Teaching Public High-School, by Christa Allan

I wanted to share a story of how I came to be a teacher that detailed my “ever since I first erased a blackboard” longing to stand in front of 150 teenagers daily and grow misty-eyed sharing adverbial subordinate clauses and Thoreau’s transcendental weirdness. But, alas, that was not to be (a fringe allusion to Hamlet’s soliloquy, but then you knew that, right?).

The truth is, I fell into teaching in much the same way we fall into love. At first, I wasn’t the least bit interested. In fact, at some point in my pre-teen life, I’d decided I wanted to be a nun and walked around the house wearing scarves as veils to see how I’d look with all my hair covered. During high school, I decided that wasn’t going to work out for me because I laughed too much.

And, for the record, I wasn’t drawn to teaching because I was a brainiac in school. In addition to being strongly average, I was awkward and insecure.

My blind date with teaching didn’t start off well. I had this notion I’d major in elementary education. I have no idea why except perhaps having a height advantage over most K-3 kids.… continue reading

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Romeo Texts Juliet

By Christa Allan

Not so long ago, a survey showed that two-thirds of today’s teens use “nonstandard elements” in their school writing assignments.

This is news? OMG.

I’m LOL with my BFF who’s a real QT.

“Half of the teens surveyed say they sometimes fail to use proper capitalization and punctuation in assignments, while 38 percent have carried over the shortcuts typical in instant messaging or e-mail messages, such as “LOL” for “laughing out loud.” A quarter of teens have used and other emoticons.”

Can you say, “text messaging”?

Get a stopwatch, grab a teen, and see who can read the following faster:

Romeo and Juliet – Text Messaging Version

Act 1

Login: Romeo : R u awake? Want 2 chat?

Juliet: O Rom. Where4 art thou?

Romeo: Outside yr window.

Juliet: Stalker!

Romeo: Had 2 come. feeling jiggy.

Juliet: B careful. My family h8 u

Romeo: Tell me about it. What about u?

Juliet: ‘m up for marriage f u are.. Is tht a bit fwd?

Romeo: No. Yes. No. Oh, dsnt mat-r, 2moro @ 9?

Juliet: Luv U xxxx

Romeo: CU then xxxx

Act 2

Friar: Do u?

Juliet: I do

Romeo: I do

Act 3

Juliet: Come bck 2 bed.… continue reading

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I’m back….

School started in August, Hurricane Isaac arrived late that month and early September, and now we’re barreling toward exam week. So, before I found myself wondering how the entire semester turned to smoke, I wanted to first, thank Nicole for her utmost patience in my blogging lag, and second, provide some tools that I think would be valuable to both students and parents.

Every year, more of my students arrive with Kindles, Nooks, iPads and other other techie gadgets. Of course, they almost always have their cell phones as well, but since our parish (translation=county) operates under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule (actually, cell phones are not supposed to be on campus…) we all pretend they don’t exist.  I mention cell phones because most students, if they don’t own any of the aforementioned gadgets, usually have them.  And, students can use them, along with every other techie tool, to access a plethora of apps to make their lives (and yours) a wee bit less stressful.

Many of my students, especially because I teach juniors and accelerated classes, are enrolled in rigorous class, involved in extracurricular activities, belong to church groups, and have jobs.

I recommend, every year, that they use a planner.… continue reading

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Some of my best stories about school will have to wait until after I retire. In the meantime, most of the latest antics I’ve composed only in my brain, and then they ghost around in there and never quite materialize onto paper or the blog.

Today, though, a series of events converged into the perfect storm that, without the support of my colleagues, would have left me drowning in a sea of frustration.

The first strike of thunder started with a student complaining about having to watch the Veterans’ Day special program on the morning announcements. In one of my rare “call your kids from the neighbor’s house” voices, I informed him that men and women died so he could whine about sitting in a classroom watching a flat screen television, and I was certain the soldiers’ families would so appreciate knowing how much he honored their contributions.

Announcements over, I returned graded papers.

