Relationships – A Teacher's Life

The Power of Journaling

February 9, 2022 Laura

A Powerful Teaching Tool

Journaling is a powerful tool that any teacher can use in the classroom. When kids journal, I get to see their thought process, how they write, and where they are in terms of learning and deeper thinking. I also get to understand their thoughts on a particular topic which helps me understand them is individuals, not just another student in my class.

Is It Worth the Time?

When I first started using journals, I thought it would be a ton of extra work. It turns out that it is a ton of extra work, but it was worth it to me to read the journals and see where the kids were in terms of academic development and personal development. And, well, I got to know the kids better, especially those that fly under the radar. You know those kids. The ones who never speak in class. Never raise a hand. Never volunteer an answer. Make wide-eyed contact out of fear of being called upon. Journals allow these kids to establish a thought in their favorite voice – silence.

A Lesson for the Teacher

Reading journals, I learned that one of my students hated her parents so much that she didn’t even like to go by her birth name. I learned that one of my students had horrible spelling, but he still used the difficult words (correctly) anyway because he was still confident and intelligent. He knew what he meant; he just couldn’t correctly spell all of the words. I learned that many of my students complained about parents having too much control, but they secretly understood that their parents tried to help them make better decisions than they were capable of making for themselves, even if they weren’t willing to admit it to their parents’ faces. This knowledge gave me a chance to speak to students about their thoughts, dreams, and concerns.

Types of Journals

Writer’s Notebooks
Early Work journals
Exit Ticket journals
Entry Work
Learning Logs

How you use journals in your classroom is up to you. It doesn’t have to be done every day, but I highly recommend using journals as part of your curriculum. Yes, it does mean more work. And don’t do them if you don’t plan on reading them, absolutely do NOT give a free-write. The last thing you want to do is give a free-write in which a kid spills her soul on paper about how she hurts herself and is in mental and physical pain, but you ignored it because taking three minutes to read it ate into your free time.

You won’t regret using them as part of your routine. You’ll find that you get a lot more out of kids on paper than on open discussion in class.

How have you used journals in your classroom? Comment below.

Relationships

Why I Want Students to Like Me

February 9, 2022 Laura

Story Time

Let me tell you a little story before we get into this topic. Right after college graduation, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I knew I was going to teach, but I was so broke I couldn’t even pay the $50 to get my teaching certificate processed. I was working at a chain restaurant waiting tables when the principal of the school I did my student teaching in sat in my section. He asked which schools I applied to, and I told him that I hadn’t applied to any because I didn’t have my teaching certificate in hand. He smiled kindly at me and told me that it didn’t matter; the district would just call the department of education to verify that I was certified. By that point, however, school was about to start, and all the districts had already filled their positions.

He told me that he knew of a part-time position teaching social studies in the evenings at an alternative high school in his district. If I was interested in the position, he would put in a good word for me since the principal was his former assistant principal. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity although teaching English was what I was really hoping for down the road.

When I interviewed with the principal, he asked me a question I wasn’t expecting.

“Do you want your students to like you?”

I stammered and stumbled, my brain going a million miles an hour. How in the hell was I supposed to answer that? Being friends with students was wrong. But everyone wants to be liked. He smiled at me, and asked, “It’s a tricky question, isn’t it?” Then he gave me the best piece of advice I have ever received about kids. “The answer is yes. You want them to like you. It’s natural to want to be liked. But students who like you will work harder for you. They will come to you for questions. They will trust you as their teacher and their mentor.” And he was so incredibly right.

How This Has Worked for Me

Over the years, I have worked hard to get students to like me. I try to be honest and straightforward. It doesn’t work every year with every student, but it’s worth it when the kids do like me. They honestly tell me what happened with their homework. We are able to problem solve because they will come to me when they don’t understand something. They are young adults who are able to have frank conversations that we wouldn’t be able to have if they didn’t like me and trust me. No, we’re not friends; I’m a mentor with their best interests in mind.

