So this past Sunday, I graduated... again! Sort of...
I walked at the Tufts commencement two days ago to symbolize receiving my Masters Degree, despite the fact that I have two more independent study math classes to complete in the next six weeks. Eek! However, the good news is that my internship is officially over (as I am now officially substitute teaching - see previous post), and the spring semester is also officially over (I rocked my classes, by the way). I am sooo close to completing my degree, and then I will officially be a Massachusetts licensed high school math teacher. I am sooo stoked!!!
Because of this momentous occasion, my dear parents visited all the way from California. And the best part was that they visited me and my students at school. They shadowed me for an entire today, so they met the students in both of my math classes and my seminar. And it was awesome! The students were so excited to meet my parents, saying "Oh my god, Ms. Wallace! Are these your parents? You look just like your mom! Are they proud of you? Oh my god, your dad is just as corny." It was incredible. And I loved watching my parents interact with my students. Now they have a taste of the fabulous craziness I experience every day. As I always say, there's never a dull moment at BAA.
So thank you, Mom & Dad, for being so supportive throughout my FIVE years at Tufts, especially through my intense internship this year. I could not possibly ask for better parents. I love you.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Transitions
So... I am officially substitute teaching at Boston Arts Academy for the remainder of the year, as of the beginning of May. Not only did I get hired to work at this school for the 2010-2011 school year, but they also hired me to replace another math teacher on maternity for the remainder of the year. And she had her baby two weeks early! So surprise! Haha. Fortunately, I felt very prepared already, and I even got to visit her in the hospital with her eight-hour-old baby girl! So much happiness.
Anyhow, it was a smooth transition, despite the surprise timing. I was already familiar with my students, and I really appreciate BAA for being so supportive all year so as to make the transition so smooth. It was also surprising how comfortable I felt adjusting to taking on a full-time teaching schedule without the support of my mentor teacher. She and the other math teachers prepared me very well. I was really excited to finally be on my own in the classroom without having another teacher in the room. And now, 2-3 weeks later, it feels very normal. And I'm very pleased to say that I don't at all get tired of it. I still love coming to school every day and feigning energy at 8am. The kids motivate me, and I am so excited that I've been given the opportunity to stay at this school next year.
Unfortunately, I haven't officially gotten in my paperwork with BPS because Tufts has my transcript on hold because the semester just ended. But as soon as I get that in, I will be getting paid, which is sooo exciting! I can't wait to have an income! And I can't wait to spend my money this summer! Woo!
Anyhow, it was a smooth transition, despite the surprise timing. I was already familiar with my students, and I really appreciate BAA for being so supportive all year so as to make the transition so smooth. It was also surprising how comfortable I felt adjusting to taking on a full-time teaching schedule without the support of my mentor teacher. She and the other math teachers prepared me very well. I was really excited to finally be on my own in the classroom without having another teacher in the room. And now, 2-3 weeks later, it feels very normal. And I'm very pleased to say that I don't at all get tired of it. I still love coming to school every day and feigning energy at 8am. The kids motivate me, and I am so excited that I've been given the opportunity to stay at this school next year.
Unfortunately, I haven't officially gotten in my paperwork with BPS because Tufts has my transcript on hold because the semester just ended. But as soon as I get that in, I will be getting paid, which is sooo exciting! I can't wait to have an income! And I can't wait to spend my money this summer! Woo!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happiness!!!
So... in other news... I GOT THE JOB!!!
Most of you who read my blog already know this, but I needed to make it official. Next year, I will be working at the same school where I am currently interning, Boston Arts Academy. I am pumped to continue teaching math at an urban public arts high school! It's everything I wanted and more all rolled up in one. I'm hoping to work on getting my secondary certification in special education, so I can be more useful to my math students who need that special help. I'm also hoping to start a musical theater club, so I can get more involved with students with similar interests. And I'm also just hoping to get back on my feet with my own arts interests, whether that means taking more dance classes, finding a new voice teacher, or auditioning for shows again! I'm so happy and excited about what the future holds. I love this school, this administration, this faculty, these students, and I cannot wait to start collaborating on new curricula. I hope to push myself even more next year to break the mold and really do more experimental, exploratory things in my classroom. Hopefully, I feel more comfortable and less nervous than I did this past year, and I know that I have the rest of the math team on my side. :)
Yay! Excuse me while I go squeal a little more...
