Rehab, Holden, and The Scarlet Letter

What do these 3 things have in common?

Well, for the past three weeks I've had the interesting opportunity to be a "guest teacher" (the new term for "substitute") for an English teacher at a local high school, due to her being in rehab. For alcohol. Further proof that it's a stressful profession.

Week 1 was a scramble, as there were no lesson plans, no attendance sheets, no gradebook or planning book...nothing to give me a clue as to what the teacher's goals and expectations were for the class. (Previous to me arriving, there were 8 different substitutes in and out.) Even the AP class didn't receive a syllabus! I got a little help from some of the other teachers, and the dept. head (who was there on my 1st/2nd day) then has been gone since due to her own health situation--totally not related to rehab or anything.

While the AP kids have been working on and now finally giving group presentations on The Scarlet Letter, I've managed to scrounge up materials either found in messy file drawers or random drawers (the poor teacher was totally unorganized, reflective of her downward alcoholic slide) to at least help with curriculum for The Catcher in the Rye. It's one of my favorite novels to teach; however, my files (and marked up copy of the book) is in storage at my parents 300+ miles away. So I've resorted to using basic comprehension questions the teacher had in a file (which I only finally found on day 4).

The district, unfortunately, uses ability grouping for their English classes. And according to Myles I. Friedman's book No School Left Behind: How to Increase Student Achievement, this is one of the things that schools are NOT supposed to do. So 5 and 6th periods is "Integrated Communications"--seniors who have either failed the regular ("College Prep") course the previous year(s), or who chose the course (or it was chosen for them by a counselor) either because:
a) didn't want a challenging English class/don't care about going to college
b) is ESL
c) can't read/write
d) a and c

Despite the handful of respectful, cooperative, genuine nice kids, there is an obnoxious group of 3 or so boys (it's always the boys..17/18 yr old high school boys are an odd breed...one is even 18-1/2, will be 19 in May and he says he's coming back next year b/c he can't pass any classes) in each class. They put cell phones in their crotch (to hide them from me), throw empty plastic water bottles across the room to the garbage (and miss), ask to go to the bathroom every day, don't bring their book, refuse to use one available for loan, and are kids that don't have jobs outside of school because they are not skilled enough, nor professional enough to even follow instructions and complete tasks, provide cordial customer service, and respect a boss. I'm not being cynical. I'm admitting the reality. I'm done being an idealist teacher. That would be so "first year teacher"! I taught them a new word today: asinine.

As in, "It is asinine to throw a pencil across the room at your friend."

It's a weird world there. And of course, being a "sub" (despite the work we actually have been doing and the quizzes/work being graded) doesn't allow me the time to build relationships with the students, or establish my own clear boundaries and expectations for behavior (my attempts on day 2 were somewhat helpful, but there was no real way to reverse their habits after a random string of subs and the disorganization and lax accountability they were previously held to).

Other crazy things: someone writing the word "penis" on a window with lip gloss, a snowball thrown across the room (by the almost-19-yr-old, who also wears red eyeliner and a fur-lined green plaid coat), and a kid freaking out because he didn't want to sit in his assigned seat. Like, freaking out and yelling obscenities.

So other than having a room of semi-Holdens (except they aren't passing English), there are a couple classes of College Prep juniors and we've been going through Transcendentalist writers who are in their glossy 4" thick American Lit. textbook. Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and "Nature", tomorrow some "Walden" excerpts. Unfortunatly, their writing skills are pretty weak, so it makes literary analysis questions/responses difficult, because they need so much guidance, coaching, immediate feedback, correcting, and with 30 students with the top 10% who are great writers, then the next 10% who get bored easily waiting for others...well, they have a ways to go to be prepped for college, so good thing they are only 11th graders.

Positive highlights/observations will appear in the next post, for now I can say that this re-introduction back into teaching HS English at a 1,600+ student school, on a 6 period/day schedule has helped me make the decision to not seek a FT position teaching at the secondary level...even if the rehab goes longer.

Friedman excerpts:
“Well educated students are those who know how to think critically, how to solve problems, how to work well collaboratively, and how to innovate. But children must want to learn what they are being taught; they must be active partners with their teachers. Students control what they are willing to learn.”

“In the middle school years, however, schools begin teaching more abstract concepts. Students are less able to see how these concepts help them . . . Learning becomes less interesting, and students become less motivated. From this point on, a student’s success depends largely on the values of the family. If the family places a high value on education, students will force themselves to push through the boredom and irrelevance of their lessons.”