Day 169: Planting Seeds

We started school today with practice for tonight's 8th grade promotion ceremony.  Somehow, I was put in charge of creating order in an auditorium of 207 8th graders.  They offered to give me the microphone, but I declined.

With the entire 8th grade present, something interesting happened that made me think I have doing something right over the past few years.

They listened to my directives.  When I told them to be quiet, they did (mostly).  When I assumed authority of the room, the other teachers backed me up and the students acknowledged it.

I don't write this out of pride or arrogance, but out of genuine confusion.  With the level of behavior that I've been experiencing in my classes lately, I had suspected that I had lost complete control, but that's apparently not the case.

Or, perhaps the dynamics of a very large group of students are such that they defer to any adult who assumes control.  Either way, things went fairly smoothly, considering I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

The other interesting thing happened while I was calling names to have students sit in rows alphabetically.  When the talking got too loud, I stop calling names and the room would get quiet again quickly.  I through one kid out because he wouldn't stop talking.  He and his friends were actually shocked that I had held them accountable.  One of his friends (not my student) said something like "Man, Mr. Aion is an asshole!"

The reply from another student, one of mine and not a particularly well-behaved one, was "Nah, he's cool. Just do what he says."

I let the exchange roll past me without acknowledging it, but it stuck in my head.  I must be getting through to him somehow.  If I'm getting through to him, I must be getting through to others.

I wanted to grab him, shake him and scream in his face "IF YOU FEEL THAT WAY, WHY ARE YOU SUCH A JERK IN MY CLASS??? If you would defend me to your friends, why can't you make those same decisions in class??"

But then I remembered that teaching, in spite of all of the standardized testing that we do, in spite of the report cards every 9 weeks, in spite of the progress reports every 5 weeks, in all about the long-game.

We teach students long-term strategies to accomplish short-term goals and often don't see any progress.  If we are very lucky, we'll see the kind of growth we want by the end of the school year, but the growing season on students isn't as regular as it is for other crops.  Each seed needs its own time to grow.

We desperately need to get away from the notion that if it hasn't sprouted by the beginning of June, then it must be a defective seed.

I may have (and probably did) fail some of my students.

But maybe I planted something that will take longer to grow than 180 days.



That's enough feigned wisdom for one week.

Day 168: Ups and Downs

The playable versions of the geometry games are due tomorrow.  The groups spent most of today working VERY diligently on their rough products with one group actually starting to play.

I'm not sure how to tell them that I just found out about promotion ceremony practice during their class tomorrow.  I suppose if their games are playable for tomorrow, they will be playable on Monday as well.

I am so proud of them for their creativity and ingenuity.  They are taking the most basic of instructions and turning it into something diverse and deep.  I'm so excited for them to finish so that I can brag about how great they are while simultaneously taking no credit for their creation.

I'm merely the muse!

Not that Muse, but I'll take it! We will be vicTOOOOOOORious!

In pre-algebra, the kids asked about "that weird circle thing" and so I was able to introduce to them the concept of polar coordinates.  We even had a discussion about when you would and wouldn't use them in the real world.  They understand that they wouldn't be great for navigating a city, but would be perfect for open spaces, like the woods or the ocean.

We continued our work on reflections, symmetry and translation.  Period 4/5 worked well and I'm wondering where these kids were all year.  I also wonder if, with the impending end of the year, several have realized that they will not be moving on to 9th grade as a direct result of their lack of effort.

Several students have really stepped up their game, trying to make up for 34 weeks of not working.  Others have simply thrown in the towel, acknowledging that no amount of effort will lessen the gap.

In any event, that class has really fallen into line in terms of productivity, or at least not destruction.  As a result, I've been able to lighten up with them and we are having a genuine good time together.


Period 8/9, however, still has a long way to go.  I moved seats within the first 5 minutes when it because clear that half of the class had no interest in what I was trying to do.  My plan was to put the chatters off to one side and work with the kids who were interested in learning today.  That worked for about 10 minutes until the other side of the room started wrestling over pens.  I removed a few students and called a few parents.

I think this has happened consistently enough now that I have to admit to myself that I have lost complete control over this class.

I have no idea what to do with them.  I don't want to sit back and say "There are only 9 days left.  Let it ride."  I have students in there who want to learn, and have wanted to all year.

I fear that I have failed them.

