Math Club and Frustration

I have decided to start a Math Club at the school. This is mainly going to be geared towards my middle school students who want to learn a little more about math and find some interesting things that are math related that they may not have known about. I thought about this after seeing my strongest 8th graders become bored after slowing the pace of the class considerably so the more challenged students have a chance to succeed. I used to cover 1 section per day in that class, but now I'm covering a section in about 3 days or so.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that some of the students in that class cannot handle the faster pace (or Algebra at all). So I tried to slow the pace and break the sections into smaller sections, teaching one concept at a time and giving them practice on that concept. It has had some mixed results, but overall I think it is working (I do feel sorry for some of those kids because they don't have an option but to take Algebra, there is no other math class in 8th grade, I remember when I was in 8th grade, Algebra was the most advanced class and there were 2 classes below that, but due to the size of the school, these kids don't have that option).

Well, I offered a little extra practice to the strongest kids in 8th grade, saying that it would help them down the road and I feel that if they kept the pace they are currently at, with no additional challenges, they would only be hindering their mathematical progress. After thinking about it, I decided that I shouldn't limit it to just those students. So I decided to tell all my classes about it. Not sure how many will be showing up, but its going to start on Monday of next week, February 23. I'm thinking about giving a problem of the week and rewarding the first person to give me a correct answer, with full explanation, possibly with candy or something. I really hope this gets the kids a little more excited in math. My supervising teacher in the TTT program was the head of the math club, so I may email him and get some ideas as to how he handles the club.

I voiced some frustration to the school counselor this morning. I honestly do not feel that I connect with these kids as well as I did back home and I feel that I am not doing a very good job as an educator because I don't feel they are learning very much from me. I get very frustrated and take a lot of this personally because I feel it is a reflection of my teaching ability. I remember the great teachers I had in the past and I want to be like them, someone who inspires students to achieve their best, someone who makes things interesting and connects with students. I do not feel that I am succeeding in many of these aspects this year. I don't feel my students are very motivated and I feel that it is my job to motivate them, but I am not getting out of them what I expect.

The counselor just told me that he thinks a lot of this has to do with the fact that we have a heavy population of "well-off" students who don't care about school and who will eventually get a job somewhere or marry into another rich family and not having to worry about anything. That could be true, and it would explain why I am having difficulty connecting with so many of the students. Growing up in SE Indiana, I had to work for what I was given, everyday of my life I had chores to do and something to complete. These kids don't have that, and its a totally different culture. I did speak with the middle school science teacher and she admitted that she is having a little difficult time connecting with the students as well, compared to back home. That makes me feel better, but part of me still feels that I should be doing more, making more of a difference in the lives of these kids. Inspiring them to want more and try harder.

When I don't see this happening, I feel that I am failing them as a teacher and I do take it very personally. There are a lot of things that could play into this (I'm a new teacher, different culture, might not be as bad as I think it is) but its still hard to accept the fact that these kids are not changing their attitudes.

I did have to institute a new policy for some of the students who were not coming to class prepared. If they don't come to class prepared, they have lunch detention in my room and they have a worksheet they must complete. I held 4 students after lunch for about 20 minutes today, and they didn't finish the worksheet so they will be back tomorrow. The worksheets are over decimals and fractions, things all my students need help on, so its some practice. Hopefully this will teach them responsibility as well as some math on top of that. We'll see how well this practice comes about.

Aaron