crbreaux’s blog

My greatest success in the classroom has not come from anything that I, myself, have accomplished, but my success has to be attributed to one thing, a new hire. The 1^st nine weeks I was struggling with keeping the attention and focus of every single student, my smallest class had 27 kids and I felt like I would lose a lot of the kids during my lessons, especially by the end of the day when I was tired of saying the same thing over again. I found that my 6^th and 7^th periods were always struggling to get through the whole lesson that my other classes easily got through. Thankfully, this situation has now changed.

I now have smaller classes because of a new English teacher being hired, in the second week of the 2^nd nine weeks. My class sizes have shrunk by half and my lessons have gone so smoothly because of this. I wish that I could explain how beneficial smaller classes are and there is one student, in particular, that the size reduction has really helped. In the larger classes he hardly did his work and would fight with me when I asked him to participate. Now, he is one of 12 in the class, and he has become one of my hardest workers. He asks questions all the time and participates in ALL class activities. I am so thankful that he was able to have the opportunity to be a part of a small class because he has done a 180. This student is, and hopefully will continue to be my success.  

Hazing must be one of the stupidest concepts I have ever heard of. Hazing seems to be viewed as a right of passage. A way for an upper class man to show a lower class man who is boss on the first few days of school. Variations of hazing includes both physical and mental, like the “slut list” described in the article. Hazings are stupid and have no right to be in any type of setting, whether it be school or athletic related. I have been on athletic teams all of my life and not once have I ever been or hazed another teammate, it makes no sense to me in the least bit. I know of many teams who do have hazing traditions, but it does not make the team closer, on the contrary it makes freshman feel less welcome.

If someone is trying to build a successful program (school, athletic, or business) on trust, there is no reason for any type of hazing. A hazing ritual can easily get out of hand, and I have another negative example of hazing. A high school, in my home town parish, was nationally recognized in the media for their hazing. A stupid, silly birthday ritual quickly went wrong and both parties were effected.

Here is a brief summary of this incident:

2002 St. Amant High School (Louisiana) Football Team Hazing. Sophomore, 16 year old, was taped to a bench nude, beat until bleeding by teammates, had bare body parts forced in his face, athletic drinks poured on his body, and then sexually assaulted in a ritual done for birthdays.

Overall, I think that hazing is idiotic and barbaric. There is no reason to put any other person through torture, both physically and mentally because of a certain situation. Hazing laws should be strictly enforced until hazing diminishes. It is time to change traditions and rituals that involve hazing of any kind. 

Most kids hate homework. They dread it, groan about it, put off doing it as long as possible. It may be the single most reliable extinguisher of the flame of curiosity. -Alfie Kohn

Being that I am, like most of my classmates, writing this blog only hours before it is due, I have to say that I agree with Kohn. I was never pleased with having homework at any level of schooling, especially in high school because of my busy schedule. I believe that if a teacher is really doing their job correctly then homework is not needed. Although I am against homework, I am not against all at home school related activities, such as studying.

I sometimes fear that lack of homework leads to lack of overall studying. I find that my students do not really know how to study or what to study. It seems not to matter if I give them a study guide or not, they do not seem to use it. Good grades in my class does not seem to positively correlate with how much extra practice that the students complete, the same students make the same grades, regardless. I am quite curious to know if there is a connection between how much homework a child has to how much energy and effort a child will put into preparing for an examination.

I also love this from the second article. I think that if kids could do these 5 things on a daily basis then a lot of small issues would easily evaporate. The letter reads:

We as parents need to promote the following 5 things:

• Children need to play outside for at least an hour after the school day. They should be at the point where they are almost sweating.


• Dinner with your family every night or at least 4 times a week. This is shown to decrease eating disorders in females, decrease smoking and drug abuse rates in males and recent research suggests it teaches life-long good eating habits—more fruits and vegetables.


• Early to bed. Research suggests that children need 10-12 hours of sleep a day to be ready to learn.


• Limited television, video games and computer time, especially an hour before bed time.


