Getting Polemical!
Jon Resendez

AP Government and Politics 12th Grade

My best teaching day ever was the during my first year teaching AP Government and Politics at Irvine High School in Irvine CA. It was during this year that I began implementing regular policy debates. My students chose the topics that were debated and which positions they adopted. It was impressive to see the students create arguments, demonstrate knowledge and think critically on their feet with only a week to prepare. They worked hard to prepare their arguments, cross examination questions and rebuttals for some of the most controversial issues our society has to offer. We tackled abortion, economic recovery and drug legalization on this day, but since this first foray my classes have tackled over 30 controversies. These debates have been the best part of my government classes and have developed into an institution at IHS for seniors, especially the most competitive ones.

Bojo's Best Teaching Day (Heather Bojorquez)

Teaching is a compilation of wonderful days and do-overs. I am no longer in the classroom, but I often find myself reflecting on my last year in the classroom with at-risk 9th graders as my best YEAR ever.

It is hard for me to narrow it down to just one day, but I know the best day was when I was teaching Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As an English teacher I discovered the Folger Shakespeare Library’s website. They had a tremendous amount of resources for teachers to bring Shakespeare alive in the classroom. My belief, and the philosophy of Folger, is that Shakespeare is an experience to be seen and heard, not just read aloud (poorly) by 15 year olds sitting in rows. So I transformed my classroom into a production space and for 6 weeks my struggling 9th grade students performed Romeo and Juliet live.

We marched, we recited, we staged, we laughed, and we cried.

The best day came when we arrived to the great feast. My students collectively decided that if we were going to act out a feast, then we should actually have a feast. Every student participated! They brought in food and performed their parts with gusto in costumes created on their own. It is a moment that is engrained in my memory with love and admiration. I watched some tough kids, kids who thought they weren't "school people," recite Shakespeare’s words with passion and appropriate rhythm. They understood the challenging vocabulary and enjoyed every day of class. They walked out of class proud of what they had accomplished. The Shakespeare Set Free opened doors for my students that they didn't know was possible. I had many that went one step farther and created their own video performance of scenes from the play as part of their final project. A few even posted on YouTube!

We did this in February and at the end of the year, when I surveyed my class, almost all stated that our days of Shakespeare were by far their favorite. Every day was a great day in room J19. I miss it!

~Heather Bojorquez

           

Hailey Frogge- A Rewarding Day

Hailey Frogge

One of my best days in the classroom occurred early in the school year last year.  It was my first year teaching and I had a new student within the first 3 weeks of school.  I had put a lot of effort into creating my classroom community, developing class rules together, and talking about the environment we all wanted to learn in. Within several days I began to learn more about my new student and she learned more about me.  It took awhile longer for us to form a real connection when she began telling me about a plastic ring (and several other objects) she took from other students  without permission.  She felt comfortable enough to share that she had done something “bad” without fear of my reaction; this meant the world to me.  Knowing that this student trusted me with this information helped me realize how I approach my students matters and determines the tone of a relationship for the rest of the year.

M. Barron

Since I  blog, not nearly consistently, it was easy to write about the best day I ever had, in recent memory, as a teacher.  I’d blogged about it already.

So, I had a bit more fun with "The Masque of the Red Death" this year during my 10th-grade Honors' Poe unit than I usually do besides setting up the colored strings of lights to coincide with the colored rooms.

I was going to try and memorize and perform the story for the students, but I'd been in a car accident, so that didn't happen.

Instead, I bought all the students masquerade masks from Amazon for them to wear while we read.  They appreciated the fact that I bought them something and seemed to enjoy wearing them.

I, too, had a little fun and dressed the part.  I hope the kids appreciate the fact I'm willing to embarrass myself for them.

Christy Turner

Having to select a best day ever is extremely hard.  There are so many wonderful days to choose from.  Every day is a gift, to give  love, hope and knowledge to my students.  I began my teaching career 12 years ago.  I started off as a TA, loved it so much I went back to school to get my teaching certification.  I became a second grade teacher and never looked back.  I taught 2nd grade for the last 10 years.  The way the students came into the room every morning, expecting great things, eyes wide open was truly amazing.  So I would have to say, seeing students understand and learn how to read always made a day worth remembering.

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Ashlie King ~ That one.

We all have that one. That one student that pushes all of your buttons. He maxes out your patience and uses up all of his chances. As my grandmother would say, he works your last nerve. Grinds it to dust and sprinkles it on the classroom floor before he leaves each day. You greet him politely each morning. You say regularly, tomorrow is the day. I am going to do whatever takes to reach this kid. This kid will grow. This kid will leave this classroom changed, even if it’s just a tiny bit.

