Well, what do you know????

I'm back... with the end of the story... finally.

So, we started to discuss "naughty" words (using euphemisms, of course)...and they pretended to be "shocked" that I knew those words, and I, in return, pretended to be shocked that they knew those words. At last, one female student asked me if the "B" word was one of those "naughty" words. I replied that it depended on the context. If someone were calling someone else a "B" then, indeed, it an was inappropriate metaphor. However, if I were talking to someone whose profession was raising dogs then the word Bitch was appropriate and correct. Immediately, the classroom went silent with shock (He said, "BITCH").
Then, they rebounded and shouted their incredulity that I would ever consider such a
word "correct."

One girl asked, "Mr. Zolotoi, what would you say if I said 'That bitch peed on my floor?' "

"Well...," I answered, "...depending upon the context... I would tell you either your dog needs more training,...or ... you need better behaved friends!" ...and we all laughed.

As we were laughing, I happened to look up on the board and I saw the Fun With Words phrase on the board and suddenly I realized that, yes, indeed, we were having fun FUN WITH WORDS!

I simulated shock, and said "Oh, my goodness!"

"What? What?" they all wanted to know.

So I shared my revelation that today really was FWW - day and that's what we were doing... having Fun With Words. There was an immediate sharp intake of breath as students do when they learn a "truth" and then, just as quickly, there was the loud clamor as students do when they feel they have been "tricked" into learning.

But I hadn't tricked them, ...couldn't have... I hadn't even planned the course of events ...but I and the class both learned something.

They learned that language can be enjoyable.

I learned that sometimes the "Teachable moment" works both ways.

F.W.W. - Day (continued)

So, as I was saying... on this Friday (first day of vocabulary study) I thought that I would call it FWW-Day instead of Friday. FWW would stand for Fun With Words (pronounced FWA-day)... and I meant it both as sarcasm and as a bit of a hint.

So, on the board, under Friday I wrote FWW-day and in my best Buffalo Bob imitation I said "Hey Kids, what day is it?" Some mumbled softly "Friday", but most just looked on with puzzled indifference.

Then, I answered with as much feigned enthusiasm as I could muster "It's not Friday but FWA -day!"

By then, even the sleepers were awake and almost all of the students shouted, "What's FWW-day?". And I answered in my best carnival barker's voice, "FUN WITH WORDS - day".

Immediately the groans and hoots of derision started. The waves of disgust was so palpable that I thought I saw Gidget surfing one of them. But I laughed as if I mis-heard them and acted as if they were shouting to convey their enthusiasm for word study.

As I was writing the word elements of the new vocabulary word NONCHALANCE, a student raised his hand and asked if there was a word for "not caring" was there actually a word CHALANCE meaning caring. Well, I wasn't sure, and I told them that. But I also hazarded a guess that perhaps, at one time, there had been a word like that and that it was now obsolete or archaic. I reminded the students that language and words are dynamic entities whose usage lives or dies, waxes or wanes, or changes through passages of time and place. The students seemed satisfied with that answer.

And then, another student asked me for an example of words that change and I mentioned that in Shakespeare's time the word "NICE" was considered an insult and a naughty word.

And that of course prompted the question the question/response, "What exactly were naughty words?" Now of course, the classroom was riveted on every word.

FWW-Day

Well,what do you know? Even teachers can have the "teachable moment." It happened to me.

On Friday I introduced vocabulary study to my juniors. I know that the approved (for this decade) manner for teaching vocabulary is teaching vocabulary in context - which is fine if your students are avid readers, and if you have "oodles" of time to waste, and if you don't mind that much of the enjoyment of a story is fragmented by word study. However, I don't feel that my classes meet any of those criteria so I use word lists and sentence context clues. As a former language teacher I believe that in many ways studying English (even at the high school level) is like studying another language. So, I use many of the same techniques teaching English vocabulary as I would have teaching a foreign language - that includes oral repetition, memorization, word elements, contextual meanings, oral sentence construction, etc. I'm also using vocabulary to prepare students for the SAT's, to encourage vocabulary acquisition and us and, more importantly, to realize that often, they know more than they think. I'm constantly encouraging them to "Get full credit for partial knowledge" (Princeton Review) by using their language experiences to help them figure out what an unfamiliar word may mean. I urge them to try to figure out what the words mean before looking them up in the dictionary. It's a class project and all the students are encouraged to participate orally.