But I honestly have no idea what else I can do, or could have done.

I was informed today that I can no longer put them in the hallway for time-out.


At least we got an air conditioner in the In-School Suspension room!

Day 167: A Not-Great Version of Me

My period 4/5 has found something that they can get excited about, or at least relatively excited.  The current chapter has a section on symmetry and another on reflection.  I suspect that because these sections are visual and have very little calculation involved, they are willing to put more effort into it.  The stigma of "doing math" is so strong that they will do more complex concepts, as long as there are no numbers involved.

At the same time, I am finding my patience at almost zero.  Students were asking me legitimate questions about their work, but I was perceiving them, rightly or wrongly, as being overly needy and I was snapping at them.

S: "Is this right?"
Me: "Almost.  Keep working and checking it.  We're going to go over it in a few minutes."
S: **two minutes later** "I made some changes. Is it right now?"
Me: "Check it and see if you get the same answer. We're going to go over it as a group in a few minutes."
S: **one minute later** "Is it right now?"
Me: "Get away from my desk please. I already told you that we will be going over it."

I hate how I reacted to him.  I should appreciate his desire to do his work correctly and well, but I'm finding myself more annoyed by the idea that he thinks I should answer every questions right when he wants an answer to it.

I called the student up after class and apologized to him.  He has always been a nice and respectful student and didn't deserve the curt treatment that I gave him.

I should have done more throughout the year to encourage confidence in student work.  I should have done more to help students understand that they are a part of a learning community and that I have a plan and a schedule.

I should have done more to not be such a jerk to him.

I gave the class an assignment to work on and, for the most part, they worked well on it.  As I watched them, however, I had zero desire to go over the page or even jump back into the class.  I actually looked at the clock to see if I could justify letting this assignment casually and slowly fall apart, petering out until the bell rang and the students stumbled out of my room.

It took an act of willpower to pull myself up, gather the class and get back on task.  How can I honestly expect quality work from my students when I can barely muster it from myself?

At the same time, they managed to surprise me!  I couldn't gather the energy or will to go over the practice problems, so I became a better teacher by accident.

I handed over the Promethean pen and the students took over the review.  Half of them were disengaged, but the other half were having good discussions about where the points should go and whether or not the shapes they drew were actually reflections.

I should have been more involved in the review, asking pointed questions, redirecting the off-task students back to the task at hand.

But I just kept staring into space, silently begging the period to end.  Wishing only for the silence that accompanies a vacant classroom.

I made several calls home today.  Most could not be reached.  One yelled at me for not having control over her child.

In addition to this, we received an e-mail today telling us that grades would be finalized and closed on June 5th.  The last student day is June 11th.

Day 166: Games of the Board, of the Heart

Today, the groups in geometry had to do a mini-pitch to me about their games.  They were required to have a rough sketch of their board (if they were using one), a list of their contents, the rough draft of the rules and directions and a brief summary about what math was involved in their games.

I am stunned, not only by the creativity of my students, but also the variety of games in terms of content, structure and target audience.

A few of the groups, I think, threw their ideas together with minimal thought and accidentally came up with fantastic ideas.  They seemed genuinely surprised to hear me say so.

My goal for today was to see what progress they had made and to help them continue moving forward.  I made suggestions with each group, doing my best to convey that they were, in fact, only suggestions and not requirements.  I suggested to a few groups that they scale their games up, seeing what elements they could add to increase the "fun" factor, while I suggested simplification for others.

One group has a game designed for ages 6-10 while another has a game that should probably be played by high school students and older.  Yet another group has a card game that I think is so versatile that it could be played by people of any age and has the potential for multiple difficulty levels.  This group gave off the impression that they weren't serious about their game.  "This seems like a good idea, I guess."

It's a brilliant idea!  I hope that my enthusiasm was able to help light a fire for them.

The styles of games also vary greatly, from a SET-like card game to a board game with rotating circular tiles to a lateral thinking and puzzle game to a game that uses a catapult!

Overall, I'm amazed at what they are producing and I can't wait to play the games next week!  They will continue working on them this week with the next due date being Friday.

On Friday, each group must have a working, playable model of their game.  They can have cards be on torn pieces of paper, but it must be playable.  During that time, they will play their own game, each person taking notes of what they like, what they don't and how to improve.  Next week, they will be making those corrections and coming up with a final copy.

