WEEK 18 - #26Acts

In the past week, there has been a movement gaining ground on Twitter and other social networking sites to have everyone do one random act of kindness for every victim of the Newtown shooting. I've decided that when I get back, I will have a competition between my classes to see which class can get to 26 acts first. There will be no prize and no extra credit given, just the joy of doing something nice for another person. We'll figure out how to write it in Spanish, then post it on the wall. Not only will the students learn new words (as well as the past tense "I" conjugation), it will also help to build a positive climate in the classroom and the school.

I encourage you all to also do 26 nice things for people!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Date	Start	End	Total Hours
12/16/2012	3:45 PM	5:45 PM	2
	7:15 PM	9:00 PM	1.75
	9:30 PM	10:30 PM	1
12/17/2012	8:15 AM	4:45 PM	8.5
12/18/2012	7:15 AM	5:30 PM	10.25
12/19/2012	7:30 AM	5:00 PM	9.5
	9:00 PM	10:30 PM	1.5
12/20/2012	7:30 AM	5:45 PM	10.25
12/21/2012	7:15 AM	3:45 PM	8.5
12/22/2012
Total			53.25

WEEK 17 - Code Red

Due to the tragedy in Newtown Connecticut this past Friday, I've decided that this week's post will be about Code Red drills.

For any of you older than...about...28-30 years old, you probably never had to do a Code Red drill while in school. Code Red was brought into schools as a safety measure shortly after the Columbine school shooting in 1999. During a Code Red drill, students are supposed to huddle in the safest area of the classroom (usually the corner furthest from the door or windows) while the teacher locks the door, pulls the shades, and turns off the lights. Then everyone is to stay as quiet and still as possible until the drill is over. The idea is that if a shooter doesn't see any movement in the classroom, he'll be more likely to assume the classroom is empty and move on.

For many classrooms, the Code Red practice that the Newtown teachers had prior to Friday paid off. One teacher huddled her students into the class bathroom and told them that the gunshots was actually hammering. Another gave her students coloring books to keep calm and occupied so they wouldn't make any noise. And of course there is the story of Victoria Soto, who hid her students in closets and cupboards before being gunned down herself. All of these teachers kept calm and led their students in what will probably be the most terrifying experience of their lives.

This year's freshmen were kindergarteners when I was a senior in high school. Likewise, this year's graduating class was in 3rd grade when I was in my last year of high school. The students of today don't remember a time when they didn't have Code Red drills, yet I have no memory of Code Red at PHS. I remember fire and tornado drills, but no Code Reds. In such a short time, we have gone from not even fathoming something like Columbine or Newtown to having a generation of kids who have constant reminders (5 drills per year) that gunmen in schools are a very real thing.

Forget the killer, remember the victims.

Charlotte Bacon 2/22/06

Daniel Barden 9/25/05

Rachel Davino 7/17/83

Olivia Engel 7/18/06

Josephine Gay 12/11/05

Ana Marquez-Greene 4/4/06

Dylan Hockley 3/8/06

Dawn Hocksprung 6/28/65

Madeleine Hsu 7/10/06

Catherine Hubbard 6/8/06

Chase Kowalski 10/31/05

Jesse Lewis 6/30/06

James Mattioli 3/22/06

Grace McDonnell 11/04/05

Anne Marie Murphy 7/25/60

Emilie Parker 5/12/06

Jack Pinto 5/6/06

Noah Pozner 11/20/06

Caroline Previdi 9/7/06

Jessica Rekos 5/10/06

Avielle Richman 10/17/06

Lauren Rousseau 6/82

Mary Sherlach 2/11/56

Victoria Soto 11/04/85

Benjamin Wheeler 9/12/06

Allison Wyatt 7/3/06

Nancy Lanza

Day	Date	Start	End	Total Hours
Sun	12/9/2012	7:15 PM	11:00 PM	3.75
M	12/10/2012	7:45 AM	4:30 PM	8.75
T	12/11/2012	7:45 AM	5:45 PM	10
W	12/12/2012	7:45 AM	5:45 PM	10
Th	12/13/2012	7:30 AM	7:30 PM	12
		8:30 PM	10:00 PM	1.5
F	12/14/2012	8:00 AM	3:45 PM	7.75
Sat	12/15/2012			0
	Total			53.75

WEEK 16 - Cell phones (and tests)

School has changed so much over the years. Not only are things like class sizes, standardized testing, and expectations different, but cheating has also evolved with the times. And cell phones have made cheating extremely easy. 