For example, if BELABOR is one of the vocabulary words, a student may recognize that "labor" is part of the word and relate that "labor" is work and that BELABOR must have something to do with work. Then I'll encourage them to read the supplied definitions to see if one of those definitions has anything to do with work. Or, if the word is CONGEAL, a student might observe that in Spanish "con" means "with" and I might ask what "-geal' might mean... and if that gets no response, I might add "gel" and then "jelly" and then, "Jello". By that time one (or more) student gets the idea that CONGEAL has something to do with liquid turning into a solid and there's one more word that they don't have to look up in the dictionary.

I must add that I love language - especially words, wordplay, word formation, word pronunciation, etc. As a result, the lesson is usually presented in a pretty dynamic manner with many puns, bad "teacher" jokes, double-meanings, mistaken meaning, word origins - all done in a rather rapid-fire manner. I feel that the jokes, bad as they are, often create an additional device for the students to remember the word. For example, the definition of LARGESS might be generosity or what Superman wears on his chest. There are usually many BOO's after this atrocity but if they remember the joke, they'll remember the correct pronunciation of LARGESS. Of course, the verbal wordplay usually gets a raucous response - but I remind them that I've had an ear operation that alters my hearing so that all boo's sound like loud guffaws. And, anyway the response is part of the fun and I do believe that often students learn more and better if they are enjoying themselves.

This post has become more involved then I anticipated... (to be continued)

Rules and observations

Rule #1: There is no school function that is so well planned and organized that some dumb SOB can't screw it up.

Rule #2: Don't you be that dumb SOB!

Back to school insight

In my last post I mentioned the dreaded "Back-to-school" night. It seems to me that I have always thought of it as just one more onerous task that was necessary but terrifying and, a bit demeaning. Sort of like, "Look, Ma, that trained seal is balancing a ball on his nose and eating a kippered herring ... AT THE SAME TIME!" Believe me, observing the teachers' performances at my own children's back-to-school nights (flushed face, tight jaws, strained smile, forehead glistening with flop sweat, babbling incoherently, eyes darting wildly from face to face searching for even the faintest sign of friendly understanding -even pity) did not fortify my image of own presentations. Perhaps I exaggerate, but, as I mentioned, there was always that opportunity for panic.

However, I realize now that I was kidding myself. I have enjoyed my interactions with parents, more than I have admitted to myself. In my self-centered way, I incorrectly imagined those meetings as a command performance, in which the central object was me, my class, and my ability to convince the parents of my effectiveness in teaching their children. That is not how it usually turned out. Of course, there is always a bit of parental judgment of me, personally. However, it has been my experience that many parents come back to school to find out two things - first, to find out the "nuts and bolts" of the course, and secondly, to find out my philosophy of teaching. They are not so interested in "What?" I am doing but rather, "Why?" I am doing it. They are looking for some common sense rationale that guides my teaching - stated in such a way that they have no trouble understanding it or, at least, understanding (if not agreeing with) my purpose.

So, instead of filling up the time with the "specifics" of the course I try to share visions of education and its purpose with parents. The number of parents who are looking for some positive outlook for their child - some teaching philosophy that challenges their child while at the same time taking into consideration that their child is vulnerable, has shortcomings, and may be afraid to take risks.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that BTS nights are as much about giving parents inspiration and hope that, maybe...just maybe, this year might be a that productive and enjoyable year that they wish will re-ignite their child's zeal to learn. Or, if their child already possesses that zeal and drive they hope that this year will be an continuation of years past. What they dread is another school year of uninspired, lackluster, pedantic teaching that dulls the mind and deadens the spirit .

Back onTrack

Well, I'm back. As I mentioned before, it's been as chaotic an opening first month as I have experienced in my 38 years. After playing "class list roulette" for three weeks, the students are finally settled in to their correct classes. (Well, most of them anyway). I guess it's time for me to make up my official roll book. The computer print-out sheets I've been using are jammed packed with scribbled-in (and scribbled-out) information - assignments, grades, attendance, book #'s, latenesses, withdrawal dates, entry dates, # of lav/nurse/locker passes given, to whom, and when. All information that will eventually find its way into my roll book (and not by magic I can tell you).

