Ms. Rodriguez's Classroom

This one will be short, but I'm just really impressed with the community these students and I have fostered! This week was a short one, we have conferences Thursday and Friday, so their last day of the week was Wednesday. I came into the room and someone had done this! YAY!

Recently I had a student who unfortunately failed a project. This student is incredibly sensitive and utilizes a lot of support from the admin and counseling teams. This student is so in his own head that he could not understand why he could have failed this assignment. While I could do the best I could to explain where he veered from the course, it was tough to get through to him that it wasn't personal and I was being objective. Over two weeks, meetings with admin, emails with mom and dad, and many one on one conversations, we came to the conclusion that he would redo this assignment and and I would average his grades together. We both came to the conclusion that he needs step by step instructions to figure out how much time and effort to spend on larger projects like this while still striving for higher marks. Getting to know this student and his needs is and will continue to be imperative, and one way we do this is through student-teacher conversations.

One tradition SPA has, dating back to the class of 1985, is that of senior speeches. Each senior has a chance to (actually, requirement) get up in front of the whole school and share a story. They get 7 minutes to talk about whatever they want. These speeches happen during our "X" period, or break between first and second block of the day, one to two times per week. Four students sit on stage waiting to speak. Their friends or family come up to introduce them, then the student to speak plunges into whatever topic they are passionate about. Four students will speak in one X period. Within the past 10 weeks, I have heard stories about parental death, adoption, political ramblings, checks of economic and white privileges, pizza rolls, faith, and smashing the patriarchy. The students dress up, get all nervous, then simply go for it. This is something students think about for years. There are two senior speech advisers and they all must pass through the dean's desk to mak...

During my MB6 time, I've seen a lot of focus on movement for younger kids, but not so much for middle- and high school aged students. I think this aspect of teaching is just as important in the upper grades. During our 75 minute block periods, I rarely have students sitting at the oval Harkness table for the entire time. My 11th grade students are in the routine of writing their historical ID's and vocabulary from their reading on the board during the first half of class (kids love writing on the board!). My 10th grade students usually have at least one group research/conversation aspect each class. These students are in the routine of going out to another part of the floor and coming back at a certain time. I've found that this also helps them take ownership of their learning. If we don't have a natural break and time to move around, I notice my students are much more likely to be disengaged with material and myself. I might even try some Go-Noodle videos to get them ...

One thing my students alerted me to pretty early on in the term is the tradition of go-arounds to start the class! This has been a really fun way to get to know my students and bring up conversation starters later during downtime. One of my favorites has been "describe your favorite pair of socks". I had so many distinct answers from "I only wear black Nike midcalf socks I have 100 pairs" to "A pair of stripey ones that are really worn out but I got them from my grandmother who's since passed so they're really important to me". It also allows my students to come up with creative ways to start class. Sometimes the conversation can get away from us, but as the teacher, I don't actually mind because it means they're interacting with each other instead of their devices!

Since some of our brain research focused on using music in the classroom, I decided to try it in my classes. I only used my U.S. History class which meets every other day. The first time I used it, I did so while they were walking in to the room and it was ONLY on my computer. Not super effective. The second time I did it, they were doing independent work and it was over the speakers. They sang a long to my "Songs to Sing in the Shower" playlist, but sometimes got distracted and asked me for a new song. My response was "I'm your teacher I'm not a DJ". This seemed to let them know I was here for academic purposes and they could earn the tunes. I think they liked it! I'll try again after MEA with a new type of music.