Being an assistant teacher for these two years has meant that I get to work firsthand with substitute teachers.
And there are wonderful substitute teachers. But unfortunately, those subs are in high demand and there aren't usually enough to go around.
I know that I'm in a unique situation. Most people leave some hopefully-foolproof sub plans, cross their fingers, hope for the best, and read between the lines of the notes and the students' comments to guess how the day actually went. It's a leap of faith, and sub plans are a pain, but at least you don't have to be there to see how awful it may go.
As it is now, our school is required to get a substitute for the classroom teacher, but usually, because I know how we do things, I do the majority of the teaching anyway. I have quickly discovered that some substitutes actually will walk around, help students, and help them pay attention while I teach. Others... well, I can easily see which subs come to our school knowing (and taking advantage of the fact) that they often have a much easier workload because there is an assistant teacher in the room who does almost everything.
I also have a chance to see those who mean well, but unfortunately just don't quite cut it.
Today there were only 10 minutes of the entire day during which my students were alone with the substitute teacher while I was at lunch. Less than that, actually, when you consider that we never get in from recess on time.
Written in the plans: Basically, take students for a restroom break, and then to a special.
Implied: Keep the class under control.
Apparently I need to be more specific, because the class was completely out of control to the point where another teacher stepped in to yell at loud kids and try to sort out some probable bullying. The other teacher explained that maybe she had overstepped her boundaries, but felt obligated to step in because the substitute was doing nothing more than "standing in one spot and talking loudly" to the kids and she was concerned for a student's safety.
Annnd not only did his happen, but when this colleague stopped in to talk to me about it after school, I had no idea what she was talking about. The substitute had allowed the class to get so out of control that another teacher intervened, and a student was possibly physically bullied in the bathroom, but the substitute didn't bother to tell me anything about it, even when I was in the classroom for the entire afternoon with her. This is a situation that my colleague shared with the principal- and the substitute didn't even share it with me.
In fact, her note to the teacher ended with, "We had a great day!"
I'll say it again. There are wonderful substitute teachers, but there are also some- even the sweetest old ladies- who make me worry for the days when I will have my own classroom and need a substitute. Because if I struggled to keep certain members of the class under control today- I don't even want to think about what the day would have been like if the substitute was their only teacher.
And I might not have even known.
It's a scary thought.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Recess Walk
Until the weather gets freezing, I'm actually enjoying recess duty. I usually take over Homework Detention, which means helping a lot of kids who don't do their homework at home (and often have a hard time completing it on their own). I don't mind it. Some of these kids are getting attention that they crave, or getting one-on-one reteaching that they might not get otherwise. Meanwhile, I miss out on lots of tattling and help out the grade level teachers. Win-win!
Unfortunately, I started Homework Monitoring just after promising one of the little ones that we'd go for a walk and talk one day. He kept asking me, "When are we going to go on our walk?" And when I said, "I don't know- I'll try today!" he'd respond, "You keep saying that." I felt awful, but I promised him that I'd find a day to make it work.
Today I was finally able to go on a walk with him, and I asked him about his weekend.
"Did you see the building that went down on TV?" he asked. I assumed he was talking about the local bar that burned to the ground a few days ago.
"Oh, the one with the fire?"
"No, the one the plane went into. I felt really sad for that lady," he told me somberly, with genuine sympathy on his face.
Apparently at some point this weekend, he saw a 9/11 memorial on television, heard a woman tell her story, and didn't realize that the whole event actually happened 9 years ago.
I was a little taken aback, but also touched. I don't think he realized that this had been such a huge national event, especially because we live far from the area in which it happened, and he wasn't even alive when the planes hit- and yet I could tell that he was really affected nonetheless by seeing it.
I wouldn't have expected a seven year old to understand the gravity of 9/11, but he certainly seemed to. I'm glad I made time for that walk today.
Unfortunately, I started Homework Monitoring just after promising one of the little ones that we'd go for a walk and talk one day. He kept asking me, "When are we going to go on our walk?" And when I said, "I don't know- I'll try today!" he'd respond, "You keep saying that." I felt awful, but I promised him that I'd find a day to make it work.
Today I was finally able to go on a walk with him, and I asked him about his weekend.
"Did you see the building that went down on TV?" he asked. I assumed he was talking about the local bar that burned to the ground a few days ago.
"Oh, the one with the fire?"
"No, the one the plane went into. I felt really sad for that lady," he told me somberly, with genuine sympathy on his face.
Apparently at some point this weekend, he saw a 9/11 memorial on television, heard a woman tell her story, and didn't realize that the whole event actually happened 9 years ago.
I was a little taken aback, but also touched. I don't think he realized that this had been such a huge national event, especially because we live far from the area in which it happened, and he wasn't even alive when the planes hit- and yet I could tell that he was really affected nonetheless by seeing it.
I wouldn't have expected a seven year old to understand the gravity of 9/11, but he certainly seemed to. I'm glad I made time for that walk today.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
"Listen, Mom! Someone thinks I'm organized!!!"
Today we were talking about responsibility, and giving some ideas for how to be responsible with homework.
I was mentioning how I make sure to take things out of my bag for school and then put them back as soon as I'm done so I know I won't forget them. I told them I have to do this because I'm a messy person and it's hard for me to be neat, even though I'm trying (especially the beginning of this year).
Later, my new lead teacher asked, "Really? Was that true? I don't see you as a messy person at all..."
And I was amazed. Yes, we're only a week and a half in, but this is shocking considering that at one point in my childhood, my room floor was so messy that my dad took everything and put it in trash bags and said unless it was homework, I couldn't get it back for 2 weeks. Clothes, shoes, whatever- I went 2 weeks without it.
My backpacks were always filled with randomness by the end of a year. More than a few papers were lost while I was in school. I have a pile literally a foot tall of papers from last year and the summer that still need filing.
But to start out the school year, I have managed to convince my co-teacher that I am at least somewhat organized and neat.
This may be the first time anyone has ever even kind of called me organized. I called my mom right after school to brag. Now I just hope it lasts!
I was mentioning how I make sure to take things out of my bag for school and then put them back as soon as I'm done so I know I won't forget them. I told them I have to do this because I'm a messy person and it's hard for me to be neat, even though I'm trying (especially the beginning of this year).
Later, my new lead teacher asked, "Really? Was that true? I don't see you as a messy person at all..."
And I was amazed. Yes, we're only a week and a half in, but this is shocking considering that at one point in my childhood, my room floor was so messy that my dad took everything and put it in trash bags and said unless it was homework, I couldn't get it back for 2 weeks. Clothes, shoes, whatever- I went 2 weeks without it.
My backpacks were always filled with randomness by the end of a year. More than a few papers were lost while I was in school. I have a pile literally a foot tall of papers from last year and the summer that still need filing.
But to start out the school year, I have managed to convince my co-teacher that I am at least somewhat organized and neat.
This may be the first time anyone has ever even kind of called me organized. I called my mom right after school to brag. Now I just hope it lasts!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Open House!
