Tuesday, November 18, 2008
So This is Teaching
We're doing goal-setting in class, but it's hard for a kid to set goals when he feels like his life is falling apart. I saw it in his posture and in his face today and pulled him into my office. I took his worksheet from him, and instead gave him a long hug and a shoulder to cry on. What to do next, though? He knows what he needs to change, but is in no mental state to change it. Seems like this is often the case...just when you need your wits about you, emotion erases all logic. And some of it is out of his hands. I'll try to help, but he needs so much more than I can give him. All I can do is tell him that his life will get better, but it's going to suck for a while, and I'll do whatever I can.
This has been happening a lot lately, situations in which I suddenly feel like my role as teacher has suddenly morphed into part therapist, part friend, part coach, part mother, part grandmother, and part devil's advocate. And I feel pretty unprepared to do any of it. I love these kids, though. Sometimes it's hugs and sometimes it's tough love they need. I just hope I'm doing the right things.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Unutterable
This year I have a little clique of students who banter through the entire class period. "Your mom" this, "That's what she said" as a response to various statements, "I'll float your <div>", and so on. And of course getting yelled at (or glared at) by me for various profanities, degenerating into things that sound like profanities, ("thuck", for example).
Finally it was affecting some other students' abilities to work. So how to stop the verbal pollution? I can't dock them points ("so go ahead, flunk me"...these kids, mostly, are not ones who care about grades or in some cases even about passing). I can't send them to the office (our administrators are overloaded already, and often not in the office or even in the building). Therefore, I requested that they vent in non-verbal ways. Vent in the waitlist (a web app I wrote last year that students use to record that they need help, when it gets really busy). Vent to each other by e-mail. And I did say that I would not penalize them for any of this as long as it was written, not spoken. Yes. I. Did.
Result: as students hand in work, (very good work, actually), it comes in e-mails with subjects such as "HOLY SHIT my personal page is a SEXY BEAST!" That's the tamest one, the only one I feel I can print in this blog. And the stuff that's rolling through the waitlist? Suffice to say that I'm getting a good education in today's teenage profanity and slang. Yowza. This is not what I remember from when I was in high school.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Teaching Moment
A student confessed that he'd been copying other students' work today. I kind of knew this, but didn't know to what extent. Apparently he's been copying almost everything, and now he's depressed because he feels like he's so behind. He's a smart kid, and could be really good at this stuff, but just made the choice early on to coast. Today I sat with him and looked for some tutorials online to catch him up.
I will sometimes call kids out for cheating, when I am sure of it and when I think it will provoke a good discussion. Sometimes it exposes bad teaching on my part, and that's useful (though sometimes initially hard to take, depending on how much sleep I've had). In this case, I knew that he would eventually get to the point in the curriculum where he would realize he could no longer cheat, and that realization would be a more effective motivator than me badgering him to do his own work. That's happened. He'll have a rough time now, for a little while, and that will be hard for both of us. I think it's what he needs, though. And a good chance for me to practice being gentle and firm at the same time.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Comments on the New Ride
Last night I took the Xtracycle off of the Mongoose, stripped the brakes, wheel, and derailleur off of the Trek, ran new cables, and installed the Xtra on the Trek. It went quickly, especially because I now have a new repair stand that I built for $25. Then I picked up the rear wheel...and discovered that it was too big to fit into the Xtra's dropouts without bumping the front stay of the Xtra. Disbelief. I read the size marked on the tire: 700c x 35c. I read the size marked on the tire of the Mongoose: 700c x 38c. Do I not understand wheel sizes? How can the Trek's be bigger than the Mongoose's? Anyway. It was late, so I gave up and went to bed.
This morning I got the back wheel on by taking off the derailleur. In the future, I can probably get the wheel on and off if it's fully deflated. In any case, now I have a new ride! Comments:
- It is so, so, so much nicer to run a new derailleur cable through something that is not a grip shift.
- The Trek wheel is big enough that even my super adjustable V-brake rubs on the top of the tire when I pull the brake. Hmmm. Time to price a disc brake for the rear?
- The Trek geometry is much more comfortable than the Mongoose. Yay.
- The Trek's tires are only 3 years old, unlike the slightly crispy 13-year-old tires on the Mongoose.
- Unfortunately the cool reflective sidewall on the Trek's rear wheel is mostly hidden by the Xtra's side bags. Dang.
- I need some boots for wet weather riding (I thought tonight as I pedaled home after swing dancing at the North Star). Is it too ridiculous to put my calf-length stiletto boots into service as wet weather biking gear? I'm thinking I will try it. But it may require me to sew myself some superfabulous rain pants to go with the boots. It's a slippery slope.
