I finally finished the term. My superhero comic books turned out really cute, but they were awful to grade and I can think of a million things I would do differently in the future. In fact, I think in the future I wouldn't make them comic books at all but would just have them print their stories. Or maybe it's just something so simple as to have the page layout different for them so that they can have more space to write and less space to fill up with drawings. I was worried that perhaps the focus of the project became their drawings instead of their actual story. Not only that, but grading their entire packet at once was a nightmare. I thought that the complete packet would be a great way to do it since that is how Dr. Dean always had us turn in our writing assignments in our teaching writing class, but it was such a nightmare. Kids who had done each step would lose their work right and left and so they didn't get credit. And then it took me absolutely forever to go through their packets and make sure that everything was in order and completed. Every story took me about fifteen minutes to grade, which is much too long when you are going through a stack of a hundred and three. In the future I will grade their work in steps along the way, and that's what I've done for their narrative that they turned in today.
The narrative was a much faster unit that lasted about two weeks. I didn't feel very passionate about it and so it was actually a drag to teach and I'm sure the kids thought it was a pain to go through as well. I tried to cram a lot into the narrative, and it went alright, but I'm sure some things could have been better. I'll have a better idea once I finish grading their papers. One thing is for sure though- typing and printing their work was a nightmare! The computer lab that we went to yesterday had ten broken computers and only one functioning printer (the last functional printer out of three classroom computer labs). There weren't enough working computers for all of my students to get on at the same time and although I had alternative reading and assignments for them to do, it was an absolute nightmare. Third and fourth period were especially horrific. I kicked two students out of class and into the hallway for the first time yesterday and nearly lost my temper with more than a few others. Fifth and sixth period were angels. I think they have become my favorite class for the week. At the beginning of the period I explained the troubles that we were having in the lab, gave the same instructions that I had given to the other periods about how to sit in front of a broken computer and read while waiting. Only unlike the other classes, they followed instructions. It's a good thing too, because I was rapidly approaching the point of pulling out my hair, cursing my students, and beating the crap out of every last one of them. Even when the only working printer quit on us twenty minutes before class ended, my students very calmly emailed their stories to me so that I could print them in the workroom. Not everyone knew how to send an attachment, so the kids who knew how all raised their hands and then spread out to help those who didn't know how. It was quiet, efficient, and wonderful.
Today when watched segments of the movie Savages and compared it to the book they just finished, Deathwatch, I complemented them on behaving so well. I told them that their maturity builds trust and gives me confidence that they are able to do more fun things that less mature groups wouldn't be able to do without getting out of control. So I explained that because I now have more confidence in them, I was going to pass out candy to each of the students during the movie and they could even eat it in the classroom (which I have never allowed before). I told them that I felt comfortable doing this because I knew that a group as responsible as they are would not leave a single candy wrapper on the ground but would throw it away instead. Sure enough, when the kids left, there was not a single wrapper to be seen.
I felt like I learned a lot about classroom management from that. If I hadn't explained why I was giving them the candy and why I believed that they were responsible, etc. I am sure that there would have been wrappers everywhere. But I made the kids feel like they were special... like they were more grown up than they normally are, and so they acted that way. I wasn't just trying to flatter them, I meant what I said. It has occurred to me that I need to find a way to bring each of my classes onto that same level, and the best way will most likely not be through frustration and punishments. I've got to find something good that I can emphasis in each class to make them feel important, special, and have the desire to follow directions and act more grown up than they really are. In first period, I'm sure that won't be a problem. Third period, however, I'm going to have to stretch to find something to complement them on. They know they are my problem kids, I'm sure, and they are starting to live up to it more and more. I can't help but wonder if it's because I treat them like my problem kids?
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