Next Thursday and Friday will be game days.  The finished product will be due on Thursday and other groups will play the games, rating them on replayability, fun factor, ease of play, etc. and providing constructive feedback to the creating group.

The groups will then have the weekend to make whatever finishing touches they need to make with the VERY final copy (ready for distribution) due on Monday, June 9th.

This is an incredible project and I know I keep saying how amazed and stunned and shocked I am, but that's because it keeps happening.  I am so proud of the ownership that the students have taken over these games and I want to play ALL of them!

There is exactly zero chance that I won't be presenting these games during the Middle School session at TMC this year!



Period 4/5 did very well today.  My increased effort to remove students who are destructive to the learning environment seems to be yielding results.

In period 8/9, however, the same cannot be said.  I had to remove the same 4 students multiple times during the hour and a half, each time offering them the deal that as soon as they felt they could be in the room without being disruptive, they were welcome to come back in.  There seemed to be genuine confusion about why they kept being asked to leave.  "But HE was talking to ME!"

No amount of "I understand, but you are in charge of you and only get to decide how you react to others.  If they are talking to you, ignore them" seemed to penetrate into their heads.

I'm not sure what else I can do.  I feel as though I don't have the skill to adequately explain to them what they are doing wrong and how it is impacting the other students and the learning environment as a whole.

Not surprisingly, however, once they were removed from the room, the rest of the students really came out of their shells, volunteering answers and accepting that making mistakes was part of the process.

Funny thing about not fearing ridicule for risk-taking...

I hate the frequency that I've been throwing kids out of my room recently.  I console myself with the idea that I've given them ample opportunity to NOT be thrown out, but two thoughts keep occurring to me:

1) What ELSE could I be doing to prevent this? What other options do I have at this point in the year?

2) If I had done this earlier, could I have set the precedent that only productive (or at least non-destructive) behavior is allowed in my room?  Would there have been other repercussions that would make things worse?

I don't have answers to either of these thoughts.  I don't know if the answers even exists, but I do know I can't stop looking for them.

I am tired of having the same conversations over and over with the same students.  I don't have the interventions that are effective and I don't know how to work within the structure that I have.

I still have a ton to learn about interacting with middle school students.



I took my daughters to the park this weekend.  My older daughter is very friendly and social and has no trouble inviting other kids to play with her.  She found a new friend and they began playing Hide and Seek.  A boy, who couldn't have been older than 5 was also there.  My daughter invited him several times to play with them.  He refused each time.

While my daughter and her new friend played around the playground, the boy followed them around yelling out their hiding places to the other children playing.  They asked him again if he wanted to play and he again said no.  He did, however, continue to follow them around, sabotaging their game.  They eventually picked something else to play and the boy left with his parents, but I was struck by how similar that behavior is to what I see in my room.



As I near the end of the year and begin to reflect on the whole time and not just 1 day at a time, I'm coming to some very upsetting conclusions.

Day 165: Your 10 Closest Friends

A few days ago, I spoke with my geometry students about idea that a person is the average of their 10 closest friends and acquaintances.  I told them this in the context of students getting in trouble for things that their friends did..  We talked about the TV crime show concept of "known associates" and how if you hang out with "bad kids" you are more likely to be considered or become a "bad kid."

I wanted to illustrate this point further in terms of positive influences as well.  So I used myself as an example.

In the past year, I have drastically changed the people with whom I associate.  I haven't so much pushed people away (intentionally) as much as expanded my circle of influence to amazing teachers from around the world.  Since attending Twitter Math Camp last summer, my professional network has grown by leaps and bounds, helping to put me on the path to being the teacher who I want to be.

The sheer volume of people from TMC and Twitter who have helped me in my journey makes it impossible to name them all.  I was, however, able to show a few of them to my students.

I had my geometry class watch the Ignite Talks from Fawn Nguyen, Max Ray and Dan Meyer in an effort to help them understand about the conscious choice I have made in terms of the people with whom I interact.  Here are the talks from Fawn and Max, two people who are constantly helping me think beyond my lessons.


I am thinking of creating a line of bracelets and T-shirts that read "WWFD" and "WWMD."  I would market them to math teachers and make a bajillion dollars!

At some point, probably this summer, I'll write a re-cap post talking about my transformation this year because of all of the wonderful people I've met.

