Hiatus.... Is Over.

Welcome back!  Happy 2012.  Yes, I know I've been teaching four weeks without a post.  There were lots of reasons.  Most are not ones I can really talk about here.  There has been some re-configuring, re-conoitering, re-organizing, but TLS is back on track.  This semester I have three classes.  About 75 students total.  We only watch episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the occasional Friday.  This is as opposed to just letting the episodes fall where they fall.  Also, episodes that refer to demons are being greatly limited.  I am still including some in the second season, but pretty much all reference to the word in the first season has been removed.  Long story for another time.

Sufficed to say, now that we are back on track, the kids are THRIVING.  Several kids wanted me to know last week that this was their favorite class.  I pointed out that they do more work here than anywhere else.  They said they don't care.  Warms my heart. 

We are back on track!

Changes

So this week I am working on "structural" changes to the TLS program.  First off I plan to change the graphic organizer.  It needs to incorporate more about Conflict and Monster of the Week (recording research data, essentially).  There also needs to be additional information about Quid Pro Quo (also called flipped teaching where the kids do more passive work at home so we can actually work and discuss in class) and reducing class anxiety.  This is the biggest surprise and now, IMO, best feature of the TLS approach.  My kids want to work, want to learn, want to be in class and are more active and less anxious about the process.  I have also spent some time talking to some friends in Special Education.  It is my hope to add more thoughts on SpEd modifications to the new addition.  It's a brand new year, TLS!

PCA/ACA

This past week I was officially accepted to present at the National PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association) Conference in Boston, April 11-14.  I will be presenting in the Education, Teaching, History and Popular Culture "area" or "thread."  I'm pretty pumped about it.  I also have GCTE (Georgia Council of Teachers of English) at Callaway Gardens, Georgia in February.  Jada Genter will be with me on the one.  PCA/ACA, I'm on my own.  Big Things!

Twitter @TLS4Students

In an effort to help students know what is going on and to help others follow our progress I started a Twitter account today.  We will see how that goes.  It is my hope to post assignments, Tickets Out The Door, and Announcements for the kids there and to create a forum for discussion (albeit in 140 characters or less).  I am debating about who (other accounts) I can/should have the account follow. 

@TLS4Students

Check us out.  :)

The Results Are In!!!!

So the test results are in!  95% of my regular education kids passed!  32% got exceeds!  For the sake of my comparisons I excluded my DEES or Special Education serviced students, but they didn't do poorly either.  My scores were consistent with the other regular education 9th grade Language Arts classes!  As a matter of fact we had the exact same average score! 

For a first attempt to be on par with everyone else is, IMO, terrific!  Now comes the tweaking, changing and adjusting. 

One of the biggest factors, I think, is testing confidence.  My kids did not seem as afraid of the test as I have seen in the past.  Additionally half the class utilized the tools in the computer system of highlighting and eliminate answer.  I've never had kids do that before of any significance. 

I will bask in this victory for days.  Then I will get back to work.  But today, I was so proud, so excited and just...  It is indescribable.  There aren't words.

Crunch Time

Tomorrow my kids take the Georgia EOCT (End of Course Test) for 9th Grade Language Arts.  It is a state mandated 20% of their grade.  While standardized tests are not the best or only way to evaluate students, however, they are the most effective way to currently evaluate students on a large scale. 

I think my kids are ready and I think they will do well.  Which is a good counterpart to the nail-biting terror I have about it this time.  It's funny, this is the least about me that standardized testing has ever been in my mind.  I love these kids, they have worked hard, they put their faith in me to take them on this journey and get them to the destination I promised... 

The results are usually back in about 24 hours.

Regardless of this set of results there are already things I want to change and adjust for the next batch of kids next semester.  Next semester there will be three classes, two team taught, one standard, about 70 this time.  I wonder if that group will be as special to me as this group has been?  I think so.  I feel like I got to know my kids so much better this time.  It's amazing what you can learn when your kids are so much more alert and interactive... 

I have applied to present at the National Popular Culture Association Conference in April in Boston.  I should hear back on that soon too.  Hopefully everything will continue to come together for me to start classes this Spring.  

Loving My Job

The perfect teaching job is where the students want to be in class, they pay attention and they do their work because they want to and they enjoy it.  I thought that job did not exist at the high school level.  Gifted came close on occasion, but for the most part, the kids didn't want to be there, didn't know why they had to take the class and so often it would drag the day down...

TLS is different.  My kids are excited to be here.  They check with each other about who has done their homework.  They encourage each other and they have lots to talk about.  Nothings perfect, but I gotta say, it's awesome to love my job this much.  :)

Another teacher in Ava, MO, told me,  

Our kids are LOVING it!  Seriously, they can’t wait to come in and find out what we’re doing.  It’s fantastic to see them so excited.  They even know they’re learning, and they still like it.  Weird.  They’re really “getting” the information, too.  [The other teacher] and I are thrilled!  We do a multiple choice assessment test every six weeks, and the last one was about two weeks ago.  Their scores were significantly better than they had been.  Yay!!!

She went on to say,

[The other teacher] made the comment yesterday (to another teacher) that she’s “actually excited to teach her English I classes.”  I had to laugh; it’s easy to get burned out when so many freshmen don’t seem to get what we need them to.

I found out this weekend that I have been invited/accepted to present at the Georgia Council of Teachers of English annual conference in February and I have decided to apply to present at PCA (Popular Culture Association) for their annual conference in April (in Boston!)  I will post about my adventures at NCTE tomorrow.  I am too busy enjoying my job to get to it today.