I had that one. Now, he’s in middle school. I spent the better part of a year trying to reach this kid. I went to baseball games. I let him have special classroom jobs. I hugged him. I let him slide on homework assignments because they were too “hard” and I tutored him. I made him feel special. I let him visit the principal for positive reasons and serve as a reading buddy with first graders. I reached out to his parents. I paid for his field trip when he couldn’t afford it. I started a behavior plan for him. I invited interventionists in my classroom. I let them critique me. I took ownership of my part in this lack of relationship. I loved this kid. I will always love this kid.

Our last track in of the year arrived, we had about 20 days left in school and I resolved to just survive. Put on my big girl pants, smile and nod, kill him with kindness. If he didn’t learn anything else, or grow in any other way, he would leave knowing I loved him, someone cares. Maybe that would impact his life in a much grander way than apparent. Testing came and went. End of the year activities were fast approaching. Students were excited and busy and his behaviors were spiraling out of control. Any progress made had fell right out of the meter and pooled on the floor. We were stepping in the mess of him everyday. Students were treading carefully around, not wanting to set him off. I ignored his puddled and let him sit in his bubble and soak. I admit, I quit.

The last three weeks of school, I planned to allow my students to demonstrate their learning by completing a Passion Project. They could choose anything they wanted. My requirements were very simple and let students take ownership of planning, executing, and producing a project they were passionate about. Day one brought about groans and whines and frustrations. He went to the office. He read a book. He told other students their projects were dumb. However, my best teaching day ever was the next day. Day two brought excitement. Day two greeted me with a hug. Day two told me I was the best teacher ever. Day two taught me that he loved hoverboards and aircraft. Day two showed me that he had learned how to research. He had listened. He had learned. He could apply his set of skills acquired in my class. He absorbed the environment. He recruited a friend to work with him and the two of them created an interactive, animated PowerPoint slide. They also built their own hoverboard using what he had learned in my magnetism and electricity unit.

….to be continued.

Let them Lead!

One of my favorite teaching moments was this year’s student led conferences. I love these conferences, not just because it allows me to knock out all of my conferences in 2 hours, but because of the rare opportunity it gives me to see my kids with their parents. It takes a lot of prep work with the kids, but the payoff in watching them proudly show off their classroom and all they've learned this year is worth it. (Plus, did I mention? 24 conferences in 2 hours!) But, honestly, the kids are the stars, as they should be.

This year, I had nineteen sets of parents that came in for a conference led by their second grader, and the results were amazing. This year I saw.a natural born leader confidently directing his parents directing them through all of the classroom stations easily, with just the right amount of explanation. I saw the energetic excitement of one little boy who literally bounded into the classroom for his conference. This child has been telling me every day for months, "My mom is coming to lunch

today!" and she has yet to show. But she came for the conference, and I thought that child was going to burst with excitement to have his mom in his classroom. I saw my chatty-Cathy leading her mom through an entire presentation, complete with visual aids! The fact that this child was honest and brave enough to give herself a 1 on "I refrain from unnecessary talking" combined with the fact that her mother lovingly accepted (and agreed with) that ranking just made me grin! I saw the quiet discussion in Spanish between one of my little girls and her dad. I have no idea what she was telling him, but the proud smiles on both of their faces assured me it was good. This is a parent I probably never would have met otherwise. I saw the grin on the face of little girl who told me point blank, "My parents have to work--they won't come. They never come to conferences," and when we went over the conference rules said, "My mom will never turn off her cell phone," yet walked in with not one, but both of her parents. And her mom did, indeed, silence her phone and give her daughter her undivided attention. I saw the whispered conversation between my quietest child and her parents. She was so nervous and did not want to do the conference. But she did, and her parents told me later she did a fabulous job and admitted it wasn't so bad :)

My favorite part of the event, however, was the shy smile of a student as I showed her parents the drastic increase in her reading fluency--from 23wpm to 96wpm. This same child had to re-do her conference sheet because she had originally chosen all assignments she'd struggled with and written comments like "I can't do it" and "I'm stupid." With a little encouragement, she instead found assignments to share where she had done well (there were plenty to choose from) and proudly went through her binder with both mom and dad. At the end of the conference I called her parents over, telling them I had something to show them. I pulled up her fluency graph, and showed the amazing progress their daughter had made. The parents both grinned, as they said, “We were so worried, we thought it was going to be bad news. She’s struggled for two years…” This child has worked so hard this year and come so far, it was awesome to see her share that with her parents, and that shy smile on her face made made my year.