Give it a try. You’ll find that kids respond to you more when they like you, not just because you’re the teacher, the authority figure, in the room. You’ll be able to develop a real connection. Maybe a couple years after graduation you can even become Facebook friends!

Please feel free to like this post and comment or ask questions.

Problem-Solving, Relationships, Rules of the Trade

My Students Don’t Turn in Homework

February 9, 2022 Laura

This is a tough one. After many years of teaching, I still don’t have a clear-cut answer for this. All I can do here is offer some suggestions. Each class and kid is different, so it is really hard to figure out the best way to get kids to do the daily stuff. However, basic professional requirements have to happen regardless of the other tactics that may differ from year to year.

PRACTICES YOU HAVE TO DO:

You have to have a conversation with the student as soon as you start noticing a pattern. I’m not talking about eight missing assignments later. No more than three. I might even have the conversation at two if I get the vibe that the student really dislikes the class or school, in general. It’s important to know why the student didn’t do the work. Is it done but in a locker? Is it at home? Does the student care about the grade? Is there something happening at home preventing the student from being able to complete school work? Is this happening in other classes?
You have to update grades online regularly. I am still working on this because I am slow to update. Updating once a month doesn’t tell the parent anything, and I’ve had my fair share of updating way too slowly. If you can, make it a habit to update no less than once week, even if it’s just one assignment. If you can’t get that assignment in the grade book, at least get the missing work in the grade book so parents see that right away. We have the option at my school to label it as missing or missing with a zero as a temporary grade. The zero really gets attention quickly.
You have to find a way to keep parents informed about what is happening in your classroom. Maybe this is a very basic homework blog. Some teachers use Google Classroom to upload documents so there is no excuse that it was forgotten on some cafeteria table. Some teachers send mass emails to parents when something big is going down. And I use the Remind App mainly for students, but the parents have the option to sign up to see the posts for the class. You might think that it’s too much hand-holding, but I prefer to think of it as covering my butt while keeping parents in the loop. You can’t follow each kid home to make sure they do their work, but their parents sure can. Let them decide how much hand-holding to do with their kids while using your information. Also, you may only opt to use one or two of these.

PRACTICES YOU MIGHT DO: (Not all of you are going to agree with these. Keep in mind that I’m just offering ideas.)

Have a late work policy in place that is approved by the administration and is clearly understood by parents and students. Sometimes it really depends on the school district. In one school district, I had a policy that allowed students to turn late work in within 45 minutes of school ending and receive no penalty. This meant that if a student left the homework in a locker, he or she could easily retrieve it after school, and they wouldn’t feel the desire to ask to get it during class. It also allowed me keep the work with the rest of class instead of separating it as a penalty reminder. If the student did not turn it in after school, he or she could turn it in during class the following day for a 10% reduction on the assignment. After this, however, I wouldn’t take it. Some school districts shy away from a policy like this. I worked in one district that allowed students to make up work that was two months overdue and no more than 10% off the grade. This frustrated me because it took away any incentive for the students to hold themselves accountable. It also made for horrible paperwork issues.
Make homework a small percentage of the grade. If homework in your classroom is really just practice for something much larger, there is something you need to ask yourself. Is it worth the hassle? Is assigning the homework really worth the time and worry that it’s causing you to plan it and grade it? If the answer is no, then don’t assign it. Evaluate all the homework you give and make sure that it’s absolutely necessary for students to complete in order to understand the final assessment. Or assign the homework and don’t panic when it’s not turned in because it’s a small percentage of the grade.
Assign some sort of homework detention. One school district I worked for encouraged homework detentions and created an 8th Hour, a study hall after school in the library where students with missing work were required to attend. A teacher was paid extra to do this hour-long study hall, and parents were informed that it was a school-wide practice. Other teachers assign detentions before or after school or during lunch.

You will find that you struggle to find middle ground in this area year after year. Some years, your late work policy is golden; other years, you find yourself changing it up because the students don’t respond to your policies. It’s frustrating, but you have to think of what works for your students at that time and what works for you.

Please feel free to like this post, comment, or ask questions.