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One challenge is to following up with students who are failing. I tried to pull them into intervention periods but they still don't want to do anything.

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One struggle that I had this past week was that I had one student making jokes all the time during class and being really negative towards school. He was always complaining about the work and saying that he would drop off. He was making those comments to make the other students laugh and maybe to see what reaction he would get from me. I had previously talked privately with him to address this behavior. I had told him that I believe that he could do better and that I will support him to pass my class but I needed to see change and him to make the effort to do better. I called home multiple times but no one ever answered. This week I had another conversation with him and it seems like this time was more effective. He stopped making so many jokes and focused more on doing his work. He scored a 12 out of 15 on the quiz and he was so proud about it. I told him that he was doing a great job.

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This week has been pretty good without any issues. Last week I was having issues with student engagement on Thursday before the three day weekend. I am not sure what the issue with kids was. I speculated that because the three day weekend was coming up, the recent time change, or some other factor. Over the weekend I got some rest myself and walked into this week with more energy and some new engagement strategies that I got from my academic coach.

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One challenge that I had this week was issue with cell phones and students trying to give an attitude and not give their cell phones.

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I am concerned with student apathy being so high that it is causing me to be apathetic as well. My mental health is diminishing to the point where I am having trouble doing anything at all anymore.

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One struggle I have struggled with is getting students to stop talking to each other across the room. They are a group of four students that are all on the football team. I reached out to their coach and the behavior stopped after.

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Eduardo Avila-Chavez: Misusing Class Time

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Eduardo Avila-Chavez: Misusing Class Time

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One struggle I had the past week before Halloween was that many of my students were not attending my class because they were helping ASB with the Fall Carnival event. Although it’s exciting to be able to provide students the opportunity to see events be put on again, I felt that some of my coworkers dismissed the significance of my class.

History does not have state testing, and so some view the class as having less priority. It was frustrating to see that about 10 - 20 of my students were not reporting to class for the week because they were assisting. It was also frustrating to learn that some did not report to my class because of a volleyball party that another teacher was hosting. She did not reach out to me ahead of time either. It feels odd trying to be as professional as possible when others do not take their other coworkers seriously. Some students would ask if “what we are doing is important,” which was frustrating   because of course what we do in class is important. Now, a lot of students are coming back to class and it’s difficult trying to get them caught up. I also feel that this situation gave them the impression that my class is insignificant and dismissible.

I have a meeting scheduled with my mentor to talk about this. I am trying to be the bigger person, and I want to avoid conflict, but I know this is something that needs to be addressed…

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One challenge I had this week was planning instruction for two different grades. Since I'm not qualified to teach ELD classes, I have been assigned to teach three 8th grade glasses and two 7th grade classes. Luckily, my schedule is set up so that I teach my 8th grade classes at the beginning of the day and the 7th grade classes at the end of the day. I have a prep period right after lunch, so I have time to prepare lessons and materials for the 7th grade classes. However, it still gets difficult having to plan two separate lessons. An additional difficulty is that I have to split my PLC time between the 8th grade ELA teachers and the 7th grade ELA teachers. I'm grateful that the Department chair is very supportive, and she has been sharing a lot of materials with me and giving me guidance.

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One challenge I have is that students misuse the bathroom rule. We have 90min period at my site and students are only allowed to go 30mins out of the 90min and only 1 student can go at a time. I keep having the same students ask to go every period and they take way to long in the bathroom. I’ve called CSM’s to check up on them and escort them back to class, if they are just wasting time. However, this doesn’t stop them from asking to go to the bathroom everyday. I’ve already checked on their student profiles to make sure they don’t have a medical need and they don’t. I’m at a lose on how to handle this bathroom issue.

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An issue I am experiencing at my work site currently is having too many silent fails or fails in general. We are working on our Embedded Assessment, a 5 paragraph expository essay. I am setting goals for them and letting them know where they should be by that day at the end of the period. Today was day 3 and I still had students sitting there with absolutely nothing on their paper, not even a name. It is so frustrating because this whole unit is working on that skill. So much so that we even do a Friday writing every Friday. Why are some students regressing? Also, we can't help AT ALL. Not even an "is this good so far?" question. I am offering 30 warrior points a day to those who meet the goal or get very very close to meeting the goal I set for that day.

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One challenge that I have had this week is misbehaving. In my 6th period I have two students that always talk in class and do not do their work. This week I had send them to the office because they were throwing pencils in class. I called home and today I have a conversation with them about their behavior. Araceli

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One challenge I had was with a student who is very disrespectful and rude to me every single day. I do not know how to handle it because no matter how I talk to her she rolls her eyes, gives attitude and argues. She continuously goes on her phone every day even after I told her it is against my rules. she told me my rules are stupid and she can do what she wants. I told her to talk to me after class and she left instead. I submitted a referral and she came back today screaming in my face. It was so overwhelming, I even teared up a bit.

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One huge problem I have been dealing with lately with my students is the overwhelming amount of students that want to go to the bathroom every single class period. These students squirm in their seats if they are told they cannot go to the bathroom everyday. These students do not have special circumstances or medical conditions that allow for them to go to the bathroom whenever they want either. When they do leave to go to the bathroom, they leave for a long period of time, and I hear from other students that they are goofing off with other students and taking walks around the campus. The English department has made a rule for only three students to be able to go to the bathroom in a single class period, and I have been using this new rule for the students. Yet those that ask after the maximum three have gone for the day still whine and ask to go everyday. I do not want students to miss out on instruction time. The students know this new three student rule but still ask "why" and repeatedly say my name and ask why over and over during the whole period and then threaten to " tell their mom". I want these students to learn responsibility and use the bathroom during their own time so they will not miss ten minutes of class everyday. I will be calling parents and reinforcing the new rule until the students start to improve their behavior and use the bathroom at appropriate times instead of every day they have my class.

