...subject to change

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So I am loving my second year.  It is SOOOO much easier than the beginning of last year.  This blog is essentially a heads-up for people who teach ninth graders.

The hardest part of this year has been STARTING OVER.

If you teach (or have taught) ninth graders, there is a drastic improvement between the beginning of the year and the end.  Besides developing some sense basic maturity and confidence, by the end of the year students are able to do things on their own.  They understand your routines, grading system, etc. and have learned how to live in your classroom.  It's great at the end of the first year.

Then reality sets in the next August.  A whole new group of knuckleheads.  Ninth graders are clueless (I'm sure you've discovered this).  The hardest part, then, is going through it all again.  Teaching them how to act towards each other.  Teaching them how to look up page numbers.  Teaching them that fighting is dumb.  Teaching them that what they found in the book really is the correct answer and they don't need to call on my to check it every three seconds.

It's exhausting, but I know that they will get better.  The satisfaction of seeing them grow up is what makes it worth it.  The difference between the beginning and end of ninth grade is greater than any other high school year.  It's nice being a part of that.

Go Irish!

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I can’t say that I’m the most organized person.  I try to be.  Believe it or not, I’m actually a neat freak who just can’t keep up.  Here are my tips and tricks:

• Buy a plastic organizer with one section for each class so that you can keep your papers organized until they are handed back

• Keep binders.  Just as you may make your students keep binders with worksheets and notes, do the same with your worksheets/notes/answer keys/tests/lesson plans.  Keeping this stuff organized will make your next semesters much easier (especially if you teach a one semester class).

• Eliminate the clutter.  Have students clean up in your last period.  Have certain students clean up paper and others put books, etc. away.  Straighten desks when you leave for the day so that it doesn’t look disorganized when you come in the next day.  It’s a small thing, but it’ll make you look forward to the day rather than dread it.

And finally…

• THROW STUFF AWAY!  If you haven’t gotten around to grading something from the second week by now, the students will have forgotten.  Just toss it.  I can promise you they won’t know the difference.  It’ll make you feel better too.

That’s it.

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The question: What do you want to do better as a teacher this semester?

The answer: Everything.

I think that everything can be improved upon.  I began seeing that last year.  That is the benefit of teaching a one semester class, you can improve beginning in January.  Additionally, I changed things in my classroom as late as spring break--and it worked!

This year I have focused on the small things which tend to make the classroom distracting or things that cut into instructional time.  Tardies are no longer an issue in my classroom.  A combination of longer class change times and a clear and unchanging policy have enabled me to start class efficiently.  Solid expectations which I hope to maintain have set the tone for my discipline policies.

In choosing one thing that I am worried about, it would have to be making sure students don't fall through the cracks early in the semester.  First semester last year I had plenty of students fail.  Yes, part of it was because ninth graders are idiots, but it was also because I was getting my legs under me and just couldn't identify the struggling students (especially when I didn't know any of them).

This year, I hope to minimize the number of students that struggle in their first semester.  Part of that goal relates to expectations such as those outlined above.  The other part of that has to be an active effort on my part to engage students and work with those who struggle.  Since I know what is going on in the school and in my classroom, I hope to use my energy to achieve this goal.  Here's to hoping that this goal is as successful as my tardy policy...

By the way, Notre Dame football begins SATURDAY.

teach like a champion today

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Simply put, the first week of school was a breeze compared to last year.  Generally, I’m a very flexible teacher so assemblies and holding my homeroom don’t really bother me.  This year I just made sure that I filled the time…ALL OF IT.

We spent time playing the “I’m going to learn all of your names before the end of class” game.  We spent HOURS on rules and procedures.  And I meant business.  I laid out every procedure in great detail and explained everything that they had questions about.  I didn’t let things slide like last year.  Oh, and I gave them their rules and procedures quiz which I have yet to grade.

Compared to last year?  I am still drowning in papers.  I just can’t seem to get the motivation to grade papers this year.  I’m trying my best though.  Overall, though, I do not have the feeling of being overwhelmed.  I am on top of discipline, writing assignments, my subject matter, and I have worksheets prepared for days ahead of now.  If I could only grade some papers…

The only disheartening thing has been the decline of technology in my room.  How is this possible in a room without so much as an overhead projector?  Well, my white boards were replaced (most of them, at least) with new boards that don’t erase.  One board has yet to be replaced.  So instead of two good boards that had marks on them, I’m stuck with one board that doesn’t erase.  Bummer.

Other than the common nuisances of an underfunded school, however, my classes have been going extremely well.  Most of the freshmen are pretty good this year compared to last.  With my classroom changes, it has the makings of a solid academic year.