Every teacher blog I read seems to be focusing on how their classroom is set up for the new year, and I love it. I'm picking up so many wonderful ideas and so much inspiration for when I set up my own room! (See: linky on Babbling Abby's fantastic Teacher Week!) It makes me itch to get started and buy and make new things.
Unfortunately, I'm not at the stage of having my own room, but I am working on setting up a classroom! Our open house was this past week, and school is starting soon!
I've been helping my new partner-in-rhyme (eh... not sure about that one). We've been working on moving her into a new school while she also moves at home. I don't know how she's doing it, and I know she has got to be so stressed. She seems like she has a million different wonderful teaching ideas, and I can't wait to learn from her, but she's been so busy that I spent some time getting ready alone in the room this week.
It was odd; at times, I could think of so many things that I would do if it were my room. Some of these were things I didn't know if she wanted to do herself (or at all), and some of them were things that I would simply want to check with her about before I started working. It was a little odd to know what to do but not feel I could do it, but it also felt like a trial run.
I can tell already that one of the ways my assistant position has helped me is simply in showing me what a room needs to be ready. Between student teaching and where I was last year, I've seen two very different classrooms. Because I student taught in the Spring, though, I didn't get to see everything the teacher did at the beginning of the year (both before students came, and on that all-important first day).
Here were some of the things I did as we got ready for Open House:
- Make a bulletin board outside the room with student names so they can find their room.
(I put each name on a balloon and then tied a string from each one. Then I gathered the strings so they were in one big bunch!)
- Put away student supplies.
(Our school is purchasing or getting donated the necessary supplies, so I separated them all from their bulk boxes and put them in individual boxes for each kid or into a class supply area.)
- Label art boxes. They all look alike and I know we'll have arguments of whose are whose!
- Distribute books to each desk.
- Label any place the kids will use specifically in the room, such as cubbies.
- Make a name label for each desk- but class lists change a lot, so don't attach them far in advance!
And those were just the things I actually did! If it were my room, I would want to do even more before open house.
I'd make sure we had a large name label for each teacher's desk, a welcome message up on the SmartBoard, a sign-in sheet and parent volunteer sheet, a note with a picture of me and treat for each student inside their desk at open house, and a page or activity for parents and/or students to do while at open house! I might even let students sign in on the SmartBoard (but make sure that no other writing utensils but the SmartBoard pens are in sight!), or I might have a slideshow of pictures from the year before on the board to show students some of the activities they will be doing.
At our school, open house happens before school starts and families mill around the school at any time in the hour to see their students' classrooms. There is no time where all parents are in your room to hear a talk or presentation, but luckily we still had time to greet each student and family that came in. About half of our students came, which is actually much better attendance than last year! The kids really like seeing their name outside the door and then coming in to see their special spots and things in the room. And, of course, meeting even half of the kids has me so excited to start school this week!
All the preparation also got me thinking about the things I would like to do to set up my own classroom next year- not just for open house, but for the whole year. This week I hope to type out my list for each step along the way so that next year, I'll have each small step written out and ready to be crossed off when it's done!
Unfortunately, I'm not at the stage of having my own room, but I am working on setting up a classroom! Our open house was this past week, and school is starting soon!
I've been helping my new partner-in-rhyme (eh... not sure about that one). We've been working on moving her into a new school while she also moves at home. I don't know how she's doing it, and I know she has got to be so stressed. She seems like she has a million different wonderful teaching ideas, and I can't wait to learn from her, but she's been so busy that I spent some time getting ready alone in the room this week.
It was odd; at times, I could think of so many things that I would do if it were my room. Some of these were things I didn't know if she wanted to do herself (or at all), and some of them were things that I would simply want to check with her about before I started working. It was a little odd to know what to do but not feel I could do it, but it also felt like a trial run.
I can tell already that one of the ways my assistant position has helped me is simply in showing me what a room needs to be ready. Between student teaching and where I was last year, I've seen two very different classrooms. Because I student taught in the Spring, though, I didn't get to see everything the teacher did at the beginning of the year (both before students came, and on that all-important first day).
Here were some of the things I did as we got ready for Open House:
- Make a bulletin board outside the room with student names so they can find their room.
(I put each name on a balloon and then tied a string from each one. Then I gathered the strings so they were in one big bunch!)
- Put away student supplies.
(Our school is purchasing or getting donated the necessary supplies, so I separated them all from their bulk boxes and put them in individual boxes for each kid or into a class supply area.)
- Label art boxes. They all look alike and I know we'll have arguments of whose are whose!
- Distribute books to each desk.
- Label any place the kids will use specifically in the room, such as cubbies.
- Make a name label for each desk- but class lists change a lot, so don't attach them far in advance!
And those were just the things I actually did! If it were my room, I would want to do even more before open house.
I'd make sure we had a large name label for each teacher's desk, a welcome message up on the SmartBoard, a sign-in sheet and parent volunteer sheet, a note with a picture of me and treat for each student inside their desk at open house, and a page or activity for parents and/or students to do while at open house! I might even let students sign in on the SmartBoard (but make sure that no other writing utensils but the SmartBoard pens are in sight!), or I might have a slideshow of pictures from the year before on the board to show students some of the activities they will be doing.
At our school, open house happens before school starts and families mill around the school at any time in the hour to see their students' classrooms. There is no time where all parents are in your room to hear a talk or presentation, but luckily we still had time to greet each student and family that came in. About half of our students came, which is actually much better attendance than last year! The kids really like seeing their name outside the door and then coming in to see their special spots and things in the room. And, of course, meeting even half of the kids has me so excited to start school this week!
All the preparation also got me thinking about the things I would like to do to set up my own classroom next year- not just for open house, but for the whole year. This week I hope to type out my list for each step along the way so that next year, I'll have each small step written out and ready to be crossed off when it's done!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Another Way to Make a Cent
Picture borrowed from Rrrrred.
New pennies? Come on! They look nice, but do you people realize how difficult you make teaching money every time you add an updated style?
The new nickels have been confusing, and don't even get me started on state quarters. (What coin has a tree? Well, kids, if it has an eagle or ANYTHING ELSE YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE, go ahead and assume it's a quarter.)
It may seem simple for adults to figure out, but for little kids, you're just adding more and more that they have to be able to recognize and distinguish, and learning to count money is already hard for most of our kids!
Come on, U.S. Mint, I know you're trying to honor stuff, but help us out here!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Summatime!
Most jobs have vacation time that's a bit more spread out through the year. Teachers get it mostly at once, and after this summer, I've realized I have to be careful to use it as vacation!
(By the way, for any non-teachers who think I'm complaining or think it's unfair, just stop. Teachers don't get paid for the summer- our paychecks for the 180 school days we work are just spread out over the whole year.)
This year I taught summer school. Unlike a lot of summer school programs, ours lasted the entire school day for 6 weeks. Then, I helped teach a summer camp for a couple of weeks. After that, I went back to my hometown and dove headfirst into wedding planning for a week.