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One challenge I have had this week is having my students stay seated until the bell rings. My 7th period class has a bad habit of hanging around by the door a minute or so before the bell rings. I have let it slide since some students need to catch the bus after school but some kids have been trying to take advantage and will start opening and messing with my door. I have warned them that I will keep them after class If they continue this behavior. Next week I will emphasize this issue and will need to start being more strict with this policy.

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One of the challenges I experienced was regarding a student who had missed multiple class sessions, over a week's worth of instruction, due to illness brought on by anxiety. I had spoken with his counselor regarding his absences and behavior during class so we could figure out how best to assist him and his emotional needs in order to get him back on track. With his counselor's assistance, we came up with a plan and were able to get him back into class. He did not have perfect attendance after this conversation, but his absences were significantly reduced, and he was able to achieve/participate more during class.

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One of the issues I have encountered is the creativity that students have to make up excuses for incomplete work. We have been working on presentations for the past couple of weeks and this was supposed to be an opportunity for students to share their family traditions with everyone. I understand that not everyone has a nice home environment, but students were instructed to write about family traditions even if they do those with people that are not their biological family members, for instance a friend's family, godparents, or they could also even talk about a family tradition that they see themselves incorporating in the future when they have families of their own.

I gave everyone so many options and possibilities. I provided examples, visuals, and all the accommodations in the world. I even gave up my lunch to allow students with anxiety or a not so positive home environment to present their tradition to me alone. And yet I still have students who did not take advantage of all this.

It is exhausting to do so much. On a brighter note, I do have to focus on the positive aspect of this project. I had amazing presentations and students were able to see the diversity in the student population and learned about other cultures such as the Hmong, Indian, Guatemalan, and Salvadorian. Taking into consideration that about 90% or more of the students are of Mexican origins I see this as a great way to begin our unit of Human Geography around the world.

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I’m being scheduled for parent meetings, department meetings, and training sessions during my prep. What days I do have left I spend observing other classes for my clinical hours. They are all necessary and worthwhile activities but I don’t have time to prep. Now, my district just added an EL monitoring report we have to complete. I don’t know when to find time to write 44 student reports.
-Tricia (math)

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The last major struggle I experienced was during an observation with my University Supervisor. I was teaching a lesson focused on scenic painting, we were painting the floor of our theatre to look like a high school gymnasium. A student with whom I've experience issues with behaviorally decided to start throwing paint off of his roller and paint brush at other students. Not only was this incredibly frustrating to see deeply pigmented yellow paint flying across our nearly finished set, but it was a major safety issue as some students may have allergic reactions to the paint contacting their skin. I was embarrassed and was convinced it would negatively impact my observation. Thankfully, my University Supervisor is also a Theatre Educator in a High School and understands the unique challenges when it comes to managing teenagers with paint. She commended me on the way I handled the situation calmly and effectively, and in my observation feedback said it showed I know how to effectively manage my classroom even when things do not go according to plan. It was a tough day and left me with some stained clothes, but thankfully I was able to address the behavior and redirect the student.

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This week I had to send 4 students to the office for misbehaving and talking in Class. This is an intervention class and they do not want to do any kind of work. These 4 students did not want to be quiet. They were standing up and walking around class. I gave them a few warnings but they wouldn't listened. I then proceeded to send them to the office. Two of them went and said I was racist as they walked out. The other two did not want to go, so I called for a campus supervisor to come get them. I am running out of ideas on how to control this intervention class.

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I have been having issues with students being called out of class. Every day students are called out of my class. This causes them to miss out on instruction. It also makes it so I have to catch them up. I have found this to be very time consuming. There isn't really anything that I can do about it. I am aware that the office needs the students, but it is really unfortunate that students are missing out on instruction. I don't want to step on any toes. I wish that I could say "no" every once in a while. I have certain students that are called out of my class almost daily. The calls come from the counselor, the attendance office, the front office, the campus supervisor, and the nurse. Students also miss class in 7th period often because of sports.

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A challenge that I experienced this week was students who are very chatty with each other. In my fifth period, most of the students are friends. Regardless of where I sit them, they will find someone that they can converse with and disrupt the classroom’s learning environment. I have tried to ask them to quiet down, I have moved students around in the moment, and I have moved throughout the classroom so that they are aware that I am there. Nothing seems to work. My attention-getters have to be repeated multiple times. It’s really 4-5 students that are very chatty. I am going to talk to the, one on one to let them know that it’s disrespectful of them to have conversations when I am trying to teach. I respect them and their time, so I would like their respect as well.

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I have a student who consistently disrupts my PE class and also in his homeroom class. There is a lack of parent support. I decided to remove him from class and give him a separate assignment to work on his own. I am waiting to see if this strategy will change his behavior.

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One challenge that I have had this week is multiple students using the excuse that they can not fully participate because they have a game that day. For example, the football players that I have in class say they can't run the mile because they need their energy for the game. This has happened on multiple occasions and I have informed the students that school so PE comes before sports. I have now informed the coaches about this and am waiting to hear back from this. What I am wanting is the coaches to back me up and tell their players they need to participate or they can't play.  - Toni Adams 

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One challenge that I have had this week is multiple students using the excuse that they can not fully participate because they have a game that day. For example, the football players that I have in class say they can't run the mile because they need their energy for the game. This has happened on multiple occasions and I have informed the students that school so PE comes before sports. I have now informed the coaches about this and am waiting to hear back from this. What I am wanting is the coaches to back me up and tell their players they need to participate or they can't play.  - Toni Adams 