Did I mention that the library is finally open. It had been closed because a summer snafu created a mold-filled LRC. I'm not going to make any bad jokes about how the Librarian is such a fun-guy, but things were so bad that almost all of the books could have been filed in the 570 section. So they say that all is well in the library, but I am skeptical since the rooms adjacent to the LRC still smell like the back of a cave. We shall see...

We just held our Back-to-School night. It was quite successful, many parents showed up - maybe it was the free food at our newly renovated cafeteria, but I sensed that the parents were quite concerned with the material and the quality of their children's education (even the traditionally low attendance classes). It was nice having a win - especially after so many losing seasons. There were some nights in the past in which so few parents attended that we teachers ended up giving our presentations to each other. I can't always blame the community, a few of those years the dates of Back-to-school were never sent out to the parents. Not a good idea - but it sure reduced the number of parental complaints.

I'd like to relate my thoughts on the Back-to-school experience - an experience that, in retrospect has been quite positive, but it's time to go. Next time...

Here we go again...

It's been as hectic an opening as I have ever experienced. Opening day was a shambles. Initially, only the students had schedules not the teachers. Moreover, many of those schedules had holes in them so students had to sit in the cafeteria during undisclosed periods. Not only didn't the teachers have class schedules-homeroom schedules were delivered by hand- but there was no school opening schedule. So... few, if any, knew what the time frames were for the periods. It's tough to start anything if you're not sure how long you have to complete the task. For the experienced teachers it was easier, we've been on voyage before (although we've always had a schedule). However, the new teachers, especially the first year teachers, were baffled. They had the look of Bambi crossing an eight lane superhighway at mid-day. No schedules, no keys, no books, no lockers, no guidance, no advice - just "Write down your name on this sheet of paper please, so I'll know if you were in the right class when I find the right class."

Have to go... but this year at "Event Horizon High" promises to be fun - if you're Franz Kafka.

Missing post

I sent a missive into the air/where it went I know not where... (apologies to Longfellow)

I wrote a blog last night and, truth be told, it was a masterpiece :). It was about the effects of summer and the dreaded "first day of school". However, when I hit publish it never made it to my blog. The lettering at the bottom kept telling me that it was saving my message, but even that is labeled "draft", and is incomplete. I know that the message is saved ... somewhere. But I don't think I can get there from here.

Anyway, Scrodinger's cat is probably reading it at this very moment.

There is more to this blogging than I expected. Pardon me while I study this some more.

There's much to talk about today's experiences, but it's much too complicated to detail right now. Suffice it to say that life ain't easy at "Event Horizon High".

8/26/09

Rationale: After close to 40 years in the profession, I have decided that this will be my last year in public education. I will leave reluctantly. I enjoy teaching; it is my life's work. I have striven to be one of those teachers whose classes students enjoy and learn, and from some of their comments I have been, at times, successful. Teaching (or thoughts about teaching) structure my life and thinking. Whenever I see or experience a new or novel idea, my first question is "Can I use this experience in class?" The second question is "How can I structure this experience so that my students can comprehend the import of the experience and use it to connect with the world?" Teaching often comes down to explaining the same point in as many different ways as possible so that all students, no matter what their experiences, can understand. It seems to me that my attempt to see the world from as many different points of view has been vastly beneficial to my education as well.

And yet...

I notice that I'm not as energetic as I once was. It seems that I have less patience. The stress seems to get to me about November/December rather than the Spring recess. I seem to be looking forward to the holidays with more anticipation than in years before. I do not want to be the last one to leave the dance. I fear that I will be the teacher of whom older students say, "...but you should have seen him teach in the old days..." I want to go out at the top of my game, so to speak. Moreover, at post-60 years of age and in these times, it makes economic sense (although that is a secondary concern).

So...

This will be my last year. I hope to share thoughts, events, situations, explanations, ruminations, etc. with others. To maintain my objectivity; my, my fellow-educators', my students', and my district's privacy; and my expressive freedom; I will not reveal my name, nor my location, nor my students'/fellow teachers' names. In all other ways, I will try to be as forthright as I am able.
That's all for now.