Today, I slept in. I've done nothing productive at all yet. I'm still in my pajamas, and I've got reality TV on. I do need to get a few things done this afternoon, but it shouldn't be much. Tonight, I'm leaving for a mini-vacation with my fiance and family. I do need to clean up around home and get myself organized for the new school year after vacation, but I finally have the time to do it, and at least I shouldn't have a lot to do to set up a classroom!
It feels like I've finally gotten to SUMMER and it's fantastic!
School's going to start before I know it, and I'm hoping I have enough time left to enjoy that summer feeling, and get bored with that summer feeling juuuust before school starts! How about you? Has it felt like summer, and are you ready to go back to school?
(By the way, for any non-teachers who think I'm complaining or think it's unfair, just stop. Teachers don't get paid for the summer- our paychecks for the 180 school days we work are just spread out over the whole year.)
This year I taught summer school. Unlike a lot of summer school programs, ours lasted the entire school day for 6 weeks. Then, I helped teach a summer camp for a couple of weeks. After that, I went back to my hometown and dove headfirst into wedding planning for a week.
Today, I slept in. I've done nothing productive at all yet. I'm still in my pajamas, and I've got reality TV on. I do need to get a few things done this afternoon, but it shouldn't be much. Tonight, I'm leaving for a mini-vacation with my fiance and family. I do need to clean up around home and get myself organized for the new school year after vacation, but I finally have the time to do it, and at least I shouldn't have a lot to do to set up a classroom!
It feels like I've finally gotten to SUMMER and it's fantastic!
School's going to start before I know it, and I'm hoping I have enough time left to enjoy that summer feeling, and get bored with that summer feeling juuuust before school starts! How about you? Has it felt like summer, and are you ready to go back to school?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Already?!
Whew. I worked through the regular school year, summer school, and then a week and a half of science camp. After that, I've gone in twice for a few hours to help finish up the grading and paperwork of the camp.
It's truly summer 'break'- and luckily for me, they've pushed back our school's start date so that I have about a month until teacher workdays.
But the stores already have Back to School materials out. Ugh. Does that make anyone else feel like summer is basically over?
It's truly summer 'break'- and luckily for me, they've pushed back our school's start date so that I have about a month until teacher workdays.
But the stores already have Back to School materials out. Ugh. Does that make anyone else feel like summer is basically over?
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Red Pen
I try to look for the bright side of things, and this past year has been no exception. Starting out my teaching career as an assistant to another teacher had its perks.
I didn't have that notorious Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad First Year. I was given plenty of opportunities to teach, and plan, and grade- I just didn't have to do ALL of it. I could share those responsibilities and not feel overwhelmed, while still getting a teacher pay and compensation.
Honestly, even just getting a job as a teacher of any kind was wonderful.
I wasn't the only teacher in this kind of position in our school, and a lot of us became friends. We were together in just starting out and wishing for our own room.
And for a few of the teachers, that happened. By Spring Break, they knew they had their own room for the following year. They were thrilled, but of course, didn't want to brag. I made my best effort to bring it up and congratulate them so that my friends wouldn't feel awkward, but it's hard to see other people getting what you want.
When I was evaluated, I was cut down hard for my classroom management. I know it's something a lot of new teachers hear, so it probably shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but it was unexpected. We were having some discipline issues in our classroom and I knew that, but never before in ANY evaluation (even all through student teaching) had I been criticized for my ability to keep the class under control. I had my weaknesses but that was not one I knew.
I was told that even as an assistant, the kids had to know that when I was in front of them, teaching, certain things were and were not acceptable- regardless of the classroom climate when the other teacher was up in front of them. If they could get up and get a drink mid-lesson with the other teacher, they had to know they couldn't with ME. I wasn't sure what else I could do- many times I already felt like I was tougher with discipline than the other teacher, but the system in place didn't have much in the way of consequences. I would have loved to change it, but couldn't do more than suggest a change. I also wasn't sure I even wanted to force inconsistency of the rules on the kids- I felt it would be confusing and probably not work well without consequences to back it up.
It was hard for me because I felt that it wasn't necessarily a weakness of my teaching, and I wasn't sure how to show improvement. I was told the principal saw improvement on the next evaluation, but I could tell much more was expected. In none of my evaluations did I get better than a "Satisfactory" in any category, so I was left feeling like I was bad at this, and not especially good at anything. Despite the words that came out on the evaluation, the tone and suggestions still said, "You aren't good at this."
It was interesting to me, too, and I wondered if the principal noticed- the lead teachers who were struggling with classroom management had assistants who also struggled, and the lead teachers who did well with classroom management had assistants who also did well. Coincidence? Well, to me, this speaks of classroom climate having a very strong impact, and it being hard to evaluate each individual independent of it, especially assistants who have little control over the climate. But I'm not sure the principal saw it the same way.
When time came to get my assignment for the next year, I knew better than to hold out much hope that I would join my friends in having my own classroom. I could tell the principal didn't trust me to have my own room yet.
Honestly, from the principal perspective, I know they only want to put people in a classroom that they have seen demonstrate really doing it. It makes sense. But the principal has to know it is hard on us to see our colleagues- the people who are just as new as us, and who were on the same level as us before- moving up, when we don't get to.
It's hard, and I'm jealous. If there just wasn't room, that would be one thing. But there are rooms with no 'head teacher'- including the one I'm assigned to for next year. I don't know who I'll work with, and may not know until the last minute. I don't know if this is someone that will let me do much actual teaching. I don't know if this is someone who is strong where I'm not and will teach me a lot and make me a better teacher. I don't know if this is someone I'll even get along with at all.
The hardest part for me is that except for my evaluations and this whole issue, I feel this year has made me a better teacher. The teacher I worked with was great and let me be a partner. I know my first year will be easier because of this year. But overall, my confidence in myself running a classroom has diminished.
I was scared before, but knowing that the principal doesn't have faith in my abilities makes me terrified. What if those opinions are right? What if I CAN'T control the kids? What if I'm NOT cut out for this?
If I ended up getting one of the open positions for the fall, it would be at the last minute. And while this whole thing speaks to me wanting my own room, I'm not sure I want one this year. Not a week before school with little time to set up and plan. Not knowing that the administration doesn't trust me and sees it as a risk. Not with my self-confidence so low.
I don't know what would have made them better, but I know for sure that evaluations shouldn't leave me feeling like this.
I didn't have that notorious Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad First Year. I was given plenty of opportunities to teach, and plan, and grade- I just didn't have to do ALL of it. I could share those responsibilities and not feel overwhelmed, while still getting a teacher pay and compensation.
Honestly, even just getting a job as a teacher of any kind was wonderful.
I wasn't the only teacher in this kind of position in our school, and a lot of us became friends. We were together in just starting out and wishing for our own room.
And for a few of the teachers, that happened. By Spring Break, they knew they had their own room for the following year. They were thrilled, but of course, didn't want to brag. I made my best effort to bring it up and congratulate them so that my friends wouldn't feel awkward, but it's hard to see other people getting what you want.
