2,000 Hours is a blog with a single purpose. I'm going to record every hour of work I do as a teacher for the next year. I hope to change misconceptions about teachers in America by doing so.
I’m back for the first time in a couple of weeks. A cold took me out of commission for a while, and although I didn’t miss class I did scale back my out of school work & life. I unfortunately chose to miss the legendary Iowa State vs. Iowa football game in order to rest. The pitfalls of adulthood. I'd forgotten how tiring the job could be, and how the combined immune systems of 1,600 people could mix so dangerously.
My video highlights what’s going well so far, hours, and a Minecraft extra credit assignment. A quick reminder about my hour count. My “true” grad school or grading hours are more numerous than what’s shown, but often fall within my hours during the day. If I'm at the office from 7 until 5, then I count it as ten teaching hours, although I may be grading after school. It'd be impossible to sort out every minute of the day into these four categories...
If you’re interested in Minecraft, or implementing it in your classroom, you can check out the following links.
I’ll be spending most of this week revising my film assignments, and grading 150 papers. Ninety film critiques and sixty Fahrenheit 451 analysis papers. Look for some thoughts on grading papers later this week.
I had planned on shooting a video today, but the weather was so beautiful and my voice is so sore that I thought I'd push it off a few more days. However, here are some thoughts about life lately.
First, here are my hours as of tonight, September 5th. Remember that 'grading' is only grading done outside of school hours or the school day. I've lately stayed until 5 or 6 P.M. grading and planning. For my own convenience, I decided to count as such. Teaching includes lesson design, classroom time, grading during the day, staff meetings, etc.
Teaching: One hundred and ninety hours, five minutes Grading: Two hours, ten minutes Grad School: Thirty four hours, forty minutes
Total: Two hundred, twenty six hours and fifty five minutes.
Most of the grad school hours so far have been reading, GRE prep/exam, and application. I've had two weeks of class and am really enjoying it so far. I'm presenting on Sand County Almanac this Wednesday. I'll be focusing on the strength of his eco-narration, possible dangers of anthropomorphism, and how much agency is drawn from the text. I've also designed a Minecraft extra credit assignment for student volunteers. The idea was to apply land ethic to a virtual landscape by using only sustainable materials. The idea goes against everything the game is known for. Imagine playing Monopoly as a socialist and you'll get the gist. I'll be uploading the assignment, some videos/images, and results later this week. I'll also be writing about how beneficial being in the classroom once more is to me in my professional and personal development.
This week has been challenging and fulfilling at once, which is often the case in education. My American Literature students have begun reading Fahrenheit 451 and our discussions of the text are going well. At the behest of a colleague we've begun using Socratic Seminars to discuss works. I'd say that two thirds of the class is fully participating in the discussions, which is amazing. New ideas and interpretations are flying around the room and the results can be very moving. My favorite discussion focused on why Guy would choose to share his books with his wife Clarisse. The consensus was that you share knowledge with the ones you love, and people love those who share knowledge with them.
My sophomores have finished introducing themselves and we've begun to introduce white privilege and white flight in order to set context for Raisin in the Sun. Watch an amazing slam piece that we used before we unpacked our knapsacks here...
Media studies focused on the news media last week. We examined clips from Bowling for Columbine, read from Culture of Fear, compared various stories of the Libyan Civil War, and deconstructed an episode of the Colbert Report to learn how satire can be used to combat media bias and spin. We focus on how the media perpetuates fear as a means to drive consumerism and shape belief about social issues like race, drug use, crime, and war.
Only a four day week, but I'm feeling it will be a long one. Welcome back to school for all those September starters! I'm trying to respond to e-mails and comments, know that I'll get to them in time.
Some quick thoughts while I wait in class for the evening to start. There's nothing like the feeling of campus in Fall. It's good to be a student again.
The year is off to a strong start, and I'm feeling confident about how the classes are going and my ability to sustain the effort I'm putting into them. Last night was open house from 6:30 to 8:00. Rather than go home for a couple of hours I stuck around, worked on grading, and put in a long day. Parent night can be stressful if you let it, but there's no need to. Everyone is very friendly, and just wants to know how to help their kids succeed. I've often worn a suit in order to overcompensate for my youth, but this year I just gave up, and presented who I was. There were no questions about my amount of training, as there were several years ago, so I think the night was a victory.
Too busy right now to produce anything but text, so a quick hour update as of this evening...
166 hours & 55 minutes.
I've got a three day weekend planned, so tomorrow's my last day with the kids, and with the internet for some time. Keep up the good work everyone!
So, things went well today. Besides a sore throat (I'm not used to talking this much right now) and some sore feet I'm still excited for the year. First day introductions went well, some jokes were laughed at, and all three courses (six classes worth) have homework for tomorrow. I like giving everyone a chance to succeed early on in the classroom. It also sets high expectations, which is what I'm all about.
Last year I had freshmen and sophomores in my classroom for the first time ever, either in study hall or in Sophomore English. So, I actually knew some juniors and sophomores coming into class today, which is a first. It's always nice to see some familiar faces in the audience as the first few days are an awkward ritual of the class feeling itself out. By just the second week the classroom atmosphere is being established, and it can either be amazing or detrimental to your work. The removal or addition of even just one student can turn the tide in your favor or against it.
