End-of-the-Year Reflection

My thoughts in June:

First of all, I think the most important thing I’ve learned this year is to think of myself first as a general educator, then as a math teacher. There is so much more to teaching than just math, and the relationships I form with students are in many ways more important than the math skills I teach. However, I seem to have trouble finding enough time during the day or during class to really build those relationships in an effective manner so that I can both truly understand the students on a deeper level and I can use those relationships to motivate students in the classroom. On the other hand, I’m also not sure it’s entirely my responsibility to hold every student on that deep level. I would at least like to hold my advisees on that level, and seeing my advisees on a daily basis would at least make me a more effective advisor. I guess I’m still trying to find the balance between building relationships and teaching content and how those two ideas relate.

Now that I’ve taught Math 2, 3, and 5 this past year, I’m beginning to see the through-line within the BAA math curriculum. There are a lot of really fantastic things that we do here with the math curriculum that make students’ learning more grounded in concepts than in specific skills. I love the focus on projects instead of on testing, and I particularly value the arts-connected projects. It is so important for students to see how math and the arts relate, and I would like to see even more of that in my classroom. However, I also feel that I need to spend a lot more time developing more curricula that is less skills-based.

It seems to me that in any high school, there needs to be more focus on conjectures and proofs instead of only skills. There is a big gap between the study of mathematics in middle/high school and in college, and I would like to see more of the true nature of math in K-12 classrooms, meaning there should be more exploration and play within mathematics so that students have the opportunity to experience the joy and beauty of the subject. I feel that those are big curricular changes that I would want to change at any high school. BAA has the added benefits and difficulties of working with a population of artistic students. On one hand, artistic students have the creative abilities to see mathematics in a different light that other students may not have. On the other hand, there is the added challenge of making the skills component engaging to students who may not typically find math interesting or applicable. I feel it is important to explore more deeply the arts-math connection in meaningful ways. It is also our responsibility as general educators who send our students to college to provide for our students a rigorous college preparatory mathematics education. While I support and encourage our students to continue their artistic endeavors after high school, I also would never want to limit their options by not providing enough mathematics content in their high school curriculum. Our students are still young, and they will still make many choices in their lives that lead them down very different paths. It is extremely important to me that they receive the proper mathematics education so they can be successful in whichever path they choose. In other words, while it will take a great deal of time and energy to change an entire curriculum, it is important to continue working at it throughout my years (and summers) as a teacher.

Besides all of the opportunities and challenges surrounding teaching math in an arts high school, I also feel one of the biggest issues I dealt with this year is attendance. It began in our fall first period Math 2 class, which was such an unfortunate course in which for students to have an attendance problem because it was such a skill-building class for some of our lowest-performing students. I had trouble dealing with the district-wide attendance and grading policy, and I still have trouble seeing how students after their fourth absence or so have any incentive to come to school and learning anything. While I agree that students should be held accountable for their absences, I do not feel that grading is an effective place to hold that responsibility. I also do not feel that grading should be based on behavior or even effort in the classroom, but that is an entirely separate personal issue I have with the philosophy of grading in general. My point is that I thought this issue was first period and Math 2 specific. However, I learned otherwise second semester when select students in both my first and sixth period Math 3 classes had severe attendance problems. Student concern forms and parent phone calls only seemed to have a minor effect on student attendance. I wonder why these problems seem to be so prevalent on the BAA campus and what steps I can take in my classroom next year in order to ensure I do not have repeats of the same behaviors.

I also found myself really struggling with classroom management in my sixth period class second semester. They were a very high-needs class in that the range of skill levels was huge, and I needed much more effective differentiated instruction. Moreover, the high-performing students were also very loud students, which very much affected the classroom dynamic. I struggle to find the ways I can prevent this from happening again.

Overall, I know that this past year was only my first year as a teacher. I came into this school with certain expectations, and while some turned out to be true, other ideas of mine have been turned upside down. As Pete Shungu said once during one of our intern classes, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much more I have to learn.” His comment still resonates with me, and I really feel that this idea is powerful for teachers. I can only be an effective teacher as long as I am questioning my practices and constantly trying to improve student learning and achievement. I am excited about next year, and I am looking forward to the many ways I know I will be pushed and stretched by the BAA teaching community. I value very much the experience of the teachers I am working with, both on the Math Team and on the 12/11 team, and I always appreciate the thoughtful and meaningful discussions that take place during our professional development. I only hope that I will be able to develop my own voice amidst the plethora of already powerful voices in this school and that I will also become a powerful force for change.