What unanticipated problems did I encounter? How (if at all) did Ideal with/resolve them?
1 - Absences (*As noted in journal #5)
One day in my 6th hour class, 17 (out of 34) students were absent...another found 15 students absent in that same class. Dropouts, suspensions, skipping, illness, and so on are why this is more of a rule than an exception, unfortunately. Noting these extreme numbers on these two particular days, I decided to look back at the attendance for the two weeks prior. Every other day averaged in between 11-13 absences, with the best day having 10 absences. Perhaps I’m just complaining here, but I’ve noted that the flow of teaching has become very difficult. This is simply discouraging. I have to wrestle with how to intelligibly convey content in the midst of absent students. I want to teach and hold students accountable in such a way the grade book will have the ideal bell curve, but I often have to treat in class assignments as if they didn’t happen to let students pass. These omissions may be a way to remedy the grades and pass a student who is on the verge of failure, but it raises an ethical dilemma for me. I could further add that omitting an assignment won’t help students when they reach examinations and build on prior knowledge. Ergo, the realities of absences are causing me to rethink and adjust my strategies as a teacher. I'm left lamenting and trying to persevere; this was a lesson in having to endure in the face of dissappointment, if nothing else.
2 - Thanksgiving Break
I didn't realize how many students would be leaving early, both physically and mentally. I learned that I should back off of new content when a break is approaching, but I cannot pack it up early and quit on the students who remain. Anticipating breaks is no doubt a fine line that I need to learn how to walk.
3 - Pre-discussion Work on my behalf
The fluctuation between hours reminded me that students are at different cognitive and emotional levels...and that the hour of the day and the company they find themselves in will also affect their attention spans too. This calls for extra work on my behalf to cater to the personalities, tendencies, and context of each class I teach. I was absolutely blown away that a successful discussion can happen in 5th hour (perhaps the best lesson of the year) and then the next hour is one of the worst lessons all year. In retrospect, I missed a few opportunities to get control and give needed instruction.
What detours did I make from my original plans and why?
1 - Showing the whole documentary
As noted elsewhere, my mentor and I decided to veer off of the original plan and show the full documentary, "Hip-Hop, Beyond The Beats" by Byron Hurt. The engagement and reaction of students seemed to be unparalelled by any other thing that has happened in room 140 all year long.
Not only is the later the case, but the documentary provided a relevant and critical lens for the students to look at the topic in the text book, but also the topic that plays out in their lives through the music/culture that is so pervasive.
2 - Review day
If I'm honest, the original lesson was not taught with crisp and clear connections between the themes and the examples of those themes. I also had to deal with coming back from a holiday break, which would make the information less accessible in the minds of my students. I was giving a unique opportunity to actually address what I 'would have changed'. My mentor provided one of his worksheets that forced student to "do" something with the book and slides they were exposed to: the had to make the connections in a more structured setting, instead of the assumptions that I made at the outset of my planning.