Most of you who read my blog already know this, but I needed to make it official. Next year, I will be working at the same school where I am currently interning, Boston Arts Academy. I am pumped to continue teaching math at an urban public arts high school! It's everything I wanted and more all rolled up in one. I'm hoping to work on getting my secondary certification in special education, so I can be more useful to my math students who need that special help. I'm also hoping to start a musical theater club, so I can get more involved with students with similar interests. And I'm also just hoping to get back on my feet with my own arts interests, whether that means taking more dance classes, finding a new voice teacher, or auditioning for shows again! I'm so happy and excited about what the future holds. I love this school, this administration, this faculty, these students, and I cannot wait to start collaborating on new curricula. I hope to push myself even more next year to break the mold and really do more experimental, exploratory things in my classroom. Hopefully, I feel more comfortable and less nervous than I did this past year, and I know that I have the rest of the math team on my side. :)
Yay! Excuse me while I go squeal a little more...
Demoralized
The past two weeks during my teaching practice, I have felt rather demoralized. Why? I have two words for you: TEST PREP.
Ugh... My juniors were prepping for the SAT, and my sophomores are prepping for the MCAS. Both of these exams, though they are quite different, are high-stakes standardized tests that can seriously change the future paths of my students. It's discouraging to watch them struggle and only sometimes succeed when I know they are extremely bright, talented individuals. It's frustrating to know that a low score on the MCAS could mean a student not receiving a high school diploma or a that a low score on the SAT could mean extremely limited college choices. And it's extraordinarily disheartening to watch my students in class put their heads down on their desks in dismay. I hardly have my usual energy and enthusiasm to keep encouraging them with "You can do it!"
I don't really understand how we got here, why it suddenly became so important to assess everyone's knowledge purely based on standardized test scores. From Bush's NCLB to Obama's Race to the Top, I simply can't understand the people making education policy anymore. Why are we firing so many teachers and closing so many schools? If we base teachers' pay on their students' scores, who will want to teach the low-scoring kids? When did we stop trusting teachers and start bribing them with salary increases? It seems there are so many backwards philosophies going on here, I don't even know which one to attack first.
As Deb Meier said, "Everytime I see the words "race to the top" it chills me. Who is racing where? What's at the finish line? A gold star?" I had the incredible opportunity to hear Deb Meier speak at Tufts University this year, and she was incredibly inspiring to me. I'll share a story with you that she shared with the audience that really hit home for me. (Of course this is totally paraphrased from my memory, so I apologize for the inaccuracies.)
When my son was in third grade or so, he took a multiple-choice test. He didn't score very well on it, so we were going through the questions together at home. We got to one question that he answered incorrectly, and I asked him to explain to me why he chose the answer he did. And he said, "Well, I knew they wanted me to choose answer B, but I thought D was better." I responded, "But you knew they wanted you to choose B!" And he said, "Yea, well, I wrote a little note here in the margins explaining why my answer was better." He was shocked to learn that no one had read his margin notes and that a computer had graded his exam. That's when I realized how easily standardized tests could produce false assessments.
I think Meier has a brilliant point here. The issue with standardized tests is that there's a false belief that they are indeed standard and unbiased. Everyone agrees that a B+ from Ms. Smith's classroom in California will probably not mean the same thing as a B+ from Mr. Jones' classroom in Connecticut, so we don't try and compare them. However, we then make the false assumption that a 600 on the math section of the SAT for one student in Wyoming means the same thing for a student from Chelsea. They are still not comparable due to the circumstances in which each student was raised and educated and due to the nature of the test. What people fail to realize is that all assessment still comes down to human judgment. Whether we are assessing students through tests and quizzes, essays and papers, or portfolios and projects, human beings will still subjectively assess student work. Hence my frustration with teaching to the MCAS or the SAT. My dear students are being poorly assessed through these tests that hold so much power over their futures! It kills me to see them so stressed and demoralized.
