUo/s320/my+foot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263444774639377826" border="0" /></a><br />This, my friends, is what happens when a student gets SO excited that he knows the answer to a question (specifically, a question whose correct answer will earn him a mini Snickers bar) that he jumps out of his chair and knocks over his desk onto your foot.<br /><br />Just in case you were wondering.<br /><br /><br />P.S. X-Rays show that my foot is not broken.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-12731711253194575732008-10-22T15:21:00.001-07:002008-10-22T15:21:51.542-07:00Why technology sucks (or maybe it's just me...)Some days are disasters. Today was one of those days. <br /><br />Last night I spent a few hours creating a game of Jeopardy on powerpoint, to be shown via my LCD projector. I made said game on my macbook (this mention of my computer is important, I promise -- I am not Kanye West blogging about typing away on my Mac Air). <br /><br />At school, I realized that I didn’t have the adaptor cord that connects my Mac to the LCD projector. In fact, I have no idea where it is and haven’t seen it all year. That’s fine – I also have a regular old PC laptop (thanks Baltimore City), which connects to the projector. So I emailed the powerpoint to myself and was ready to go. Ha. I wish it was that easy.<br /><br />All the figures and pictures that I had put in the powerpoint wouldn’t show up – instead, they showed some message about Quicktime and a decompressor. A quick Google search (I did a google) told me that even if I downloaded those things the pictures still wouldn’t show up. GREAT. At this point it was about 8:08 am. First period starts at 8:15 am.<br /><br />I ended up taking screen shots of EVERY SLIDE (which DO translate from Mac to PC). But that took a while, and I did it while reviewing the review packet that students had done for homework (watch me teach! Watch me juggle ten things at once!) While I’m reviewing the packet and fixing Jeopardy, one of the assistant principal walks in, apparently to make sure that I’ve made sure that students are in uniform -- which I am diligent about (to the point that students really complain about how crazy I am) EVERY DAY except, of course, today – because I’m teaching and fixing my computer AT THE SAME TIME.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-26220228094937263062008-09-20T08:07:00.000-07:002008-09-20T08:08:42.518-07:00Real life students!My geometry students are performing phenomenally well. As I look around after I’ve assigned a problem, I see a real classroom – almost every child working hard on getting the answer – asking each other how they got their answers, and then listening alertly as I go over the problem, or even better, listening alertly and politely as another student goes to the board and reviews the problem.<br /><br />Last year, I cried after I graded the first unit test. The test was <span style="font-style: italic;">easy</span> and yet, so many students failed it. This year, the test was significantly more difficult – with algebra problems that the students had to set up and solve – and covered more content. And yet, only 5 students, out of the 31 who took it, failed. And those students have very spotty attendance. In my first period class, five students earned a 99%.<br /><br />There are a number of things that are different this year – I have a year of teaching (and classroom management!) under my belt, we’re on a semester schedule, so I have the kids for 60 minutes every day instead of 80 minutes every other day, I’m giving them partially filled in Cornell notes – which include the geometry figures already on the page so we don’t waste time drawing them, I’m assigning homework every night, I have a system for passing out/turning in papers that saves time, and I’m teaching study skills (like the Cornell notes and flashcards). But it’s definitely not just me and my amazing teaching skills (though I’d love to take all the credit).<br /><br />Our students just seem more like students this year. They are doing their homework (for the most part) and they are really engaged and interested in doing well. I have had kids at coach class during lunch and after school <span style="font-style: italic;">every day</span>. Attendance is much better (although 1st period continues to be a problem). They are studying for their quizzes and tests. When we played Geometry Jeopardy, they told me that the questions that I made up were too easy and that I had to make them harder next time.<br /><br />I’ve raised my expectations and the students are not only rising to meet them, they’re asking me to raise them even more. Damn, maybe the first test will make me cry this year too – but I’ll take that kind of crying.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194039222075425274.post-87081007551267846352008-09-12T13:37:00.000-07:002008-09-12T13:48:52.845-07:00Crazy DayToday was not a usual day at school. At the end of 2nd period, there was a "fire drill" announcement. Turns out it wasn't actually a fire drill -- it was a gas leak in the building. We stood outside with the kids for a little more than hour (all during my planning period -- I really have the worst luck!), then the kids went to lunch, and then school resumed as usual.<br /><br />I was expecting my kids to be totally off the wall when they came to 5th period. Instead, we got right down to work, and even the kid who came in saying "I ain't doing any work today," later told me "I changed my mind" and handed in a perfect worksheet. I was impressed. In fact, I'd say that my kids worked even <span style="font-style: italic;">better </span>today than usual -- my 5th period tends to be a little crazy, in part because it is right after lunch.<br /><br />I tried something new today, and I was really happy with how it worked. I wanted my students to review finding missing angles, so I created three worksheets, each harder than the last one (I think this is called a "tiered" assignment -- but whatever). I told the kids that when they finished the first worksheet, they had to bring it to me at my desk, I would check it, and if everything was right they would get a 100 and then move on to the next worksheet. If they had mistakes they had to fix them to earn the 100.<br /><br />The kids were really into it, and they wanted to get at least two 100's for the day (no one got the third possible 100 -- the last worksheet was very difficult -- and it kept those upper level kids really engaged). I think all but one student got at least one 100, so I was really happy with that.<br /><br />Also, I picked up something from Artscape this summer that I think helped the process. There was a booth with a trash can and a recycling can in front of it that had a bunch of young men in suits standing around it. Every time a passerby correctly recycled something, the guys would start cheering like crazy. We stood there for a while, waiting for a friend to meet us, so I got to see this happen a bunch of times -- and the guys' enthusiasm never faded.<br /><br />So every time a student handed me a worksheet that earned a 100% -- I would yell (I mean, really yell) "WE GOT A 100!!! WOOOOOO!!!" I think the kids thought it was fun -- and they are now sure that I'm insane.Jackie Secorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08247487724305376042noreply@blogger.com2