One of the perks of teaching is the schedule.  Don’t get me wrong, the schedule can be brutal if you take your job seriously.  The schedule is pretty sweet though.  I’ve got a full five days of teaching next week (Week 13) in front of me and then a weekend.  Then we come back for Week 14 which is only Monday and Tuesday.

Monday, Tuesday then we’ve got a five day break for Thanksgiving.  Don’t let anyone lie to you.  The schedule is pretty sweet when you’re a teacher.  Although now that I’ve said it, it sounds like I’m bragging.

I hit my first burn out period this last week.  I was tired of the kids because I have had some exceptional behavior issues to deal with (e.g. the troublesome few causing problems for the compliant many.)  I had a kid get up, tell me to F myself and walk out of class this week.  

I needed today to refocus and reflect.  

Last week, I had a day where my fourth hour was completely calm from opening bell to close.  It was amazing, but my third hour was horrible.  By the end of the week, I’m ejecting at least one kid from my classroom during third, fourth and fifth period a day.  “Just get out.  I’m done with you.”  It’s crazy, but if I have to sacrifice one in order to teach thirty it is a fair trade.

I challenged 8^th grade students this last week to a very conceptual task.  Break down the argument made by Martin Luther King Jr. in “I Have a Dream” or the argument made in an excerpt of Malcolm X “By Any Means Necessary.”  Their analysis of the argument must conform to a graphic organizer we’ve been working with for the last three weeks.  Students had to first remember how to draw the diagram with only the aid of the associated words posted on the wall.  Then fill in the graphic organizer with particular examples from the speech they chose.

The work had to be done independently and it was a task with which many of my students struggled.  I had a ton of behavior issues that day, but I had the majority of my class complete the task independently.  I don’t think they were able to deeply analyze the elements of persuasion used by Dr. King or Malcolm X, but I do think they have a better understanding of the persuasion analysis organizer.

Next week, I’ll go back and more firmly tie loaded words and transfer (i.e. techniques of persuasion) to the emotional support segment of the diagram.  Testimonial, peer pressure and bandwagon will be linked to forms of character support of an argument.  Logic will have to be as simple as repetition as well as “here’s something I believe and here’s why I believe it.” 

We’ll keep working with the organizer as a tool for analysis because I think there’s a benefit in its adaptability to visualizing the process of analysis.  Break what you want to study into its component pieces and evaluate them.  That’s analysis! 

At least at an eighth grade level.

Next week I’m going to introduce paired reading as the way we will read.  I want to take the focus less off of me and more on them, so I will need to be diligent up front to establish class expectations.  1. Stay on task.  2. Read quietly.  3. Everybody reads at least once.  4. Be ready to discuss at the appointed time.  I think all five of my classes are ready for this kind of activity but some will adapt better than others.  As I go into next week, I need to remain focused on engaging students early in the week in the reading material and options.  I plan to have prepared for four articles from which my students must choose two to read in the week.

Monday we’ll go through vocabulary instruction like usual.  Tuesday we’ll extend vocabulary instruction into the week (some new, but short, activity) then go over examples of bias.  Wednesday students will be asked to read with their shoulder partners and answer a set of questions or perform activities.  The last ten or fifteen minutes of class will be reserved for discussion.

My expectation for this kind of reading structure is that my second and fifth hour will be mostly fine.  First hour will complain but most of them will get to the reading.  Third hour will probably be noisy and I might have to pick an article to conduct class with whole group rather than in pairs.  Fourth hour, I expect much the same as third hour.

I think paired readings will be beneficial to my students though, because it will allow the students I have who are ready to work to work and grow while I can focus on minimizing distractions with the ones who will be off task.  I’m looking forward to trying a paired reading structure in my classroom, plus increasing the frequency and tweaking the way in which we study vocabulary.  Hopefully, this will change things enough in the classroom where my burnout period and theirs can be the first burnout period we’ve move past this year.

On another note, to all my fellow veterans: Happy Veteran’s Day!