“A good curriculum is the best classroom management” February 7, 2011

I have worked for a lot of people, but the most inspiring boss I have ever had was a principal who was strict, forgiving of human flaws, hard-working and who lived by the motto “A good curriculum is the best classroom management”.

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I’ve never been a disciplinarian and never will be.  I value learning too much to stifle a kid’s personality in favor of keeping my classroom quiet.  Learning is loud, it’s fun, it’s rich, it’s not a library.  If learning was supposed to be done in complete sterility we’d all be able to teach ourselves in the quiet of our own homes.  Learning is the push and pull between student and student, student and curriculum, and student and teacher.  It should be a fun process.  Do you normally do things that are not fun?  The best classroom management is a good curriculum.

 

The article by Pamela Kripke “And You’re Out!” in the Huffington Post is very much in line with what I encountered during my years of teaching.  Kids would get kicked out of their classes for doing something against the teacher’s status quo and end up in my classroom.  I was constantly torn between letting them stay and being part of the “united front” against the student.  I never wanted to be a part of that front and never really was.  In my mind the right thing to do was keeping the kid happy and wanting to come back to school the next day.  With the dropout rate as high as it is and high school degree jobs steadily dropping, it was my job to keep learning fun and school an enjoyable place to go.  And that’s what I did.

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Patterns in i? November 29, 2010

You can imagine my surprise at the end of last school year when, on my tutoree’s final online examination, the imaginary number i was everywhere.  “WHAT?” I thought, “There was just one small section of one small chapter on i in the textbook and here it is, on my students’ final exam, EVERYWHERE.”  At best, it was frustrating.  Sure, math is math, but different publishers tend to focus on different topics, and i was not on of those topics Glencoe included much of.

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For five years, I had taught Algebra 1 and loved it.  The kids loved me and I loved all of their “ooooh, I get it!”s.  But this year had been different because I was moved up to Algebra 2.  So I set my mind to teach this slightly more advanced Algebra (at least with Glencoe it’s only slight), brushed up during the summer, got my curriculum down pat, taught a rough year right up until the final exam and….

  

BOOM!  i! 

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Patterns are everywhere, especially in math.  The imaginary number i is no exception.  The number’s value follows an interesting and very distinct pattern, repeating itself every fourth iteration.  The pattern it DOES NOT fit is into a regular one in Glencoe’s Algebra 2 textbook.  I was mad that my students and I had worked so hard only to be sidelined by a final exam not connected to Glencoe at all.  

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So this year I changed.  I taught i first!  We wouldn’t be stopped!  If the “patterns_of_i.xls” sheet over there in the margin for you to download and use in your classes is not enough, I’d be more than happy to email you more.  You can reach me at sdonohue@post.harvard.edu. 

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I quit this year, jumped a sinking ship, really.  It was horrible leaving the kids- like I was going on maternity leave and never coming back.  But it was the decision I had to make so that I could focus on my thesis, my health and on finding a job where I would be respected.  What they say about finding happiness first before you can pass it on is true.  What they also say about not doing school part-time unless your job is also part-time is also true.    

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Now I’m finishing my thesis and looking for a new job, oh, and emailing you files to use in your classes.  I have thousands that I’ve made over the years that I’d love to share with you. 

 

  

Go i!

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