I've also moved mostly into my new room. It's smaller than my last one, which was seen briefly in my introduction video in a state of emptiness. However, it's carpeted, a bit dimmer colors, and forces me to purge what I don't need to have. Teachers can become hoarders very easily. It's hard to let go of something that worked once, even if you know it will never work again. A lesson needs to be adapted slightly year to year, and sometimes, from section to section. One class may crave lecture and quite reading while another can talk intelligently for days.
In any course, here are some photos of my room. Larger resolutions available on my Facebook group page, so stop there!
A quick sign for students to help them find my room. Yes, that is a Safe House from the Left 4 Dead series.
Entering the room you see the back right corner with my desk, files, and bookshelf for British Literature. Dwight Schrute's vengeful gaze watches over all.
The back left corner of my room. Sort of a mess, but some posters are up and my film frame bulletin board shows famous characters or scenes from 45 classic films. Most students can name 90% of them.
Today's lessons for my three courses. Fairly standard stuff for day one. I'm toying with the notion of taking board photos daily.
So, that's day one. So far I'm 120 hours and 45 minutes in. Possible video this weekend. Enjoy your last days of freedom or your first days back everyone!
Not much to say right now, except today was really exciting and I'm really hopeful about the coming year. I did grind out a quick five hours yesterday working on my room, reading A Sand County Almanac, and working on my American Lit Anthology. So, I got 80 hours for the summer, and have already dropped 10.5 today. It's time to walk the dog and get ready for tomorrow. Look for more substance later. Hopefully.
A quick update for everyone about hours and getting ready for the new school year.
I haven't been producing videos the past couple weeks because we're getting new laptops and I'm currently without mine. When I get the chance I'll post a video detailing the past few weeks, and reviewing the summer overall. Also, facebook and twitter should start seeing more updates soon as well.
Second, my hours over the past two weeks add up to 14.5, adding up to a grand total of 75 hours! That's not that much over the span of the summer, of course, but it's 75 more hours than most people would have assumed. I had a personal goal of 100 hours, but I've really enjoyed myself and relaxed this summer. I feel much more at peace and ready to tackle the challenges of my new students and classes.
The past two weeks have been a tough balancing act of preparing for the new school year while also trying to enjoy my last days of freedom for the next ten months. I feel guilty doing either, so my first day back is quite a relief!
I may be going in this afternoon to work on the classroom. Forty-odd teachers swapped rooms this summer, so it's time to arrange desks & tables, put up posters, and stack the bookshelves. Maybe I can bring my summer total to 80 hours, or two week's time.
Students are back on Thursday, I have meetings and conferences starting tomorrow. Time to enjoy one last day as a free man. Good luck everyone and have a great year once you begin!
It's been a couple of crazy weeks, so I'll do my best to summarize the most interesting parts.
San Diego Comic Con:
Highlights: Got to hear and see a plethora of artists and authors, including Grant Morrison, Jim Lee, Jonathan Hickman, Brian K. Vaughn, Robert Kirkman, and Bill Willingham. I also saw the Dr. Who panel, starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan (Dr. & Amy Pond respectively). Everyone was kind and gracious!
Best Moment: Questioning Jonathan Hickman about the difference between writing creator owned works and for hire, such as FF at Marvel. I got a really heartfelt and personal response, cool (and genius) guy!
Serious Thoughts: This was the second time at SDCC for me and I noticed dozens of handicapped attendees, whether in wheel chairs, deaf, or blind. I wondered both about escapism and wish fulfillment, but also about diversity in handicapped heroes such as Charles Xavier (paralyzed) or Daredevil (blind).
Now: Reading Pax Romana and The Nightly News, as well as Supergods.
RAGBRAI:
Highlights: Biking 175 miles over three days, a giant slip & slide outside of Baxter, brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, not giving up on any hill.
Best Moment: Getting hosed by kids. Each kid with a hose is a godsend.
Serious Thought: (kind of). It was fun to compare the costuming of skin-tight ill-fitting bike jerseys and skin-tight ill-fitting Superhero costumes in San Diego. Why is one utilitarian and the other odd?
Now: Sleeping past 5 a.m. for the first time in two weeks. Also, my shoulders don't hurt anymore.
So, with less than two weeks to go I'm back and working. Put in four hours yesterday reading and readying myself for the grad school application process. Looking to do more classroom work in the upcoming days.
A few other things before signing off. First, as posted on my twitter and Facebook, I was interviewed by the kind people at education portal. You can see the interview here.
Lastly, I caught this interesting video from ReasonTV via reddit this morning. It's a fun exercise in loaded questions and quick cutting/editing.
I'll let the video speak mainly for itself, but I quickly want to comment on Matt Damon's insight on incentive. He's right, and has said it more clearly than maybe I've heard before. This notion that teachers need punitive incentive in order to teach effectively is insulting and scary. If we're really serious about putting incentives and punishment as a means to privatize and reform schools than perhaps the effects should be felt throughout the community. Should we raise taxes in a district if their student's don't perform well?