Obligatory YouTube video:

Florida student Damon Weaver interviews President Obama at the White House.

Friday's the day... Year two, here I come :)

We all know this fact: professional development is a waste of time.  How much?  The following are actual quotes (in order) from our consultant.  They are verbatim and I wrote them down (see bottom).  I do have selective hearing, but she said all of this.

• “The mind is a beautiful thing.”
• “I had a request to do a St. Jude child.”
• “I am not a computer guru.”
• “Y’all, you do not recover from an aneurysm.  Well, sometimes you do.”
• “She said ‘I am a Catholic also.’” [When discussing “connections” with the aneurysm girl.]
• “It’s kind of a ‘think about it’ thing, y’all.”
• “How do I know?  Because I put it in there!” [That’s what she said.  Really.]
• “We have been islands in teaching.”
• “That’s why they came up with these four levels…Y’all, I’m gonna tell ya, they are smart…I think I’ve made my point.” [It was all in one long thought.]
  
• “That’s where—it’s your part—for us to help and do it.”
• “I’ve worked with Mr. Smith.  Sometimes, he does, he challenges you…It’s a thinkin’ process and he was doin’ the thinkin’, y’all.”
• “OH MY GRACIOUS!” [Repeatedly.]
• “They’ve graphed it out.” [This doesn’t look as funny as it sounded.]
• “It’s loose, but it’s kinda doin’ it.” [Again, that's what she said.]
• “You are super-important.”
• “Do words.” [That was a stand-alone sentence.]
• “Something you need can click a memory.”

So what did I do while she waxed philosophic about such things as indenting paragraphs or not skipping lines between paragraphs?  I doodled, of course...

what i did at school today

(If you read this there may be a video bonus at the end.)

A lot things on my mind about summer school so far:

• We don't have enough students, but that isn't the end of the world.  We have one student in Mississippi Studies which is definitely better than none.  One student is not ideal, but I turned out okay, right?  ....Right?

• I am enjoying the schedule of a second-year.  I haven’t taken advantage of using TWO planning periods, but it has given me time to observe other teachers and give feedback.

• Molly has turned me into a feedback crazy person.  I know I can’t write nearly as much as she did on my evals, but I’ve come close a couple of times.

• I am impressed by the first years so far.  Everyone I have seen so far has great potential.   A big shout-out to my first years, John and Ashton, who have weathered the first week in great style.  Also, props to Trevor for a very nice lesson today.
  

• I am pretty happy with my three lessons.  The first two I had never taught before, but that will change this fall.  My first formal eval went well.  I feel like I have improved which is a good thing.  Still a long ways to go though…
  

• I can’t wait for volleyball today.

And now for your reward:

This may help to explain why Sealand and I say strange things when we are messing with any golf clubs.  The following clip is from Caddyshack.  If you haven't seen it, then stop lesson planning and go rent it.

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I’m going to keep this blog topic short and sweet—and not because it is due in less than an hour, but just because I expect only Molly, Ben, and maybe some interns to read it.

Things I want to work on this summer:

1.    I would like to get better at sets.  These really disappeared at times with the occasional exception (e.g., discussion over drug turf wars).

2.    Less talking, more work for students.  Now that I have taught my subjects twice and know my lessons pretty well, I need to make them more succinct.  I noticed that second semester I became more to-the-point.  I hope that trend continues.

3.    Consistency.  I think I will be working on this for a looooooong time.

Something I do well:

1.    Other than party like it’s 1999?  I’d like to think that I can break things down for students.  This doesn’t happen all the time and I was actually not sure if I was doing a good job of this until I had students review my class.  Generally, they thought I broke topics down so they could get it (even though everyone agrees “Mr. Lasseter you TOO MUCH”).

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You can find my school district project HERE.

I can't say that this project is perfect.  I can't say it is very original.  I can't say that there is anything that is mindblowingly creative.  Sorry.

My school district was modeled off of what I know and what I have seen in North Panola.  I tried to address problems that I see here in Mississippi and to incorporate things that worked when I was in school.  What I really thought long and hard about was improving community relations and getting information about the school district to parents in the county.  By being active in the community, support will grow.  My old high school had incredible community support it seemed which was boosted immensely by high school football.  If that's why people care, then I don't have a problem with it.  At least they are involved.

Also, I really had a hard time trying to find a way to spend that much money.  I kept raising teacher salaries to use up my funds.  I understand that, most likely, my school district would still have crazy problems.  To those people I say, "Do better then."