Strike two. A student who submitted an assignment that did not follow the guidelines, was incomplete, and looked as if he’d written it in the back of a pickup truck traveling over a gravel road, had the audacity to “bow up” and yammer about the unfairness of it all.… continue reading

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by Christa Allan

When I returned to school mid-year after my sabbatical, I decided to keep a ”teacher” journal, as I’ve been deciding to do for the almost twenty-five years I’ve been in the classroom and rarely written past the first week. And while I didn’t record the events of every school day of the second semester, I actually wrote more often than not. A surprise even to me.

(Note: I’m wondering if the journal itself motivated me. It’s a lovely leather embossed, 5 x 8 lined book with gold-edged pages…a gift from a dear friend, which made it all the more special.)

In contemplating the post for this month, I scanned pages, riding once again, the roller coaster that was my life for five months.  What I’m sharing is a recollection of a day during the week before the Junior-Senior Prom, changing names to protect the innocent and the guilty. (I’ll explain the reason for this post at the end!)

• Sold prom tickets during my one-hour planning period, which meant making all my copies, eating lunch and taking a bathroom break during my thirty-minute lunch

• Wrote my first referral for tardies. Lingering Lola already had three tardies, and she saved me the trouble of my own detention by arriving late the very day I was going to assign it.
… continue reading

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Sunscreen?

Check.

Swim suit?

Check.

Crime and Punishment?

Heck!

Five minutes before the last bell rings on the last day before summer vacation, the anticipation in the classroom is palpable. As the clock ticks down, the walls vibrate with expectancy.

Thirty sets of eyes follow the tick of the minute hand. 4-3-2-1- On cue, students explode into and fill the hallways, propelled like air out of popped balloons. Visions of sea and sand and sleeping late replace papers and projects and procrastination. At least for many students. For many others, there is required summer reading.

Research continues to show that the months between May/June and August/September can negatively impact learning for students in elementary, middle, and high school.

Consider this sobering highlight from “Lost Summers: For Some Children, Few Books, and Few Opportunities to Read” published in Classroom Leadership and noted on the State Library of Iowa website: “In the elementary grades, ‘a summer loss of 3 months accumulates to become a gap of 18 months by the end of 6th grade. By middle school, summer reading loss…produces a cumulative lag of two or more years in reading achievement, even when effective instruction during the school year is available.’”

The bottom line is that reading builds vocabulary, improves comprehension, sharpens critical thinking skills, and whitens your teeth (if only it did; the cost of one of those products is more than a paperback).… continue reading

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As a high school teacher for the past twenty-five years, I intended to share a few gems on how parents can help their students. But it occurred to me, thankfully before the post, that perhaps consulting the runners might be insightful. And so, I asked my Advanced Composition class, all seniors, to share with you how they felt their parents could best help them. Some of what they say, you may not agree with. But, as a parent and a teacher, reading what they have to say goes a long way in training them for their next marathon.

GRADES

• I always found praise helps. I do like to get feedback from my parents, like, “Great job!” or “I’m proud of you.”

• I appreciate when my mom tells me stories about her school experiences. She tries to relate my complaints about teachers and other things by telling me her stories, and it makes me feel a whole lot better.

• Bribing has always motivated me. Being the nerd I am, however, I would get a book for every A. My little brother gets a videogame for every two A’s and for every five B’s. (Some students shared they receive money for A and/or B grades)

• Love and attention are more important than grades, their future or money.
… continue reading

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1. I know the academic year is screeching to a close, but I wanted to mention this before I forgot to in August! Some kids think whatever they wear the first day of school will mark them for high school life. Probably not, but unless Princess wants to wear spike heels and a tube top and Prince has chosen drop-butt jeans, allow them this wardrobe decision. Feeling good about themselves that day is important.

2. Students at our high school do not wear uniforms. Pity. The beginning of the school year is B-quadrupled (boobs, butts, and belly buttons). Please be aware of your high school’s dress code, and-not that I would ever question your child’s integrity-you can always check the school/parish/county website online for validation.

Some of the regulations may seem silly to you; I may even agree. I don’t think Larry Low Pants learns more when he’s wearing a belt. Do you know WHY I think this? Glad you asked. Because if Larry Low Pants was actually already interested in learning, he’d already be wearing a belt because he follows instructions and does not want to lose valuable class time sitting in the discipline office waiting for his parental unit to drop off clothes.… continue reading

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Test post! The first article will post to this column on 2/23 and the 4th Thursday of each month.

… continue reading

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