Teaching in the Twenty-First Century

Those who read, or check, here often have noticed an absence of posts. I apologize, but the summer proved more cumbersome than I would have liked. I started off the summer taking a face-to-face/online course in using the Internet and UbD in teaching (8 weeks). I also began my last Proseminar in my Ed.D. program with two whole chapters of my study due last week (16 weeks). I had the daughter switch to contend with (ex-husband). And, I was planning for two new courses, attended a differentiation conference, and the AP Institute.

The planning has paid off, as the beginning of the year has been good, albeit a bit rocky. One of the new courses, AP US History, is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I knew the content coverage would be more extensive and preparation would be a time consuming task–hence the summer planning time. What I had not fully considered and planned for was the student response to a new way of doing things. Keep in mind–the AP program is new this year, with only AP Gov’t, Spanish and Calc being offered last year–asll to seniors. My students were culled from the Sophmore Honors English courses. They have passed the state graduation exams (students begin taking this their sophmore year and have five chances!). They are good students, but homework–nightly, demanding homework–is unknown to them, even as Honors students.

In fact, on day two–I had several students profess their Honors courses had never been this rigorous! This is a completely different post waiting to be written–Honors Teachers Who Aren’t Really Teaching Honors. I digress. Anyway, so, the students, who were given the syllabus, the expectations, and the weeks homework on day one were working, but stressing. Some may call me heartless and mean. That’s ok. But, when I set the bar high–I do so from DAY ONE. I have learned, with my population of students, if I start easy, I cannot increase the intensity, they will not raise themselves when they were allowed to start below. So, day one–I gave the assignments for the entire week (I do this for all classes) and they went home to do day one homework.

As expected, they came back flabbergasted and unsure of themselves. We had our first quiz (again, heartless and mean, I know!). They struggled, they argued, we talked. From day one I told them it would be hard, it would be long, and they would want to kill me by December (the other struggle they were having was the fact they would have ME as their teacher from AUG 14 through MAY 25, when on block they only have teachers for one semester). I have talked everyday this week about the struggle and my assistance–how to get it, how to ask for it, when to ask for it, and what to do if they really did want to yell and scream at them for making their lives miserable. Honest to God, I have opened my life to them in an effort to help them succeed. I think most of them are now committed to the challenge. We keep talking about the benefits and motivation for taking such a hard course, especially when all their friends are off talking about all the fun they have because their homework is minimal or nonexistent.

Struggles abound, but we will work through them. The only downside to this first week, was when I was chastised by my AP for being to hard on them so soon. He meant well–we want the program to work and to grow and he was concerned more would be begging to drop (we had lost three so far, but I had also gained one, so…). Again, I know my students and I knew I would have to hit them hard and fast, so that when a break came, they would welcome it but not take advantage of it. I, for one, suggested not allowing anyone else out of the class, but the AP and counselors are easily convinced by parents it would be a detriment. So, today–day three–I am down 5 and up 1. Not too bad, considering the AP World last year was at 16 and down to 9 in the first week AND we aren’t offering it this year!

So, the homework is on, but we are learning in this journey. Already, the metacognitive discussions these kids have had in class are offering chances at learning new and better strategies. They really have never been asked to consider HOW they learn. This is something I am going to exploit and explore constantly as the year goes on. Honestly, today, hearing others voice their struggles and how they overcame the struggle convinced one to stay in the course for the long haul.

I am also working on convincing prior students, who never took the AP course, but the regular course (my bar is ALWAYS high!) to come back and discuss how college life is now. I have had several thank me for the work and strategies gained and one who wishes he would have listened to my requests more as a student, because by golly, when Ms. Q said “the colleges don’t allow plagiarism and really expect you to read the textbook ON YOUR OWN”, she was right! This could prove to be a further motivator.

So, as of day three, things to keep:

1. Expectations–my bar is high and remains high for all I teach-AP or reg ed
2. Classroom organization plan–working well–I think I have it refined to my liking now (but I am sure, since I wrote this out loud, I will go in tomorrow and it will fall apart!)
3. Getting to know their names–I considered name tags (remember all the conferences/meetings we attend!) but a friend suggested a more high school appropriate method–table tent names (5X8 index cards folded and permanent marker)–today I know all but a handful of names and faces!

Things to rethink–

1. Not doing a summer assignment–the school strongly opposed this, but I must lobby for it! It will give me a better idea of who needs what help immediately.
2. Student Choice–while I still believe all students could succeed in an AP course, it must be voluntary to a point. Meet with kids in spring, maybe do a mini one day workshop–actually I received an idea from a listserve member about holding a before school weeklong workshop–teaching notetaking, reading, getting a jumpstart on content. But it could give students a better idea and could weed out those who really didn’t want to do it! Not sure if possible.

Stay tuned for future stories from the AP experiment!