I discovered something interesting upon talking to another math teacher at our school. Over the past several years, they have improved significantly every year on their MCAS scores, but they have remained stagnant for quite some time with their SAT scores. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the SAT is scored based on the national averages, though I'm not actually sure how the MCAS is scored. While I'm glad to see fewer of our students finding the MCAS as an obstacle to graduation, I'm still frustrated by the fact that urban areas all over the nation struggle with SAT scores. Why is it?!? It doesn't seem fair, and I never quite know what to tell my students. Most of my students are aiming for somewhere between 400-500 on each section, which is ghastly different from what my friends and I were aiming for when we were in high school. I only wish I knew how I could change that.
Well, at least my juniors are finished with the SAT for now... until they take it again in the fall. We still have one more week of MCAS prep for my sophomores. Here's to hoping for a better week!
Ugh... My juniors were prepping for the SAT, and my sophomores are prepping for the MCAS. Both of these exams, though they are quite different, are high-stakes standardized tests that can seriously change the future paths of my students. It's discouraging to watch them struggle and only sometimes succeed when I know they are extremely bright, talented individuals. It's frustrating to know that a low score on the MCAS could mean a student not receiving a high school diploma or a that a low score on the SAT could mean extremely limited college choices. And it's extraordinarily disheartening to watch my students in class put their heads down on their desks in dismay. I hardly have my usual energy and enthusiasm to keep encouraging them with "You can do it!"
I don't really understand how we got here, why it suddenly became so important to assess everyone's knowledge purely based on standardized test scores. From Bush's NCLB to Obama's Race to the Top, I simply can't understand the people making education policy anymore. Why are we firing so many teachers and closing so many schools? If we base teachers' pay on their students' scores, who will want to teach the low-scoring kids? When did we stop trusting teachers and start bribing them with salary increases? It seems there are so many backwards philosophies going on here, I don't even know which one to attack first.
As Deb Meier said, "Everytime I see the words "race to the top" it chills me. Who is racing where? What's at the finish line? A gold star?" I had the incredible opportunity to hear Deb Meier speak at Tufts University this year, and she was incredibly inspiring to me. I'll share a story with you that she shared with the audience that really hit home for me. (Of course this is totally paraphrased from my memory, so I apologize for the inaccuracies.)
When my son was in third grade or so, he took a multiple-choice test. He didn't score very well on it, so we were going through the questions together at home. We got to one question that he answered incorrectly, and I asked him to explain to me why he chose the answer he did. And he said, "Well, I knew they wanted me to choose answer B, but I thought D was better." I responded, "But you knew they wanted you to choose B!" And he said, "Yea, well, I wrote a little note here in the margins explaining why my answer was better." He was shocked to learn that no one had read his margin notes and that a computer had graded his exam. That's when I realized how easily standardized tests could produce false assessments.
I think Meier has a brilliant point here. The issue with standardized tests is that there's a false belief that they are indeed standard and unbiased. Everyone agrees that a B+ from Ms. Smith's classroom in California will probably not mean the same thing as a B+ from Mr. Jones' classroom in Connecticut, so we don't try and compare them. However, we then make the false assumption that a 600 on the math section of the SAT for one student in Wyoming means the same thing for a student from Chelsea. They are still not comparable due to the circumstances in which each student was raised and educated and due to the nature of the test. What people fail to realize is that all assessment still comes down to human judgment. Whether we are assessing students through tests and quizzes, essays and papers, or portfolios and projects, human beings will still subjectively assess student work. Hence my frustration with teaching to the MCAS or the SAT. My dear students are being poorly assessed through these tests that hold so much power over their futures! It kills me to see them so stressed and demoralized.
I discovered something interesting upon talking to another math teacher at our school. Over the past several years, they have improved significantly every year on their MCAS scores, but they have remained stagnant for quite some time with their SAT scores. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the SAT is scored based on the national averages, though I'm not actually sure how the MCAS is scored. While I'm glad to see fewer of our students finding the MCAS as an obstacle to graduation, I'm still frustrated by the fact that urban areas all over the nation struggle with SAT scores. Why is it?!? It doesn't seem fair, and I never quite know what to tell my students. Most of my students are aiming for somewhere between 400-500 on each section, which is ghastly different from what my friends and I were aiming for when we were in high school. I only wish I knew how I could change that.
Well, at least my juniors are finished with the SAT for now... until they take it again in the fall. We still have one more week of MCAS prep for my sophomores. Here's to hoping for a better week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
