mcclishs’ blog

Failures:

There were many failures this year, but I'd like to view these as learning experiences that I could draw from to become a better teacher and better person.

My list includes:

classroom management struggles during 1st semester

not effectively managing 3 preps.(It was very difficult for me to transition from 1 lesson to another from period to period; to jump from teaching electronegativity 1st period, ionic trends 2nd period, to renewable/nonrenewable resources 3rd period)

still felt that at the end of the year I was working too hard

In particular, watching kids who showed light and potential at the beginning of the year, slowly fizzle and give up and eventually drop out.

I did not differentiate instruction very well. I essentially just inflated the grades of my special ed kids.

I also spent way too much time trying to reach students who were giving minimal effort. I had a lot of really great kids this year who were motivated and despite their surroundings, were quite intent on learning. I feel that I failed these students who could have benefitted from me the most.

I am intent on not making the mistake twice. Next year I'm going to focus more on these motivated students, doing everything I can to maximize their skills/abilities, as they are the most deserving in my mind.

Success story:

This year there were plenty of successes and failures this year, a few of my successes include:

-gaining a good rapport with my students, from what I attest to be pretty honest evaluations from Ben's "What is it like in Mr. McClish's room?" assignment

-having a good reputation with my fellow teachers and administration

-coaching baseball(This has been a real blast. I love baseball and it's an excuse to reconnect with something associated with so many wonderful childhood memories. Although I was the JV baseball coach and we only played home games so it didn't interfere much with my daily schedule )

-Note to first years. Coaching is a great opportunity to build positive relationships with your students and gain favor/support from administration that can transcend to discipline in the classroom. It also is a load of fun. The negatives are that if you have multiple preps/family it can be tough to juggle and may not be worth your time.

The single most notable successes were watching some of my more advanced chemistry students tackle and master some very complex college level material, and knowing that I had a hand in that. I just loved hearing things like "You made that stuff out of the book seem so simple."

Watching these students achieve and surpass some things that I was doing in high school was very rewarding, and probably when I felt I was making the greatest positive impact

This summer I would like to work on a number of things. Principally, three things will be on the forefront of my focus.

District Info:

5,000 students

1 high schools

2 middle schools

5 elementary schools

Budget : $30,000,000

District office

Superintendent: $150,000

Assistant Superintendent: $125,000

Staff(record/bookkeeping, secretary, insurance, support) of 6: $40,000/ employee

Salary total-$515,000

Administrators

High School Principals           Middle School Principals 

$110,000 (x 1)     $105,000 (x 2)    

Elementary School Principals

              $100,000 (x 5)

High School  Asst. Principals           Middle School Asst. Principals      

$85,000 (x 4)                                                 $80,000(x6)  

Elementary School Asst. Principals

$70,000(x 5)

Adminstration salaries : $1,990,000

Teacher Salary(Pay scale for bachelors/masters is attached on very back sheet)

-assume average salary of $50,000

-assume desired student teacher ratio of 15:1

-325 teachers($ 50,000 average)

Teacher Salaries($16,250,000)

Librarians + nurses(1 for each of the 8 schools)

-assume librarian salarary($50,000) x 8

-assume nurse salary($45,000) x 8

Librarian/nurse salaries=$760,000

School Resource officer/police

-1 at each of the 3 secondary schools

-assume salary($45,000)

School police salaries($135,000)

Custodial/Maintainance staff

-assume district wide custodial staff of 50

-assume Salary($30,000)

Custodial/Mainatainance staff salaries=($1,500,000)

Total salaries:21,150,000 + 15%=$24,322,500

Athletic Dept. budget: $ 2,000,000

Summer Pre-K program: $1,000,000

Security camera's on every classroom: $100,000

Total Budget: $  27,422,500

Rainy day fund: $ 2,577,500

If the swine flu was present in the district I teach in I would hope that administration would side with caution and cancel school for a week. I understand that swine flu is no more dangerous than the typical flu at the time, but as a new strain that could mutate into something dangerous with pandemic potential at any time, the best move would be to get the kids out of school for the time being.
I am sure that something could be worked out with MDE where students could take care of state testing when it was deemed safe to return to school. I think that the schools in Texas and New York city did a good job at being extra cautious, and making student safety a premium.