Ten years ago, when I was a senior in high school, only a very small handful of students had cell phones. Others had access to a cell phone, but it belonged to their parents. Nowadays, nearly every high school student has his or her own cell phone. And while most of the time the cell phones are used to communicate (via texting, not calling because that's such an antiquated way of communication) or play games, they are also used to cheat. 

How, you might ask? There are many different ways. First, there is the obvious texting somebody the answer during a test. Then there is the student that takes a bathroom pass and looks up the answer on their smartphone while out. 

If the student hasn't completed his homework, it's all too easy to text a buddy telling him to snap a picture of the homework and send it to him. I have caught students copying answers off of a picture of somebody else's homework.

I don't pretend to believe that I am aware of all of the different ways kids use their cell phones to cheat on hoemwork and tests, but I like to think that I have caught on to a few of these things and have put in place various policies that make it hard to cheat. First of all, no student is allowed to go to the bathroom during a test. Second, if I see a cell phone out during a test, I not only take the phone away, but I will also either give the student a grade reduction or make him/her take an alternate test. And finally, I make my homework worth sooooo little (shhh don't tell my students) that even if they copied from another person, it wouldn't matter since their true ability would show on test days. 

As a sidenote, I've also learned that when passing out a test, I have to personally hand each test to each student (as opposed to handing 6 tests to the first person in a row of 6 and having them pass them back) because I've had students grab a test, but it in their folders, then say that I didn't pass out enough tests. They will then have a copy of the test to show their friends who have class in later hours. 

My hours for week 16:

Day	Date	Start	End	Total Hours
Sun	12/2/2012	12:30 PM	2:30 PM	2
		4:30 PM	7:45 PM	3.25
		10:15 PM	11:45 AM	1.5
M	12/3/2012	7:45 AM	5:45 PM	10
T	12/4/2012	7:15 AM	5:45 PM	10.5
		9:00 PM	11:15 PM	2.25
W	12/5/2012	8:00 PM	5:30 PM	9.5
		8:15 PM	10:30 PM	2.25
Th	12/6/2012	7:15 AM	5:00 PM	9.75
		8:30 PM	10:15 PM	1.75
F	12/7/2012	7:45 AM	4:15 PM	8.5
		8:45 PM	10:30 PM	1.75
Sat	12/8/2012			0
	Total			63

WEEK 15 - Tardy in 1st hour

It's amazing how many students come late to 1st hour. Washburn starts school at 8:30, so it's not like it's an incredibly early start like some of the high schools in the area that start at 7:15. Yet, there's always a few students who just don't catch the bus on time and come anywhere from a minute late to missing 1st hour completely. Last year it wasn't really an issue, but this year, I always have 4-6 students who are late or miss class because they missed the bus. One day, 10 of my 29 students in 1st hour were not there by the time the bell rang. That's over 1/3 of the class. 

Sadly, the students who are consistently late are generally the students who need to be in class the most, and when you miss 20 minutes of class 2-3 times per week, it's inevitable that you'll fall behind. It's almost like for some students, they need to be very careful which class is scheduled in their 1st hour spot, because some kids keep on failing 1st hour, no matter what the class is. 

My hours for week 15:

Day	Date	Start	End	Total Hours
Sun	11/25/2012	9:00 PM	11:00 PM	2
M	11/26/2012	7:30 AM	6:00 PM	10.5
T	11/27/2012	7:45 AM	5:15 PM	9.5
W	11/28/2012	7:45 AM	6:45 PM	11
Th	11/29/2012	7:45 AM	4:00 PM	8.25
F	11/30/2012	7:45 AM	3:45 PM	8
		7:30 PM	9:45 PM	2.25
Sat	12/1/2012			0
	Total			51.5