• Reading time every evening. This is a great time for the whole family to sit and read together.

I really enjoyed reading Ruby Payne and I felt that I gained valuable knowledge about my students. Even though I was enlightened, and I had likes about the book, I also had dislikes about the book. I can relate to many of the frameworks of poverty that Payne writes about because I have also noticed these in my students. Just because I can relate to what Payne is writing does not mean that I can see in my students the general rut that Payne tells the reader the poor population is stuck inside.

I do not like how Payne speaks about the three types of classes and how she generalizes that among each class there are only certain ways that you can speak and act. When I came upon, and completed, a checklist that she gave in her book I found that I had about an even number of checks in each category. There were things that I knew about or related to under the poor category, definite things I knew and related to in the middle class category, and this held true in the wealthy category also.

Payne and I agree that there are certain classes that people fit under, it is a fact that some people have more money and goods over others, but I really dislike how she makes such strong generalizations on each class. An example of this is when Payne writes about the dialogue of story telling. She writes that a middle class person can tell a story without the need of an audience member, but the poor, lower class cannot. Granted, they may not have an extensive vocabulary but I have had many students articulate stories without the help of any other student.

Payne, nor I, can fully grasp what it means to be poor. Her and I have both lived our lives through the middle class world and therefore we can only knowledgeably speak about that world. Understandably, Payne has credentials through extensive research, but again, she stereotypes an entire group of people in her writing. I disagree with these generalizations and feel as though I was more put off by this book than I should have been.

I do agree with Payne's opinion on education. Payne writes that we, as teachers, have a role to “offer a support system, role model, and opportunities to learn” rather than to “save” the individual. It is ultimately the student's decision (poor, middle class, or wealthy) to make the most out of their education. As a teacher, I can only hope that I do give the kids the tools that they need to succeed and I also can only hope that my students buy into the information that I teach them. 

Embarrassing or funny moment

There are way too many funny moments to decide on one. I am keeping a quote book on things that my students say and I usually average about 2-3 funny quotes a day. Here are a few of the best examples (sorry to those of you who have already seen these on my facebook page):

“Ms. Breaux, I like your swag.” - ZayDeisha

“Yo momma so fat she didn't even know she had you.” “Wait, I didn't say that right did I?” -Xavier

“Ms. Breaux, I like yo vest, where did you get that from?” -Melanie

“Thank you, I got it from Banana Republic.” -Me

“It looks like you got that from Harvard.” -James

“Harvard?” -me

“Ya, aint that a school?” -James

“Ms. Breaux, is that a bullet on your necklace?” -A

“Are you Pentecostal?” -Allison

“No, haha, why do you ask?” -Me

“Because you wear a lot of dresses.” -Allison

“Ms. Breaux, your room smells like a hamster.”

“I dont like to fight, I just stab people.” -Alexus

“My brother said you were so strict.” -Allison

“Really, who is he?” -

“He met you in the hall, he said that you were strict but you were hot.” -Allison

“umm..thats not appropriate.”

“So, if someone is talking shit...I mean stuff..” -Me

Announcement:

“Excuse me, senior girls, if you were unable to go to the beauty shop then please see Ms. Goulding and Ms. Shannon at 7 on Thursday.”

“Ms. Breaux, you look very professionalism this morning.” -Colton

“Ms. Breaux, you look fresh today.” -Jamarcus

“I don't know what that means, are you asking if I took a shower? If that is the case then, yes, I am fresh.” -Me

“Naaaaaa, come on Ms. Breaux, you have a nice outfit.” -Jamarcus

“Man, I ain't gotta no nothing about no amontialldo for college.” -Dee

“You don't look like the type of teacher that would have a tatoo...especially on your foot.” -Allison

I, like Maria, do not live in Byhalia. Actually, I don't even live close to Byhalia. I am living in Oxford and so far I am not regretting that decision. My commute to school is about 45-50 minutes, depending on how fast I am driving over the speed limit and I really use that time for relaxation and de-stressing. Being that I am only in Byhalia during school hours I do not know that much about the community itself but I am beginning to know about the kids that live in the community. These kids are good kids who just come from poor families; they aren't hard to control in the classroom and for the most part they are eager to learn.

