Teaching AVID

I started teaching math six years ago. I’ve often said, “Sometimes the math part of the class gets in the way of what I am really trying to teach the kids.” At the end of last year my principal approached me and asked me if I wanted to teach AVID. I’ve always been a proponent of AVID, but did not know that it existed at the middle school level. I accepted.

I love it. It basically is a class where I focus on exactly what I think is important to teach the kids. I teach four sections of Algebra I, and one section of AVID, but a great portion of my time and energy goes into teaching this group.

Before teaching the class I signed up for a one-week training in downtown Sacramento. I expected to see some other people from my district, but had no idea I would be with thousands of people already part of the huge AVID cult. It was training for the entire west coast. I talked to people that flew in from places like Seattle, Hawaii, Denver, and Los Angeles. I was like, “Yeah, I walked over from my apartment on Capitol and 21.” One my colleagues told me he hadn’t yet “drank the AVID kool-aid.” However, it was a great week and a good fit, as I discovered the core AVID principles lined up with my own.

This year I’ve focused on fundamental skills like reading, writing, collaboration, inquiry and critical-thinking. By being a part of this class my students are more adept in all of their other classes. We started with some fundamentals like note-taking skills and being a good group member, and the kids continued to develop those throughout the year. Our first 5-paragraph essays are due this Wednesday; the kids wrote on the topic of perseverance. I also had a variety of special lessons. One day we even ran the mile during class so I could encourage the kids to be pushing themselves physically as well (half of my kids had their best time of the year that day). I did a series of lessons called “The Cold Hard Truth with Mr. B” and I broached a variety of topics that included things like drugs, racism, and role models. Basically, I had a whole class where the math didn’t get in the way (and we did a lot of math too).

To help augment their vocabulary we study vocab lists. However, the lists are created by the students. I taught the students to write down words they encounter in their lives (particularly those said by one of their teachers) and bring them to class. We discuss the words and the most commonly used ones are added to our next vocabulary list. Last week I told the kids to write a story using at least 8 of the new vocab words using the prompt “If I was the teacher...”

Leanna came to class on Friday and said she wasn’t done yet and asked if she could e-mail it to me. I told her she had till midnight to earn full credit. I received an e-mail from her at 10:04pm Friday night with a short note that said, “I turned it in before midnight. I even used past vocab words.”

A month ago these kids had never even heard of these words. So often their usage isn’t perfect. I found out Friday night Leanna wasn’t just listening this week when we went over the meanings of these words and how they are used. She’s been listening all year. Once again I am reminded why I do what I do.

Vocabulary Story
By Leanna Deaton

If I was a teacher I would try to be the best role model I could be. I would come to school very exuberant and full of energy. I would have it all planned out and organized so that I could get everything that needed to be covered taken care of. Hopefully being well organized would be evident in my teaching.
I don’t know what I would do if one of my students had a random act of rampant behavior. If they got too out of hand, I would contemplate their consequence. I don’t think punishing students would be fun but if that’s what has to be done, then I would do it. If insolent students made blatant and rude remarks, they would get punished accordingly. If students are good, on the other hand, they would get random, or erratic, gifts and rewards.

Every day I would reiterate morals and virtues to my students to help them learn everyday values and useful life skills. My rules would be to show integrity, perseverance, determination, and giving every assignment their all. I wouldn’t want them to slip because of slacking off, and lack of interest. Even if they don’t like the subject they should never turn in inadequate work and always push themselves to complete excellent assignments.

I would always ponder if my teaching would be beneficial for the young students. I would ask myself if I was being to stern or too sympathetic. I would wonder if my assignments were too arduous or too easy. Being a teacher would be very strenuous and stressful.

When giving directions or instructions, I would try not to be redundant and waste words that weren’t needed. Some work would be spontaneous and unplanned, and others would be tightly scheduled. We would read stories of perseverance and striving everyday people. I would hope that I could change the lives of each student throughout the year.

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