The Alternative Beginning

The Downward Slope until Christmas
Well we've made it through the hard part of the first semester. Really, November and December go by quickly for me. There is only one full week of school from now until Thanksgiving and then only three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's manageable.So, on to the reflections....First term is officially over. Grades were turned in and rosters have changed. I failed three students and had one student with an incomplete. I thought that was pretty good. The students who failed didn't show up for finals and I was told to fail them. But I've made some changes.I was asked by my administrator to "find a way to have my students pass." So I chang

Service Projects
It has been way too long since I've written a post. There is no way that I could recap all the important things that have happened over the last few weeks. My husband and I moved into a new apartment and I've been behind on just about everything, including blogging. But now I need some help with ideas.I'm going to try to institute some service projects for my 4th block students. I got the idea at a faculty meeting last week. We need something more for our students to help them accomplish not just getting their diplomas, but becoming productive and thoughtful adults. As a staff, we have been brainstorming ideas about how we could do this and we had two that I thought I coul

The Retention Problem
Today has been a fun day so far. I've done two projects with the kids this week and today was a project day. We've been studying perimeter and area - today we did an application project where they designed their own house and found the perimeter and area of different parts of their floor plan. The kids get creative and have a lot of fun with it, and of course, it's a nice day for me - I just get to facilitate, observe, and enjoy. But there's still something that's been bothering me. Retention is still such a problem. I teach high school math and I'm still having to teach kids how to find perimeter and area of simple objects like squares and rectan

Almost Midterm
The end of this week is officially midterm. I think things have gone pretty well. All students who have put forth a decent amount of effort are passing. Those who aren't passing are the students who don't do a single bit of homework or work in class either.Overall, I think things are going pretty well at our little alternative school. Most of the kids are starting to get used to the routine. We as teachers are starting to feel the rhythm too, but we're also starting to feel the work load - or at least I am.I've tried to be more organized and on top of things. Most nights I do ok, but some nights, I get carried away with all the things I could/should be preparin

A Bright Moment
Today in the middle of the almost unbearable heat of 3rd block, I had a wonderful teaching moment.We were playing Review Jeopardy today because my classes have a test tomorrow. All of a sudden, RJ (alias used for a student) turns to me and says:"Why is it that you make this class so fun and interesting when no other teachers have done that before? Not even at the regular high school. They never make math fun."My heart just breaks. The best part of my day. I tried not to get too emotional. I just said, "Well, maybe it's because I really love high school students. They are my favorite students to teach. I love math and I love my students, and maybe