When I was evaluated, I was cut down hard for my classroom management. I know it's something a lot of new teachers hear, so it probably shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but it was unexpected. We were having some discipline issues in our classroom and I knew that, but never before in ANY evaluation (even all through student teaching) had I been criticized for my ability to keep the class under control. I had my weaknesses but that was not one I knew.
I was told that even as an assistant, the kids had to know that when I was in front of them, teaching, certain things were and were not acceptable- regardless of the classroom climate when the other teacher was up in front of them. If they could get up and get a drink mid-lesson with the other teacher, they had to know they couldn't with ME. I wasn't sure what else I could do- many times I already felt like I was tougher with discipline than the other teacher, but the system in place didn't have much in the way of consequences. I would have loved to change it, but couldn't do more than suggest a change. I also wasn't sure I even wanted to force inconsistency of the rules on the kids- I felt it would be confusing and probably not work well without consequences to back it up.
It was hard for me because I felt that it wasn't necessarily a weakness of my teaching, and I wasn't sure how to show improvement. I was told the principal saw improvement on the next evaluation, but I could tell much more was expected. In none of my evaluations did I get better than a "Satisfactory" in any category, so I was left feeling like I was bad at this, and not especially good at anything. Despite the words that came out on the evaluation, the tone and suggestions still said, "You aren't good at this."
It was interesting to me, too, and I wondered if the principal noticed- the lead teachers who were struggling with classroom management had assistants who also struggled, and the lead teachers who did well with classroom management had assistants who also did well. Coincidence? Well, to me, this speaks of classroom climate having a very strong impact, and it being hard to evaluate each individual independent of it, especially assistants who have little control over the climate. But I'm not sure the principal saw it the same way.
When time came to get my assignment for the next year, I knew better than to hold out much hope that I would join my friends in having my own classroom. I could tell the principal didn't trust me to have my own room yet.
Honestly, from the principal perspective, I know they only want to put people in a classroom that they have seen demonstrate really doing it. It makes sense. But the principal has to know it is hard on us to see our colleagues- the people who are just as new as us, and who were on the same level as us before- moving up, when we don't get to.
It's hard, and I'm jealous. If there just wasn't room, that would be one thing. But there are rooms with no 'head teacher'- including the one I'm assigned to for next year. I don't know who I'll work with, and may not know until the last minute. I don't know if this is someone that will let me do much actual teaching. I don't know if this is someone who is strong where I'm not and will teach me a lot and make me a better teacher. I don't know if this is someone I'll even get along with at all.
The hardest part for me is that except for my evaluations and this whole issue, I feel this year has made me a better teacher. The teacher I worked with was great and let me be a partner. I know my first year will be easier because of this year. But overall, my confidence in myself running a classroom has diminished.
I was scared before, but knowing that the principal doesn't have faith in my abilities makes me terrified. What if those opinions are right? What if I CAN'T control the kids? What if I'm NOT cut out for this?
If I ended up getting one of the open positions for the fall, it would be at the last minute. And while this whole thing speaks to me wanting my own room, I'm not sure I want one this year. Not a week before school with little time to set up and plan. Not knowing that the administration doesn't trust me and sees it as a risk. Not with my self-confidence so low.
I don't know what would have made them better, but I know for sure that evaluations shouldn't leave me feeling like this.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
(High School) Kids Say the Darndest Things
When I'm teaching elementary kids, I expect them to be completely and totally random. I expect them, especially in science, to ask me all kinds of crazy questions about why the world is the way it is. And I love it!
Now that summer school is over, I'm helping out at the summer camp I've worked for 4 summers. It's a high school biology camp, with heavy loads of chemistry and math. It's kind of unique- I'm a 2nd grade teacher who can teach logarithms, pH, and the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation like they're the back of my hand. I really enjoy it because I love biology (and nearly became a biologist instead of a teacher.)
It's really different teaching high school students. There are reasons why I chose to become an elementary teacher (and not a biology teacher) even though I love biology. There are so many kids already turned off about learning, and way too much attitude that I don't want to deal with. Even though most of these kids come to camp voluntarily, I can see it in some of them, too. For a few weeks, it's fine- but it's not something I want to deal with every day. Plus, in elementary, I get the chance to teach everything. I love biology, but I am passionate about reading and writing too. I hated math when I was in elementary school, so I love the opportunity to make math seem easier and more fun to kids who hate it!
Simply put, elementary's a better fit for me, but I still love science and this camp is a great way for me to get a chance to do things like gel electrophoresis and bacterial transformation. And I get to teach high school kids. The kids who aren't turned off are a lot of fun to be around. You can joke with these kids, or be sarcastic, and they get it. I get to help introduce them to a university, and what it's like to be in college. They can challenge me on an intellectual level the way most of my 7 year olds can't. I get to watch hilariously obvious flirting when often, they are oblivious. Best of all, I don't have to deal with them asking to go to the nurse, needing help to tie their shoes, or having "accidents" in the middle of the day.
It's a nice change, but I miss some of the things about elementary kids, too- like their propensity to say the funniest, most random things. And then one of the high schoolers surprised me.
We were making macromolecule models and I mentioned that -ose at the end of a word means 'sugar' because glucose (like in blood sugar) and sucrose (table sugar) are two examples- as is deoxyribose, the sugar that helps to form the backbone of our DNA. One of the kids asked about -ase as a suffix. Generally, -ase means an enzyme. From there, we talked about what it means to be lactose-intolerant, and what that means about your body's lactase (the enzyme that processes the sugar lactose, which is most commonly found in milk).
Stay with me :) Almost there.
Now that we're talking about digestion, one of the kids, laughing because she's a little embarrassed to say it, asks me why her pee smells like tuna after she eats tuna. I wasn't sure, honestly, but I explained that since urine is waste, the way it ends up is affected by what you eat first. She counters, saying, "But when I eat hamburgers, my pee doesn't smell like hamburgers." The best I had was, whatever causes the 'tuna smell' must not be broken down through the digestion process, but the 'hamburger smell' must get broken down somehow- and that seemed to satisfy her.
But she has one more question. "How come when I drink a lot of water, my pee gets almost clear?"
And this one, I can answer. In fact, it's a perfect reinforcement of something we've learned. I respond that this is just like our dilutions of dye solutions. When you add more water, the color gets lighter and the solution gets more clear. She made an "ahhhhh," and I had to laugh. I did not go into the day expecting to answer random questions about things like tuna-smelling pee.
Maybe teaching high school kids isn't quite as different as I thought!
Now that summer school is over, I'm helping out at the summer camp I've worked for 4 summers. It's a high school biology camp, with heavy loads of chemistry and math. It's kind of unique- I'm a 2nd grade teacher who can teach logarithms, pH, and the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation like they're the back of my hand. I really enjoy it because I love biology (and nearly became a biologist instead of a teacher.)
It's really different teaching high school students. There are reasons why I chose to become an elementary teacher (and not a biology teacher) even though I love biology. There are so many kids already turned off about learning, and way too much attitude that I don't want to deal with. Even though most of these kids come to camp voluntarily, I can see it in some of them, too. For a few weeks, it's fine- but it's not something I want to deal with every day. Plus, in elementary, I get the chance to teach everything. I love biology, but I am passionate about reading and writing too. I hated math when I was in elementary school, so I love the opportunity to make math seem easier and more fun to kids who hate it!