Intern Presentations

I thought that the intern presentations were very informative. I actually had no idea what the interns would be presenting about when I walked in on Saturday, but I was presently surprised by the presentations. I thought that the topics that each of them picked were interesting in different ways. I really enjoyed the presentation on teen pregnancy by Kelly. That is a topic that everyone realizes is an issue but few people take initiative to change in the South.

                I went to a public high school in Louisiana and we had little to no sex education during school. We may have had a speaker or two on the topic but the only message that was ever given was abstinence. Apparently this has no effect on teens and once  they do become pregnant they do not know their rights and options. In the south, they really don’t have too many options because there are very few abortion clinics.

                I also really liked the presentation on the Mississippi prisons. I had no idea about the type of environment that these people have to live in. It shouldn’t matter about the circumstances, every person should be able to have some type of health care and a decent place to live. This presentation was shocking and it really opened my eyes to issues that I have never even thought about.

                Summer Training

                The summer has gone by so quickly. I cant believe that I have taught for two months now. Summer training was very beneficial in many ways. I really enjoyed being able to teach, even if it was to four students, and realizing my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. Without the teaching experience that the summer has given me I would not be prepared at all for the first day of class.

                The only thing that would have made the summer training any better would be to have more students in the classrooms. Like I said, I taught four, but we did start out the summer with six. Some teachers didn’t even have a student until July. I can imagine that it is very different teaching to real students rather than teaching to teachers acting like students. Fortunately, everyone was able to eventually be in a classroom with real students.

                I thought that Dr. Monroe’s class was helpful as well. There were times where I felt that it was long winded and boring but on a whole I really enjoyed it. Dr. Monroe is a great teacher to emulate and I feel fortunate to be able to have had her as a teacher.

                This summer was pretty excellent and I have learned so much from not only the TEAM and second year teachers but also from the first year teachers. I worked with some great people this summer and it was a helpful experience. I hope that my first year goes as smoothly as my summer training did.

First off, I STILL can't stand the sound of my voice on camera. Besides my annoying voice, I can say that I have improved overall as a teacher. I am really glad that we had to video tape ourselves because if not then I may have not realized the small things that I do or do not do well in the classroom.

Unfortunately not all positives came out of being more confident and relaxed. I found, especially from the video, that I became careless with punishments. I should have still given out punishments like I did in June but I don't like putting names on the board or giving a student a writing assignment. I now have realized that I need to keep my punishments consistent throughout the whole summer or school year. One example is when the kids would get into fits of laughing while we were reading. This seemed to happen EVERYTIME we started to read. I would warn them too many times before a consequence was given and because of this they thought that they could get away with laughing.

Something else that needs to be addressed is that I give the students too many answers. I need to push my students by waiting for them to figure out the answer for themselves but instead I find that I keep giving hints until the answer is given to them. This is hard for me because A. I don’t like to see a kid struggle and not know answers and B. I find it hard to wait because of time constraints.  

I have learned so much from the summer. I am happy with my teaching style at the moment and I am really looking forward to August when I will have my own classroom full of students. I am afraid of discipline problems but as long as I stay with my rules and consequences then I think I will be OK. I really don't think that my style has changed that much over the summer. I had a good idea in June as to what type of teacher I wanted to be and I think that I have achieved this style. I’m not going to be the hard ass style of teacher because that is not my personality.  I want the students to have fun while learning without feeling as though they are going to get into trouble for every little thing. Also, I think this may work for me because I have almost perfected the teacher look and that seems to work wonders in the classroom. The students seemed to respect me during the summer because I respected them. This summer has been an excellent experience and I was fortunate to have different types of teachers that surrounded me on a daily basis. I learned so much by watching them teach and hopefully they feel the same about watching me. August will be quite different but I am looking forward to the challenge.