After the videos, the students went back to working on their games.  The rough sketches are due when we get back on Tuesday.  Walking around, I saw some interesting things!

In addition, yesterday, one of my students suggested that Mr. Stadel add a "random day" button to Estimation 180.  To help demonstrate the power of Twitter and my PLN, I tweeted this suggestion to Stadel, who thought it was great!  The "random day" button was added and all credit was given to my student for his idea!

This student will now be known as "Mr. Fingers"

Again, in pre-algebra, the same 5 students had to be removed, followed by productivity for the rest of the class.

We talked about symmetry and reflection.  The visual aspects of this seemed to really appeal to most of the students.  They had very good conversations about where a line of symmetry was appropriately placed.

I still, even 165 days in, struggle with getting students to understand that they are not alone in the classroom.  If they are yelling across the room at each other, there are more people effected that just the yeller and the yellee.

I know there is an inherent selfishness in being children, but this seems to go beyond that.  It's into the realm of "If they don't want to hear it, then they shouldn't listen."

I have no idea how to correct this, or even explain it in a way that doesn't get their defenses up right away.

I have so much to learn.

Day 164: Transition Day

I have no problem admitting that my picture today scared me slightly and I avoided looking at it.  It did, however, get a chance to read them "The Beast In The Cave" from the unabridged anthology of H.P. Lovecraft.  I keep being told by literature teachers that to become proficient readers, student need to not only read, but also head what proficient reading sounds like.

Well, now they know what proficient reading and unspeakable horror sound like...

Every year, the 8th graders get on busses and go to the high school for an orientation.  When we get there, they are sat in the auditorium where the guidance counselor gives them hope, the principal gives them guidelines and the school resource officer gives them fear.

They are then broken into groups with a student escort and are given tours of the building, observing classes, seeing the facilities and meeting various teachers and administrators.

I LOVE transition day.  Once we get to the high school, I take a back seat and let them take over.  They are VERY good at this and, so far, every transition day that I have attended has gone off without a hitch.  The seniors that the high school chooses as guides are fantastic kids and keep ours from getting lost.  The schedule for the day is set and there is no downtime for our kids to go crazy.

This transition day, I am taking a half day, which means I won't be riding on the bus with my geometry students.  I have made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that should I hear ANY negative reports from the teachers who ARE on the bus, they will have to answer to me.

I trust them.  Over this year, I have made my expectations of their behavior quite clear and they have met and exceeded them beautifully.

I've also been fighting a sinus infection and a hacking cough since Sunday night, so my activities in class have been subdued.  Many of my students are perceiving this as anger and lack of patience.  I am not dissuading them from this thought because it seems to be keeping many of them in line without me having to yell or scold.

Day 163: Russian History

The following is a non-exhaustive list of topics that I talked about in geometry before the students began working on their games:

Pointillism
Czarist Russia
The French Revolution
Cthulhu
The scale-model guillotine that I built in 8th grade
Rasputin
The death of Hitler

I absolutely LOVE how interested these students are.  Not once since the beginning of the year has anyone in the class ever asked me "Mr. Aion, can we get back to math now?"

It seems like an odd thing to ask, but I hear it frequently from my pre-algebra students.

In pre-algebra, a student arrived to my class wrapped in a blanket and without shoes.  She seemed genuinely confused as to why she was being singled out as someone who was not allowed in the room.  Again, it comes back to my question from the other day about telling the difference between when a student is confused and when they are being purposely obtuse.

In the middle of a quiz, another student asked to go to the nurse, claiming it was an emergency.  At the same time that I noticed his sweater was tied around his waist, other students started making comments about a smell.

This is my life somehow.

The rest of the class was great! One of the homework problems (which 20% of the class attempted) dealt with boats and they asked about how boats were constructed.  I was willing to take the tangent because they were deeply interested and asking good questions.

Then they had a quiz.

It was an individual quiz, but they were whispering to each other and I noticed something.

If I give a group quiz or a partner quiz, their conversations are WAY off task.  They laugh and talk about their shoes and the weekend and they don't collaborate on the quiz.

If, however, I give an individual quiz and tell them not to talk, they quietly work VERY well together.  As was the case yesterday, after I threw out 2-3 key players at the start of class, the rest of the students worked very well and productively.



In addition, I received and email today notifying me that I would be getting a new student in my class at the end of the week.