Simply put, elementary's a better fit for me, but I still love science and this camp is a great way for me to get a chance to do things like gel electrophoresis and bacterial transformation. And I get to teach high school kids. The kids who aren't turned off are a lot of fun to be around. You can joke with these kids, or be sarcastic, and they get it. I get to help introduce them to a university, and what it's like to be in college. They can challenge me on an intellectual level the way most of my 7 year olds can't. I get to watch hilariously obvious flirting when often, they are oblivious. Best of all, I don't have to deal with them asking to go to the nurse, needing help to tie their shoes, or having "accidents" in the middle of the day.
It's a nice change, but I miss some of the things about elementary kids, too- like their propensity to say the funniest, most random things. And then one of the high schoolers surprised me.
We were making macromolecule models and I mentioned that -ose at the end of a word means 'sugar' because glucose (like in blood sugar) and sucrose (table sugar) are two examples- as is deoxyribose, the sugar that helps to form the backbone of our DNA. One of the kids asked about -ase as a suffix. Generally, -ase means an enzyme. From there, we talked about what it means to be lactose-intolerant, and what that means about your body's lactase (the enzyme that processes the sugar lactose, which is most commonly found in milk).
Stay with me :) Almost there.
Now that we're talking about digestion, one of the kids, laughing because she's a little embarrassed to say it, asks me why her pee smells like tuna after she eats tuna. I wasn't sure, honestly, but I explained that since urine is waste, the way it ends up is affected by what you eat first. She counters, saying, "But when I eat hamburgers, my pee doesn't smell like hamburgers." The best I had was, whatever causes the 'tuna smell' must not be broken down through the digestion process, but the 'hamburger smell' must get broken down somehow- and that seemed to satisfy her.
But she has one more question. "How come when I drink a lot of water, my pee gets almost clear?"
And this one, I can answer. In fact, it's a perfect reinforcement of something we've learned. I respond that this is just like our dilutions of dye solutions. When you add more water, the color gets lighter and the solution gets more clear. She made an "ahhhhh," and I had to laugh. I did not go into the day expecting to answer random questions about things like tuna-smelling pee.
Maybe teaching high school kids isn't quite as different as I thought!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
The Finish Line.
That's it! I'm done!
Today was definitely a little frantic, but overall- it was wonderful.
I gave them each a pair of "reading glasses" (shiny sunglasses!) to celebrate finishing summer school. The class store had a 50% off sale. I gave them each a special send-off message, and got a few sweet hugs. We had a great time hanging out at the pizza party, and they were so grateful and polite.
As for the serious stuff- we had a ton of assessments to still finish up today- and they did amazingly. Overall, they made a lot of progress and they worked so hard, even on the last day. After yesterday's computer test was frustrating for a lot of them, today's wasn't so bad (even though it covered a ton of things we never did!).
Our attendance has slowly dwindled, so what started as a class of 7 was down to 4 kids today- but those 4 kids had a great day. When I asked their favorite thing we did in summer school, the first response was "working as a team." (Whaaat? Unexpected!) And when I gave them their reading glasses, they looked so darn cute that I couldn't help but snap a couple of pictures with them.
It's funny. I am incredibly glad to be on summer break, but it feels weird not to be typing up morning work or grading papers. I'm not going to know what to do with myself tomorrow.
I am so glad I taught summer school. Having my own room for the first time, and having such a small class, was fantastic. Only six weeks with these kids- but I am going to miss them like crazy.
Today was definitely a little frantic, but overall- it was wonderful.
I gave them each a pair of "reading glasses" (shiny sunglasses!) to celebrate finishing summer school. The class store had a 50% off sale. I gave them each a special send-off message, and got a few sweet hugs. We had a great time hanging out at the pizza party, and they were so grateful and polite.
As for the serious stuff- we had a ton of assessments to still finish up today- and they did amazingly. Overall, they made a lot of progress and they worked so hard, even on the last day. After yesterday's computer test was frustrating for a lot of them, today's wasn't so bad (even though it covered a ton of things we never did!).
Our attendance has slowly dwindled, so what started as a class of 7 was down to 4 kids today- but those 4 kids had a great day. When I asked their favorite thing we did in summer school, the first response was "working as a team." (Whaaat? Unexpected!) And when I gave them their reading glasses, they looked so darn cute that I couldn't help but snap a couple of pictures with them.
It's funny. I am incredibly glad to be on summer break, but it feels weird not to be typing up morning work or grading papers. I'm not going to know what to do with myself tomorrow.
I am so glad I taught summer school. Having my own room for the first time, and having such a small class, was fantastic. Only six weeks with these kids- but I am going to miss them like crazy.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Almost summer break at last!
NOW I realize why teachers do so much "fluff" the last days of school.
We made the mistake of choosing 3 review standards to cover and assess for our last week, which is 3 days long. After a long weekend, and before going home for a glorious few weeks of freedom.
Besides these 3 standards and assessments, we need to end summer school taking mClass Math (5 assessments to practice and take), DIBELS ORF (3 one-minute readings and retells per child), a computerized standardized test in reading and math (the first took my kids well over an hour today), and a general math post-test.
I definitely should have done more of these last week. There's just so much to do! Tomorrow by the time we've had morning work, our morning recess, science, and a computer test, we have 20 minutes before lunch. IF they finish the test on time. Lunch is a pizza party for those that met their reading goal (everyone). Everything else, including packing up, cleaning the room and desks, and finishing up assessments will have to happen in the afternoon. Somehow, in amongst all of that, I am required to get the grades in the gradebook so that right after school, the principal can print grade cards.
Plus, I'm trying to pack up my things because I'm currently taking residence in another teacher's room and I want to get my stuff out of her way. I am allowed to leave it at school, but I don't even know for sure where to leave it (because my assignment may well change, said the principal). The loot I've collected over the summer is piling up and most of it needs to go home until I have my own classroom.
I'm a messy person by nature, but the state of this room (not to mention my to-do lists for tonight and tomorrow) are driving me crazy. If I stay until I get it all done, I could be here all night.
And yeah, I know. I'm blogging instead of working, but... I needed a break. I needed to vent!
The good news is that my kids are doing really well on their assessments so far. Most of them are showing a lot of growth in at least 1 area, and I think coming to school for an extra six weeks has been good for them. Better yet- a couple of them said they wish tomorrow wasn't the last day, and kids were asking me if they could please take their reading logs home.
Even though I can't wait for tomorrow to be over, it makes me feel good to know I've got to be doing something right!
We made the mistake of choosing 3 review standards to cover and assess for our last week, which is 3 days long. After a long weekend, and before going home for a glorious few weeks of freedom.
Besides these 3 standards and assessments, we need to end summer school taking mClass Math (5 assessments to practice and take), DIBELS ORF (3 one-minute readings and retells per child), a computerized standardized test in reading and math (the first took my kids well over an hour today), and a general math post-test.