I want to send my sincere thanks to the 2nd years for mentoring us 1st years through what will likely be one of the more challenging career/life situations we will experience. Being 1st year teachers is tough, and being 1st year teachers in critical needs schools can just about give you an ulcer. Your wisdom, leadership and experience made the process a lot easier.

In particular:
Karl, Angela, and Molly: Thank you for always being so warm and friendly, and for all the good advice.

Lisa: You were about the best mentor I can imagine. You were the one who initially showed me how to teach and as a mentor were always such a good listener. The package you got for me at the beginning of the(stapler, hole punch, etc...) year meant the world. I am really thankful that such a class act was my lead teacher during the summer and my mentor during the year. Thank you for everything and I wish you the very best because you deserve it.

With regards to the article on strip searching, I think what happened in Arizona was entirely inappropriate. I've had students have their bags checked because of hearsay from other students about stolen items. I feel something like that is entirely appropriate(bags checked) however too much searching can cause students to feel criminal which in turn can have a negative impact on Curriculum and Instruction in the classroom in that the students may begin to act more criminally. Therefore searches should only be conducted when sufficient evidence is present or when a potentially dangerous situation must be averted.
Strip searches for drugs should NEVER occur because the bad(emotional trauma for students) outweighs any potential good(possibly finding drugs). Strip searches for weapons/guns could possibly be acceptable but only if a metal detector first is used, I'm kind of iffy about that.

With regards to authentic/alternative/performance assessments I am at a crossroads. I see them as appropriate and beneficial with certain types of students, but only as a supplement to their traditional instruction. I know I am in the minority among my teacher corps peers in believing that standardized testing is a good thing and that traditional assessments are overall a better assessment tool than alternative assessments in most cases. This is true especially for the student populations we serve as teacher corps members. There are a number of factors that must be in place in order for alternative assessments(independent projects) to be worthwhile, and most of these are not in place at the schools we work in. Many of these alternative assessments require funding that the school simply doesn't have. This however, this is not the biggest pothole that must be crossed. The largest issues are the skills and motivation of our students. Project based assessment requires highly motivated students who have at least a basic understanding(preferably more than that) of the concept or objective covered by the assessment. It is in this way that students may enhance their understanding of a topic through a project to supplement their classroom instruction. Alternative assessments are not a very good way of developing base-line knowledge and skills which are things that a majority of my students do not have. Because of this I run a pretty typical classroom assessment-wise. My assessments consist of tests and quizzes that include multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer, and matching questions with occasional alternative assessments mixed in(illustrations, powerpoint presentations, etc..).

My assessments in the future(summer/next year/beyond):
If I am teaching at a low-performing school I will continue to use more traditional methods. I believe that bookwork/lectures/note-taking/skill-building exercises are the best way to attain basic skills and knowledge that a majority of my students are lacking. I have learned from the alternative assessments I have given that my students will do the absolute minimum, if they do anything at all. Likely due to either apathy, laziness, or lack of skills necessary to complete the project.
If I am teaching at a good school with motivated/advanced students then I would definitely whittle some performance based assessments into my classroom. These assessments would hopefully enhance my students knowledge of an objective.

Roadblocks to adding more alternative assessments
1)funding
2)time
3)student motivation
4)Lack of basic skills necessary for alternative assessments

Reference:
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/13_03/assess.shtml

I began reading "portrait of Mississippi" with the expectation that what I would find would not be pretty. I knew the statistics that Mississippi was last in the nation in areas of education, health, and personal finance. I also was aware that there would be inequalities across race, gender, and geography. I was surprised however about how great those disparities are. While some areas in Mississippi are doing quite well(or decent at least), these areas are dwarfed by the poverty in a majority of the state. And while white people are not living up to the standards of whites around the nation, most blacks would be just as well off if they were living in Thailand or Libya.