Monday, June 19, 2006
The Real Ultimate Science Teacher?
So...you may recall the exciting story from last post explaining how the ninth grade academy hammered out a coverage schedule for the final days of school. While it may not have been a perfect system, the students had basically accepted it by the end of the week and all the teachers seemed to know what their duties entailed.
After all that, I assumed that when I got to school this morning things would just continue as scheduled. Of course I had forgotten 3 things:
1. This was Underwood High School where logic and reason have taken a permanent holiday.
2. It was Monday. Nothing ever goes right on a Monday.
3. The administration, which had been absent most of Friday due to graduation was back! More bureaucracy can only help things run more smoothly, right? (Right?!?)
Don't misunderstand, at first things actually did seem to be proceeding as expected. The students, whose numbers have continued to dwindle, were funneled into the cafeteria as per standard operating procedure. Granted, the staff held them downstairs longer than normal, but otherwise things seemed fine.
And then came the announcement that the old schedule was to be scrapped and students were to proceed to their regular classes. That's right. No more movie room, game room, etc. We now return you to your regularly scheduled half-empty classes. Who cares if the old system worked? SCRAP IT!
When I heard this new agenda from a few other teachers, I nodded my head and simply prepared to accept it. And then the principal got on the intercom. All coverage schedules set up during the previous week were to be in effect, the only alterations were for the district-mandated half day.
At that moment, I scurried off in search of clarity. I asked the head of the academy what was going on, cornering her by the math room in the opposite corner of the second floor from my room. After explaining the situation and the blatant contradictions in directives, I asked her what I should do.
Her response?: I...don't...know...
A few moments later she slammed the locker in frustration.
Eventually, the coverage schedule upon which we had previously agreed was reinstituted and the day wore on as normal. With one exception. A few of my friends in the math department held a little party in honor of my imminent departure. There was delicious pizza provided by an algebra teacher's parents who own a shop in the north end of town, cake provided by the local supermarket complete with an appropriate message scrawled in blue frosting ("We'll miss you Ben!"), and a gift...a certificate, signed by my coworkers, which reads as follows:
Underwood High School
Mathematics Department
Congratulates
THE INVISIBLE BEN
for being the
ULTIMATE SCIENCE TEACHER
2003-2006
It will come as no surprise to long time readers of this blog that despite the assertions of the math department head and a few other colleagues to the contrary, I do not feel particularly deserving of the lofty title of "Ultimate Science Teacher." Setting aside my classroom management issues, the amount of actual critical thinking I was able to integrate into my lessons, the amount of actual hands-on science compared to lecturing/outlining, was relatively paltry. And although I realize that I probably impacted a few students in ways that I will never know, I would imagine that the epitomized science educator would likely have a passing student percentage of greater than 30%.
Still, it would be rude to say such things at a party held in one's honor, and the certificate really was a very nice, heartflet gesture. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, after all. So I thanked them all for going to all the trouble on my behalf and withheld any self-deprecation until I could get to a more private venue. (Which ironically enough could be accessed by any of them, since it is a public blog!) We all wolfed down pizza and soda. Then, it was off to clean up our classrooms before filling out a district survey on school climate. All in all, an interesting Monday, my last as an Underwood teacher.
What daring new adventures lay in store for the Ultimate Science Teacher tomorrow, on his finally school day with actual students in the building? Tune in on Tuesday and find out!
So...you may recall the exciting story from last post explaining how the ninth grade academy hammered out a coverage schedule for the final days of school. While it may not have been a perfect system, the students had basically accepted it by the end of the week and all the teachers seemed to know what their duties entailed.
After all that, I assumed that when I got to school this morning things would just continue as scheduled. Of course I had forgotten 3 things:
1. This was Underwood High School where logic and reason have taken a permanent holiday.
2. It was Monday. Nothing ever goes right on a Monday.
3. The administration, which had been absent most of Friday due to graduation was back! More bureaucracy can only help things run more smoothly, right? (Right?!?)
Don't misunderstand, at first things actually did seem to be proceeding as expected. The students, whose numbers have continued to dwindle, were funneled into the cafeteria as per standard operating procedure. Granted, the staff held them downstairs longer than normal, but otherwise things seemed fine.
And then came the announcement that the old schedule was to be scrapped and students were to proceed to their regular classes. That's right. No more movie room, game room, etc. We now return you to your regularly scheduled half-empty classes. Who cares if the old system worked? SCRAP IT!
When I heard this new agenda from a few other teachers, I nodded my head and simply prepared to accept it. And then the principal got on the intercom. All coverage schedules set up during the previous week were to be in effect, the only alterations were for the district-mandated half day.
At that moment, I scurried off in search of clarity. I asked the head of the academy what was going on, cornering her by the math room in the opposite corner of the second floor from my room. After explaining the situation and the blatant contradictions in directives, I asked her what I should do.
Her response?: I...don't...know...
A few moments later she slammed the locker in frustration.
Eventually, the coverage schedule upon which we had previously agreed was reinstituted and the day wore on as normal. With one exception. A few of my friends in the math department held a little party in honor of my imminent departure. There was delicious pizza provided by an algebra teacher's parents who own a shop in the north end of town, cake provided by the local supermarket complete with an appropriate message scrawled in blue frosting ("We'll miss you Ben!"), and a gift...a certificate, signed by my coworkers, which reads as follows:
Underwood High School
Mathematics Department
Congratulates
THE INVISIBLE BEN
for being the
ULTIMATE SCIENCE TEACHER
2003-2006
It will come as no surprise to long time readers of this blog that despite the assertions of the math department head and a few other colleagues to the contrary, I do not feel particularly deserving of the lofty title of "Ultimate Science Teacher." Setting aside my classroom management issues, the amount of actual critical thinking I was able to integrate into my lessons, the amount of actual hands-on science compared to lecturing/outlining, was relatively paltry. And although I realize that I probably impacted a few students in ways that I will never know, I would imagine that the epitomized science educator would likely have a passing student percentage of greater than 30%.
Still, it would be rude to say such things at a party held in one's honor, and the certificate really was a very nice, heartflet gesture. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, after all. So I thanked them all for going to all the trouble on my behalf and withheld any self-deprecation until I could get to a more private venue. (Which ironically enough could be accessed by any of them, since it is a public blog!) We all wolfed down pizza and soda. Then, it was off to clean up our classrooms before filling out a district survey on school climate. All in all, an interesting Monday, my last as an Underwood teacher.
What daring new adventures lay in store for the Ultimate Science Teacher tomorrow, on his finally school day with actual students in the building? Tune in on Tuesday and find out!