I definitely should have done more of these last week. There's just so much to do! Tomorrow by the time we've had morning work, our morning recess, science, and a computer test, we have 20 minutes before lunch. IF they finish the test on time. Lunch is a pizza party for those that met their reading goal (everyone). Everything else, including packing up, cleaning the room and desks, and finishing up assessments will have to happen in the afternoon. Somehow, in amongst all of that, I am required to get the grades in the gradebook so that right after school, the principal can print grade cards.
Plus, I'm trying to pack up my things because I'm currently taking residence in another teacher's room and I want to get my stuff out of her way. I am allowed to leave it at school, but I don't even know for sure where to leave it (because my assignment may well change, said the principal). The loot I've collected over the summer is piling up and most of it needs to go home until I have my own classroom.
I'm a messy person by nature, but the state of this room (not to mention my to-do lists for tonight and tomorrow) are driving me crazy. If I stay until I get it all done, I could be here all night.
And yeah, I know. I'm blogging instead of working, but... I needed a break. I needed to vent!
The good news is that my kids are doing really well on their assessments so far. Most of them are showing a lot of growth in at least 1 area, and I think coming to school for an extra six weeks has been good for them. Better yet- a couple of them said they wish tomorrow wasn't the last day, and kids were asking me if they could please take their reading logs home.
Even though I can't wait for tomorrow to be over, it makes me feel good to know I've got to be doing something right!
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Fireworks
Over the weekend, I watched fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July (American Independence Day!). We went downtown and sat on a pedestrian bridge, waiting until the fireworks started and just chatting with friends until they started.
There were people who had waited patiently in order to snag a good seat sitting all along the sidewalks. Many were there even before we arrived. But when the show started, just about everyone walking along the bridge seemed to stop in the middle of the bridge and stand.
So- two rows of people sitting, with people standing in front of us. Faaantastic. Luckily, we were far enough back to still see okay, and we made sure to scoot back in case the people in front of us needed to move back. There was a lady, though, who couldn't see well from her staked out spot and was furious.
She spent most of the fireworks show yelling at people to sit down or move out of the way, with such polite requests as "There's a BABY back here! MOVE it!" Anytime someone stopped in front of her, she told them to move down (and stand in front of other people) because "her baby can't see!!!" When someone she was with took the baby and held him in a different area, where he could see, she whined (loudly) that the reason she came was to see the baby's reaction and she couldn't see it when he wasn't even near her. The man handed her the baby and vented that, "Fine, you should just do what you want then. I'm done trying." As more people moved and stopped in front of her, she'd yell, "My baby's crying because he can't see! Get outta the WAY!" (Apparently not realizing that fireworks, being loud and bright, could probably also scare a baby enough to make him cry. Or, you know, this woman yelling in his ears.)
As if that wasn't enough, some salesmen walked by with glowsticks. "HEY! Light man! Hey- HEY! Guy with the LIGHTS!" she hollered. He has a hard time hearing because he's not very close, he's in a crowd of people, and there are fireworks being shot off. Finally, the guy turns around and she tells him, "You know, maybe you should LISTEN if you want business." And she proceeds to take her sweet time paying this man for a glowing lightsaber thing while he stands directly in front of a couple and our group. So, heaven forbid someone stand in front of her and her baby- but no big deal if she causes them to stand right in front of other people.
This woman is driving me crazy. Her bitching has been constant and annoying throughout what should have been an extremely pleasant fireworks display. Honestly, if I were the guy selling glowsticks, I would have loved to tell her to be nice if she wants service and walked away. Money's good, but sticking it to her by not letting her get what she wanted would have felt even better.
I'm quickly losing my faith in humanity, but then, a few minutes later, I hear a kind voice from behind her. Someone politely asked if she wanted to come back there. The nice woman explained that they had a great view, and she and the baby should be able to see just fine without anyone in their way.
And, my faith in humanity was quickly restored. Even though this lady was being an incredible annoyance, someone still offered her a better spot when they didn't have to offer anything. Kindness means a lot, but kindness to someone who's berating others and doing nothing to earn it means even more.
If you celebrate it, hope you had a happy 4th of July!
There were people who had waited patiently in order to snag a good seat sitting all along the sidewalks. Many were there even before we arrived. But when the show started, just about everyone walking along the bridge seemed to stop in the middle of the bridge and stand.
So- two rows of people sitting, with people standing in front of us. Faaantastic. Luckily, we were far enough back to still see okay, and we made sure to scoot back in case the people in front of us needed to move back. There was a lady, though, who couldn't see well from her staked out spot and was furious.
She spent most of the fireworks show yelling at people to sit down or move out of the way, with such polite requests as "There's a BABY back here! MOVE it!" Anytime someone stopped in front of her, she told them to move down (and stand in front of other people) because "her baby can't see!!!" When someone she was with took the baby and held him in a different area, where he could see, she whined (loudly) that the reason she came was to see the baby's reaction and she couldn't see it when he wasn't even near her. The man handed her the baby and vented that, "Fine, you should just do what you want then. I'm done trying." As more people moved and stopped in front of her, she'd yell, "My baby's crying because he can't see! Get outta the WAY!" (Apparently not realizing that fireworks, being loud and bright, could probably also scare a baby enough to make him cry. Or, you know, this woman yelling in his ears.)
As if that wasn't enough, some salesmen walked by with glowsticks. "HEY! Light man! Hey- HEY! Guy with the LIGHTS!" she hollered. He has a hard time hearing because he's not very close, he's in a crowd of people, and there are fireworks being shot off. Finally, the guy turns around and she tells him, "You know, maybe you should LISTEN if you want business." And she proceeds to take her sweet time paying this man for a glowing lightsaber thing while he stands directly in front of a couple and our group. So, heaven forbid someone stand in front of her and her baby- but no big deal if she causes them to stand right in front of other people.
This woman is driving me crazy. Her bitching has been constant and annoying throughout what should have been an extremely pleasant fireworks display. Honestly, if I were the guy selling glowsticks, I would have loved to tell her to be nice if she wants service and walked away. Money's good, but sticking it to her by not letting her get what she wanted would have felt even better.
I'm quickly losing my faith in humanity, but then, a few minutes later, I hear a kind voice from behind her. Someone politely asked if she wanted to come back there. The nice woman explained that they had a great view, and she and the baby should be able to see just fine without anyone in their way.
And, my faith in humanity was quickly restored. Even though this lady was being an incredible annoyance, someone still offered her a better spot when they didn't have to offer anything. Kindness means a lot, but kindness to someone who's berating others and doing nothing to earn it means even more.
If you celebrate it, hope you had a happy 4th of July!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Loot!
I'm still teaching summer school, but summer school is only for grades K-3. Our 5th grade is moving to a middle school next year, and we will likely be adding sections in the primary grades, so a lot of people are moving classrooms. I have discovered that a LOT of people are going through their closets and throwing out things they don't need, and it is glorious.
