Explain a lake turnover.  I was creating a study guide for my science class and this was number 6.  Could you explain lake turnovers? For those who cannot here we go: During autumn, when the days are cooler, the surface water temperatures cool.  This causes the upper layer to become heavy and it sinks to the bottom.  This stirs up nutrients and minerals from the dead plants and organisms in the bottom of the lake causing it to mix throughout the water.  And that my friend is lake turnover – which who cares I know, but it reminded me of something…

All of that dead, gross, slimy junk at the bottom of the lake gets mixed with the clean, fresh water. This is good for the lake’s system.  Our students have a huge mixture of  “dead” learning just sitting there.  So many times my co-workers and I gripe that the elementary teachers did not prepare the students for 6th grade.  Or we gripe that this stuff is 4th grade curriculum, why didn’t they teach it.  I’m sure those teachers did.  I can guarantee next year the 7th grade teachers will say the same about the kids I taught this year. They know this stuff, its just “dead.”

How do we get “learning turnover?” How can we stir up the dead stuff at the bottom? I do not have the perfect answer for this.  I know in my classroom I can ask questions looking for prior knowledge and get nothing, then turn on projector and show pictures or short video clips and I can see how it all comes flooding back to them.  Today I showed one 10 second animation of a lock at a dam and could see the “learning turnover” go from no one knew what one was to them telling me stories of visiting Lock 17 on the Warrior River.

That past knowledge is there, they have heard/learned/experienced this stuff before, we just have to find ways to stir it up.

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I like to try new and different things.  I also try things that I don’t think will work, but hope for the best anyway. At least then I can say I tried.  Today I don’t feel well so, the last thing I wanted to do was lecture about fresh water treatment plants and sewer systems.  So as I was standing in 20F at bus duty I had this idea, an idea I figured would not work, but at least I would not be lecturing.

The students are required to read from the text at least once a week. On standardized testing this is the section we usually score lowest. So today I decided will be the text day.  The unit we are on is Freshwater.  I chose the section “The Society Depends on Clean and Safe Water.” They were instructed to read this section and come up with four questions. The questions were to focus on things they read but do not understand or something they would like to know more about. They would then get with a partner & choose 2 of the questions to ask me.

Here is the deal, I don’t know much about sewer systems.  Well I went on a date with a guy in college that was an engineering student that studied sewer systems (called him the poop engineer and there was only one date) and I know that the county I live in has issues paying for theirs, but that’s it.  So I got to show them how to use the WWW to research the information.

My first questions were “Who established the EPA and when?” and “Is there a way to farm with out pesticides?” OH EM GEE (in the kid’s words)!! What wonderful questions I did not know the  answer too!!  We of course found answers to even more wonderful questions – and some I did know the answer to.

The last question asked was “Who came up with the idea of sewers and what was the first one like?” Well we found the answer to this at http://www.sewerhistory.org/chron.htm . It was an amazing site that we spent 15 minutes or more on.  No the history of the sewer is not on my standardized test, but the kids were totally engaged!

**Adding this since posted earlier** My last block class had a question that stumped me & I had no idea where to find it.  It was about the depth & flow of a sewer (a little off topic but not completely). My inclusion teacher’s husband is a engineer that actually puts the sewer systems in the ground.  I called her and asked her to call him for me.  She came in the room and put him on speaker phone.  The kids thought it was so cool to actually speak with an “expert.” (Don’t tell him I called him an expert – it’ll go straight to his head! Plus I think he had as much fun as the kids) You would have never thought kids would get so excited about a sewer and the flow of poop (well maybe yeah I could see that)!

Here is what I learned from this.  The kids have questions and want to ask.  AND they can surprise you with AWESOME work if they have total ownership of it! Yeah I knew that, sometimes I just need a reminder!!

“Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world.” Growing up in Alabama you learn to memorize two things – Bible verses and quotes from the greatest coach to walk the sidelines – Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.  Many of The Bear’s quotes focus on quitters being losers (google it).  Apparently he hates quitters.  I do not blame him.

This time last year, I was DONE.  I was ready to quit teaching all together.  I hated getting up in the morning and going to work.  I hated being in my classroom with the kids. I hated ALL OF IT.  All three of my classes were nightmares.  Now I will admit I missed the first 3 weeks of school because of maternity leave, but three weeks shouldn’t make that big of a difference. These kids did not care. None did homework. No one studied for test. Once in the classroom, they did not take notes (I taught math last year, so notes were kind of important), they cussed at me, only a choice few even brought their books to class.  I eventually gave up.  I no longer tried to reach these students.  The day that was it for me, I had a student turn in a test that said “F*ck you Mrs. Dykes, U ugly” I was done. All year I worked so hard to show these kids respect and I never got it back.

