Back to school

As much as I enjoyed having only one class to manage during the last 2 weeks, it's nice to be back at my student teaching assignment. I arrived just as my mentor teacher is wrapping up the evolution unit, which surprised me. I'm actually kind of glad - it's not that I don't want to teach it, but I think I'd much rather teach it using my own approach and in a classroom that is more "mine." One student kept asking very insightful questions, which eventually seemed to annoy/amuse the entire class. When she wouldn't relent in her demands for evidence and answers, the teacher eventually dismissed her inquiries with "I'm not an astrophysicist, so I can't really answer those types of questions." I thought it would have been a perfect opportunity to discuss the nature of science and theory and various evidences that are used to support a number of explanations, but that didn't exactly happen. Anyway ... it was nice to know that some students actually do think once in awhile.

I'm beginning to realize that I actually don't mind it too much if a class is active and talkative and busy. Granted, I never want to relive the day when 6th period tested the safety shower, or when one class played catch with their laboratory materials. But I tend to get bored on days where the students are sitting quietly at their desks taking notes as the teacher lectures or completing assignments. I love their questions and interjections, even if they quickly divert away from the main objectives of the day. In one period, the comments ranged from Metamucil commercials to bidets to the likelihood of alien responsibility for life on earth. In another, the topics covered anything from Elijah Wood's birthday to the wish to use "Biogenesis" as a child's name to why cockroaches multiply so quickly. I guess I'd rather entertain mildly irrelevant questions than have to wake up slumbering students.

I heard an interesting statistic yesterday during lunch. According to NPR, the percentage of high school graduates who will graduate from college (within 6 years) is quite low - 16%. If this is true, then our high schools are failing the majority of their graduating students (big surprise, I know). Most schools are geared toward college prep, yet 40% of college students will drop out within their 1st year. One teacher at my school has very thoughtful ideas regarding school reform and attempts to be proactive about having his voice heard. Yet, during a recent meeting with the lieutenant governor (who agreed to meet with educators to discuss important issues and hear ideas), he became so frustrated that she wasn't paying attention or being open that he left. I think it's good for me to be aware of the realities associated with this profession, but I refuse to let the frustrations of experienced teachers weaken my enthusiasm.

On a more positive note, the ESL students today were happy with my attempt to converse in Spanish with them (indeed, it was a very brief conversation, buy hey). Another student told me he landed a role in the school play, which is fun. And I managed to demonstrate applied knowledge in creating multiple choice exam questions - they were largely unambiguous, brief, unidimensional, nonrevealing, grammatically correct, etc. I can only hope the answers to said questions will reflect applied knowledge of the test-takers.