GLORIOUS, I tell you.
My old co-teacher has been extremely generous- while she's at school for summer school, she's been slowly working through her cabinets and she found lots of things she never uses, like number lines and morning meeting posters and laminated charts- some not even opened- and gave them to me. She also found a huge box of books from an old reading series, and gave them to me. I found an old science series (we don't even use science series in primary grades anymore!) and a desktop file holder in the teachers' supply room. I found some thick cardboard mailboxes out in the hallway, about to be thrown away. I found binders and a few old board games outside a room where someone is moving.
I am so lucky to be in the school for the first part of the summer to see when people throw things out like this! I likely won't have my own room this year, so my "for a classroom" collection is collecting dust in the closet- but when the time comes, I'll have a lot more to start with.
Make sure if you have work to do at school over the summer that you walk around the building looking for free boxes! Plus, if your grade-level teachers know you're looking to build up your classroom, they will hopefully offer you first dibs. I've been VERY lucky and it's exciting! :) And better yet- FREE!
GLORIOUS, I tell you.
My old co-teacher has been extremely generous- while she's at school for summer school, she's been slowly working through her cabinets and she found lots of things she never uses, like number lines and morning meeting posters and laminated charts- some not even opened- and gave them to me. She also found a huge box of books from an old reading series, and gave them to me. I found an old science series (we don't even use science series in primary grades anymore!) and a desktop file holder in the teachers' supply room. I found some thick cardboard mailboxes out in the hallway, about to be thrown away. I found binders and a few old board games outside a room where someone is moving.
I am so lucky to be in the school for the first part of the summer to see when people throw things out like this! I likely won't have my own room this year, so my "for a classroom" collection is collecting dust in the closet- but when the time comes, I'll have a lot more to start with.
Make sure if you have work to do at school over the summer that you walk around the building looking for free boxes! Plus, if your grade-level teachers know you're looking to build up your classroom, they will hopefully offer you first dibs. I've been VERY lucky and it's exciting! :) And better yet- FREE!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
One of the things that makes teaching relatively unique...
One of my kids was itching today, but not his head particularly, so I didn't think much of it. Plus, it's the summer and I have multiple kids with mosquito bites all over their arms and legs from being outside in the evenings.
Later in the day, I was walking around to see how they were doing on a paper, and this kid looks up to me, pointing at the side of his neck. "Do I have a flea on my neck?" he asks, clear as day.
And... yes, yes he did. A few minutes later he itched his head and said, "I hope I'm not getting lice again."
I have been itching ALL day.
Later in the day, I was walking around to see how they were doing on a paper, and this kid looks up to me, pointing at the side of his neck. "Do I have a flea on my neck?" he asks, clear as day.
And... yes, yes he did. A few minutes later he itched his head and said, "I hope I'm not getting lice again."
I have been itching ALL day.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Power of a Theme
Even though I'm excited to have a break in a few weeks, I am loving summer school.
I have a class of 7 kids. I can work individually on something with every kid, every day. I can call on them each probably at least 10 times a day. They each get a worthwhile classroom job every week. Our line in the hallway and our time spent going on bathroom breaks are wonderfully short. When I walk around the room, I can check every paper every time. When students turn in a quiz, it is easy for me to meet with each one to go over the answers. Every student does fluency practice every day. We can do hands-on, materials-intensive projects. I can assess students while they play games much easier, so we do less worksheets. I feel like we can do so much! In some ways, I wish school was like this year-round.
The opportunities for differentiation are fantastic, too, but I think my very favorite thing about summer school is that we have a theme in the curriculum for each week.
Besides our reading choices being focused on the same theme, we also have a designated time (30 minutes per day) for thematic science or social studies instruction. When possible, we connect math and writing to that theme, too. There is a focus, and I love it!
Having that theme gives me somewhere to start, especially for science and social studies. It gives me ideas for better lessons. Last week, we learned about giants. Our standards were measurement of length in centimeters and inches; writing a brief description of a familiar person, place, or thing; and identifying synonyms and antonyms. Here were some of our activities:
Obviously, we did other activities that weren't tied into the theme, too. This was actually one of the harder themes to integrate, I felt, but we still did all of these things related to Giants in five days.
I can't wait to try more of this during the regular school year, because it makes the planning and teaching more fun for me, and- most importantly- the kids are SO EXCITED to learn! And I'll post more about this later, but I think that's half the battle.
I have a class of 7 kids. I can work individually on something with every kid, every day. I can call on them each probably at least 10 times a day. They each get a worthwhile classroom job every week. Our line in the hallway and our time spent going on bathroom breaks are wonderfully short. When I walk around the room, I can check every paper every time. When students turn in a quiz, it is easy for me to meet with each one to go over the answers. Every student does fluency practice every day. We can do hands-on, materials-intensive projects. I can assess students while they play games much easier, so we do less worksheets. I feel like we can do so much! In some ways, I wish school was like this year-round.
The opportunities for differentiation are fantastic, too, but I think my very favorite thing about summer school is that we have a theme in the curriculum for each week.
Besides our reading choices being focused on the same theme, we also have a designated time (30 minutes per day) for thematic science or social studies instruction. When possible, we connect math and writing to that theme, too. There is a focus, and I love it!
Having that theme gives me somewhere to start, especially for science and social studies. It gives me ideas for better lessons. Last week, we learned about giants. Our standards were measurement of length in centimeters and inches; writing a brief description of a familiar person, place, or thing; and identifying synonyms and antonyms. Here were some of our activities:
- Reading aloud a rhyming fiction story about a giant
- Reading non-fiction about giant animals, a legend about a giant, and two poems about giants
- Giants readers' theater (a fairy tale)
- Reading about redwoods and experimenting to see how stems move water up a plant
- Discussing perspective and drawing from the perspective of a giant
- Creating a "giant" out of straws and measuring its body parts
- Writing a description of the straws giant
- Brainstorming synonyms and antonyms for the word giant
- Created giant ants with antonyms on them
- Folding an icosahedron model of the Earth
- Using our models and flashlights to simulate the movement of Earth around the sun
Obviously, we did other activities that weren't tied into the theme, too. This was actually one of the harder themes to integrate, I felt, but we still did all of these things related to Giants in five days.
I can't wait to try more of this during the regular school year, because it makes the planning and teaching more fun for me, and- most importantly- the kids are SO EXCITED to learn! And I'll post more about this later, but I think that's half the battle.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Looooong day.
Most of the teachers who read this are probably on summer vacation, or darn close at this point.
Well, I am in the 'summer,' but I'm not on vacation yet. Those of you who are- this will be one of those posts that makes you go, "Ahhhhh," and cherish the fact that you're reading this from a beach chair out in the sun or whatever.
I have a blessedly small class of 7 children for summer school, and 1 was absent today. Six kids- easy day, right?
Not when one of your students forgets to take her medicine. I understand that it happens, especially when the responsibility for taking it lies completely in the hands of an 8-year-old, but this is not a child for whom medicine just kind of helps.