To make matters worse, the parents were worse than the kids.  I had parents lie, set up gossip groups that focused on me. They constantly called my administrator.  They would lurk outside my classroom.  It was the worse situation I could imagine.  I had one mom verbally attack me in front of the school/other students three times before her child was removed from my classroom.

To add to this, the entire spring semester I was working on my thesis for my Ed.S., a constant stress on my shoulders.  My pedagogy was out the door.  I have no desire AT ALL.  It was also my tenure year (In AL you work in a school system 3 yrs, then you get tenure – job security), that’s a huge stress in itself. I also had a newborn and a 3 year old – enough said!

Luckily (after begging and pleading) I did not lose my job.  Deep down I kind of wanted to, but the fear of finding another one was too scary.  I was torn as to what decisions to make concerning this year.  To be honest, if I did not have two kids, I would have walked away from the entire profession and never looked back.

Why I stayed: 1. My co-workers.  I have some of the greatest friends/family here.  They are a huge part of my life. 2. I was given the opportunity to teach a totally different subject, it felt like a clean start. 3. I hate being a quitter, why quit a profession that I once had a passion for.

Staying was the best decision.  This year has had its ups and downs, but all in all I’m back to doing what I love.  Two of my classes are mature enough I can use mostly problem based learning techniques (the only way I knew how to teach when I graduated from undergrad).  My kids get to use my number one passion – technology – as much as possible.  This year has reminded me why I became a teacher.  Do I have my dream job? No, but I’m happy with where I am right now.

One more quote from The Bear that describes this past year: “There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.” I think I could add tears to that…

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Ok I’m a rebel.  I know this.  Its a problem I have. I do not break rules on purpose, I just do not like them.  I have issues with being passionate about things and doing whatever is in my power to put my passion into play.

It’s not a “It’s my way or no way” thing, I just look at whole picture, not the things I think are “nit-picky”(like that good ‘ol southern word?!). The rules are there for a reason.  I know that.  I have to remember that. Yes I know my way is always right (ha ha kidding!), but that doesn’t mean I must do what I want.  I’m lucky to be in a place where a dictator does not rule over teachers – I’ve been there – and should follow the few rules I have.

In my eyes my kids learning comes first.  I need to realize that yes learning comes first, just not always “my way.”

I also learned something else today. As someone put earlier: Moral = Kids are awesome! They are hungry, we need to feed them! If we don’t they will find food!

Ok I feel better now.

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I know that is a weird title but its true! Last night I was creating a test for my students. I have to have 400-600 points a nine weeks from tests. My tests have to reflect the knowledge of content standards. Ok so this makes total sense – a typical standard in education. Here is my problem, its crap. I’m writing this question and stop: “Which of the following is NOT a gas found in the ocean?” I just looked at it and thought, “WHO CARES?!” I mean do you? Will this somehow help you in the future? Will this get you a job? ? Well maybe at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, but I mean really? Why on Earth would I ask a bunch of 12 year old kids this?

This whole concept is also bumping into another issue I have had this week. How to get the students to answer higher-level thinking questions. I would rather ask “Describe a way water from an upwelling differs from the water around it.” or “What might cause a current to change direction?” If I put that question on a test I would get answers like “it came up” or “the density” or nothing at all.  If I asked it a loud to my class I would get beautiful answers probably some arguing over who is right (except 2nd block, can’t figure out them out, but I do know they hate to think).

That leads me to my next problem. These kids can use google earth to find the continental shelf, but they cannot tell me the chemicals in the ocean. I’m sorry but I would rather them know how to view a satellite image. But how to I record this, grade this, etc?

I can keep a check list, but my parents are so funny about me proving why they go their grades. I use a lot of rubrics, mostly because it is easy for me to keep up with – I use forms in google docs – but how can I get these kids to show me their thinking? How can I get them to share what is on their minds?

My idea is to start putting one or two questions online a week and allowing them to answer using the anonymity of the internet (I would know who answers). The question now is to decide what to use. The suggestions I have received are: voice thread, wikis, blogs, or edmodo. My students are not to “techy” beyond BeBo and text messages. So I don’t want this to be about the technology. I want it to be about the work.  I have not decided on what to do yet, but I’m in the process. Just wanted to share what’s on my mind with this, if you have suggestions or success stories on this please share…

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