A Full Day of 6th Grade on Friday

I got to school a little early today to read the notes Joyce had left for me. My 55 minute class period consisted of going over morning work, turning in lifework, marking down positive points in the grade book, teaching about proportional sides, completing some classwork, and handing out lifework. After the 55 minutes were up, the kids went to P.E. to play dodgeball. Although I did the exact same routine in all three classes, they each went completely different....
Block 1: This is the block that I always observe in the morning and they are never a behavior problem for Joyce, but today was a different story. Morning work and taking grades went fairly well, but while I was teaching the lesson they were terrible. Mid-way through I thought of and told the students of the consequence for talking out of turn and getting out of hand would be one strike and one strike would be 2 minutes taken out of P.E. This method did not work so well because it continued to be two or three students making the disruption. I think it would have worked better if each strike were worth more time and if I would have presented the rule at the beginning of class. It was impossible to get through the lesson because there were so many interuptions. A student would be answering my question but would be interupted by another student talking out. For the actual lesson, we explored the meaning of proportional sides and how to decide if sides are proportional. I drew an equilateral triangle and an isosceles triangle and asked if they were similar. Some students said yes, while those that said no, explained that they were different shapes and therefore not similar. After some prompting, the students concluded that we had only stretched the equilateral triangle tall and not the same amount wide and to maintain proportional sides a shape needs to be expanded or shrunk the same amount in width and in length. We explored the reason for this by looking at the ratios between the sides. For example, two ratios from square one with dimensions of 4 in wide and 8 in tall to square two with dimensions 16 in wide and 32 in tall would be 4/16 which reduces to 1/4 and 8/32 which also reduces to 1/4 creating equal fractions. Then we looked at two shapes that just by looking the students could tell did not have proportional sides and we found their ratios. From triangle one with dimensions 3 in wide and 7 in tall to triangle two with dimensions 12 in wide and 21 in tall, the two ratios would be 3/12 which reduces to 1/4 and 7/21 which reduces 1/3. Since these ratios are not equal, the sides are not proportional. To have proportional sides, you need two equal ratios. From here the students had to find the missing dimension given three other dimensions and the fact that the shapes were similar. I handed out the classwork and had students work on it individually so I could go around and check for understanding and answer any questions. I let the students know that this worksheet would be their ticket to P.E. and when they finished it I would give them their lifework packet. At the end of my half of the block, they had received three strikes but they earned one back so they sat and worked on their lifework for four extra minutes. Then we all walked to the gym to play a little dodgeball. Unfortunately our dodgeball time was cut a little short because the fire alarm started going off in the gym.
Block 2: After several warnings from Mrs. Hirsh, that this class would be even more of a challenge because they are smart and lazy, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to report that they were angels. We were a little late coming back from the gym, but when I walked in the students were already at the board doing their morning work. Lets just say, thats pretty impressive for these students. With little stability from inconsistent authority among shifting teachers, these students push the envelope with anyone and need lots of prompting. From the beginning I told them about the strikes for their behavior. Out of the 6th grade I know this class the least because I never observe or teach their class, so before I began, I introduced myself and gave a little explanation as to why I was at KIPP and why I was teaching their class today. I went through the entire lesson without stopping once to correct behavior. We went through it so fast that I came up with extra examples before giving out the classwork. I had no complaints, it was by far the best class of the day. They were also the most enjoyable class for dodgeball. The girls participated and no one complained or had a bad attitude.
Block 3: I thought everything was running smoothly with this class until I realized we had three minutes left and I hadn't passed out the classwork yet. For some reason time flew by and I definitely wasn't keeping track. I figured I had spent equal time on each part of the lesson and that I was right on track. These students, who I normally teach and who still test my limits everyday, got three strikes which actually worked out perfectly because we needed the extra minutes. Their class is the worst class as far as attitudes go especially during P.E. because none of the girls want to play dodgeball. To accomodate, we had to alternate games having all the girls play a game and then all the boys. The games only lasted 7 minutes each and the girls barely participated in their own game.
After three blocks of 6th graders, I was exhausted. I picked up the room because I always forget to have them do it before they leave and then I sat at the desk waiting for 3:00 when I could go play games with the seemingly calm, mature 8th graders. [8th graders seem like adults after dealing with 12 year olds all day] While I was taking a little break, Mrs. Hirsh came by and we had our daily heart to heart. She thought I was doing a better job being more business like. She agained talked about the juggling act of teaching and then mentioned some of her past teaching experiences. We talked about the time issue and how each class seems to go differently. I commented on how difficult it was to assess students for understanding when there are 33 of them in the class. It seems like I either call on the students who are obviously not paying attention to get them to refocus or I call on the students with their hands raised. I miss probably the most important students, as far as assessment and understanding wise, who are engaged but who simply don't know the answer. I will work on that for Monday because it will be a repeat schedule of today. I was a little disappointed to find out that I would not be joining the 8th graders right away because Mr. Feliciano needed me to supervise a 6th grade class. Anyone who thinks keeping a group of 6th graders quiet for 17 min. would be an easy task is out of their mind. These students will not stop. To stay ahead and in charge you must put your coat of armor on before entering the classroom. Oh and don't forget your shield and sword. After the longest 17 min. of my life, I went upstairs and watched the final round of a game of scrabble. For the last hour of the day, I started out in Karate but decided to find the dance class. I joined them in their stretching and I learned the first few 8 counts. The dance class is made up of 10 girls and is taught by the 8th grade science teacher, who keeps the class structured and productive. After a long day at KIPP, I went with Ms. Starr to a going away dinner for Jessica, the 6th grade teacher who was fired. We had a great time and it was definitely nice to see the teachers outside of KIPP. For everyother teacher in America, Friday nights are a time of celebration because no school meets on Saturdays, oh wait except KIPP and tomorrow I get to find out what its all about.