Numbers

Overall:
Total Students: 64
Failing Students: 35
Percent Failing: 55

First Block:
Total Students: 19
Failing Students: 14
Percent Failing: 74%

Second Block:
Total Students:22
Failing Students: 6
Percent Failing: 27%

Fourth Block:
Total Students: 23
Failing Students: 15
Percent Failing: 65%

Notes like these always get me...

Dear Mr. Gallagher,

This year you have taught me a lot and you have showed me that I am a bright ,smart ,and intelligent young lady and that I can do anything I want if I put my mind to it . I want to thank you for everything you have taught me and thank you for believing in me and showing me that I can make it threw anything. You are a wonderful teacher and I want wish you the best in life and hope you can make someone else feel as great as you have made me feel.

Love Always,

Z H

Today

I hit a bird on the motorcycle. With my helmet. Doing 65. That's all.

On the back of a senior picture....

To: Mr. G
"The quote is 'Never judge a book by its cover.' It is true that you look mean but you are actually nice but firm. Thanks for the sidewalk chats."

You are appreciated...

Today, apparently, is teacher appreciation day, or at least the final day of teacher appreciation week. Our principal organized a breakfast for all the teachers, during which she held all the students in the auditorium. It was a nice gesture, although of course what the teachers would have appreciated most would have been a normal day that followed a predictable schedule. The breakfast meant first block lasted only about 20 minutes.

As second block starts, T.C. bursts in, and holding up a dollar bill, thrusts it at me. As I'm trying to remember if I had somehow told them that it was my birthday, he says "Mr. G., we appreciate you!" I'm standing, still somewhat speechless, when Myran, not to be outdone, leaps from his seat and presents me with another crinkled bill. As I look down and notice the denomination on the bill, Myran makes the same realization - "Hey, Mr. G, gimme back that five dollars. Mr. G, Mr. G..."

Things I can't control in fourth block

The temperature is at least 85 degrees in the classroom.

Fourth block is supposed to start at 1:38, and end at 3:26. Today, like many other days, unannounced, it did not end until 4:00.


Today, about an hour into class (which, as mentioned above, isn't even halfway into the block), three students walk in with passes from the office. Ten minutes later, three more arrive. In the middle of class, once we're quite in the middle of independent practice, I have six angry students arriving, knowing nothing about what we did for the last hour.

ZH has missed more days than she has been present this year. When she is present, she is an inquisitive, bright student. When she is absent, she does not learn. She has made less than a 20 every quarter. She is pregnant.

JH was my best student, until she went on maternity leave. Since she came back, I have seen her perhaps three times, in class. I saw her at the fair, though. She will not pass.

To summarize, I cannot control the temperature, the variable and overly drawn-out length of class, the arrival or departure of students during class, the pregnant state of my students or their attendance rates.

Senioritis

I've got it, and probably worse than the kids. I'm counting down the days, realizing I'll never be in this moment again, that these people with whom I've become so close are all about to disperse to far corners of the country, perhaps never to meet again.

Today, instead of coming home and working after school, I went to soccer, entirely against doctor's orders. Then, instead of coming home, I went to the Po' Boy shop, which doubles as a bar and pool hall, with Tabitha. We ate at the bar, watching a reality show about king crab fishermen in Alaska, and played a few games of pool. We should have started patronizing that place a long time ago.

We came back to the house and played set for an hour and a half, perhaps two hours, with Cornish and Anwmo. It started out as two games, but we needed a tie breaker, and so we played another, and then kept going. We made a lot of jokes about your mom. And then suddenly it was 11, and there are a whole list of things I should have done, but didn't. I should have graded Dominique's retest. I have to still do that tonight, if nothing else. I haven't done TST stuff, but I've basically given up on that. I didn't do my PT for my knee, but, well, it got a workout at soccer. I didn't grade any of my log packets or log quizzes from Algebra II, and I haven't planned anything for tomorrow. Oh, yes. Algebra II, we're d0ing conics. Tape and construction paper. Algebra I, first block, we are doing what we were supposed to do today, since we didn't have first block today. I just need to know what we're doing in fourth block. Basically, we could do the same thing we did today, since no one understood it, but that would get boring quickly. I think, basically, what I need to do is to come up with two different forms of independent practice, so that the first day they can do one, that is slightly more dependent, and the second day, they can do a more independent version. Or maybe, I just need to do better guided practice. Working problems on the board and asking the students what to do is only guided practice for those that are paying attention, and that is usually just 2 or 3 students in Algebra I (either block). This has been a miserable semester. I hate that I hate these kids, but I really do. Not all of them, probably not even most of them, individually. But as groups, both my fourth and first block I can honestly say I hate, and my second block, as a group, I strongly dislike. Any one of them, if I could remove a few elements, would be alright. But in my fourth block, there are too many elements that need removing.

Anyway, I had a good day of not working. Now I need about 20 minutes of working.