Most days, the early morning is rough until about 9:30, when suddenly she is much more relaxed and her demeanor softens. Some days, it feels like a different student is in the classroom at 10:00. She is extremely bright and pleasant. She works hard and generally listens to direction. Her work is neat and precise, because she wants to do well and loves to please her teachers.
I take special care to give her extra attention and responsibilites in the morning, and while it's not always easy, we usually make it to 9:30 and then the day improves drastically. It is believed that this is when her medicine kicks in, and I think it truly makes it easier for her to behave.
Well, today 9:30 never seemed to come. Her erratic behavior continued, then escalated. By the afternoon, she was singing in the hallway, flipping her body over her desk to do a headstand, buzzing her lips like she was playing a brass instrument, and throwing her belongings around the room. At one point, I called her mom and she claimed she was leaving. Walked right out the door. I let her spend a few minutes working in the back of another classroom, but as soon as she came back in ours, she was off the walls again and threw a ball of paper at another student. After whining and crying on the floor (her, not me, though I considered it), I escorted her to the office. On the way, she tried to run away. By the end of the day, we'd tried positive motivation and praise, a private teacher-student talk, time-out, discipline writing, calling home, removal from the room, a write-up, and going to the office. I'm not even sure what else was left.
Late in the day, I found out the probable culprit- no medicine today.
I don't advocate medicine in most cases. A lot of the time, it's better for students to be taught skills that help them learn to use a disorder like ADHD as an advantage (and handle when it's not). There are a few students, though, who are truly missing out on vital learning because of a disorder that is out of control. These students need some sort of treatment, whether it be medicine or diet or therapy of some kind.
This is a student who refuses to do work, consistently makes noise to purposely distract everyone else, climbs or crawls on anything in the room, and sticks things in her mouth like a toddler. But given treatment, she is a model student who always volunteers an answer because she loves learning.
Yes, her medicine makes my job a billion times easier. Yes, her medicine makes the classroom a much better learning environment for the other students. But that's not why I believe it is good for her right now.
I believe that the medicine is good for her because it allows HER to do her job at all. Without it, she would hardly spend time in a classroom, much less learn anything while she was there. She might be a social outcast. She might hate math, because it is so hard for her. She might never get a chance to feel smart. She might never learn the social behaviors expected of her in the real world. She would get behind in school, for sure.
There are downsides to medicating, too. I think some of the effect of this girl's medicine is placebo. She has her medicine, so she believes she can behave and she does. When she doesn't have her medicine, it's harder to behave and she doesn't believe she can do it, so she doesn't. It's sad that she believes the medicine is what makes her good.
I don't know if she'll need this medicine forever, but I do know that if I only saw her on days like the first day of school and today, it would be a pity. She is not an exhausting or frustrating child- she is sweet and lovable- and I'm glad that her medicine allows that personality to come out, and allows her to learn so much.
Anyway... time to go home, relax, and pretend I'm on summer vacation for a few hours. It was a loooong day.
Well, I am in the 'summer,' but I'm not on vacation yet. Those of you who are- this will be one of those posts that makes you go, "Ahhhhh," and cherish the fact that you're reading this from a beach chair out in the sun or whatever.
I have a blessedly small class of 7 children for summer school, and 1 was absent today. Six kids- easy day, right?
Not when one of your students forgets to take her medicine. I understand that it happens, especially when the responsibility for taking it lies completely in the hands of an 8-year-old, but this is not a child for whom medicine just kind of helps.
Most days, the early morning is rough until about 9:30, when suddenly she is much more relaxed and her demeanor softens. Some days, it feels like a different student is in the classroom at 10:00. She is extremely bright and pleasant. She works hard and generally listens to direction. Her work is neat and precise, because she wants to do well and loves to please her teachers.
I take special care to give her extra attention and responsibilites in the morning, and while it's not always easy, we usually make it to 9:30 and then the day improves drastically. It is believed that this is when her medicine kicks in, and I think it truly makes it easier for her to behave.
Well, today 9:30 never seemed to come. Her erratic behavior continued, then escalated. By the afternoon, she was singing in the hallway, flipping her body over her desk to do a headstand, buzzing her lips like she was playing a brass instrument, and throwing her belongings around the room. At one point, I called her mom and she claimed she was leaving. Walked right out the door. I let her spend a few minutes working in the back of another classroom, but as soon as she came back in ours, she was off the walls again and threw a ball of paper at another student. After whining and crying on the floor (her, not me, though I considered it), I escorted her to the office. On the way, she tried to run away. By the end of the day, we'd tried positive motivation and praise, a private teacher-student talk, time-out, discipline writing, calling home, removal from the room, a write-up, and going to the office. I'm not even sure what else was left.
Late in the day, I found out the probable culprit- no medicine today.
I don't advocate medicine in most cases. A lot of the time, it's better for students to be taught skills that help them learn to use a disorder like ADHD as an advantage (and handle when it's not). There are a few students, though, who are truly missing out on vital learning because of a disorder that is out of control. These students need some sort of treatment, whether it be medicine or diet or therapy of some kind.
This is a student who refuses to do work, consistently makes noise to purposely distract everyone else, climbs or crawls on anything in the room, and sticks things in her mouth like a toddler. But given treatment, she is a model student who always volunteers an answer because she loves learning.
Yes, her medicine makes my job a billion times easier. Yes, her medicine makes the classroom a much better learning environment for the other students. But that's not why I believe it is good for her right now.
I believe that the medicine is good for her because it allows HER to do her job at all. Without it, she would hardly spend time in a classroom, much less learn anything while she was there. She might be a social outcast. She might hate math, because it is so hard for her. She might never get a chance to feel smart. She might never learn the social behaviors expected of her in the real world. She would get behind in school, for sure.
There are downsides to medicating, too. I think some of the effect of this girl's medicine is placebo. She has her medicine, so she believes she can behave and she does. When she doesn't have her medicine, it's harder to behave and she doesn't believe she can do it, so she doesn't. It's sad that she believes the medicine is what makes her good.
I don't know if she'll need this medicine forever, but I do know that if I only saw her on days like the first day of school and today, it would be a pity. She is not an exhausting or frustrating child- she is sweet and lovable- and I'm glad that her medicine allows that personality to come out, and allows her to learn so much.
Anyway... time to go home, relax, and pretend I'm on summer vacation for a few hours. It was a loooong day.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
20/20
The relationship between education and politics is like the blind leading those with excellent vision.I have seen no one sum it up better than in this quote by "Ms. Understood," although the rants of so many teachers on my bloglist, especially the epic ones of Mrs. Mimi, make me want to start a slow clap sometimes. It's amazing to me that so many teachers across the entire country have the same opinions and complaints and worries- and yet, somehow, no one asks the teachers what to do.
People want to believe that teachers are the problem. People want to believe that teaching methodologies must be wrong. People want to believe that teachers don't know what needs to be done.
Here's what I see: teachers who want the best for kids but often can't provide it because of a lack of resources, strict sanctions on how we spend our time, and a litany of responsibilities besides teaching. While I certainly agree there are some bad teachers, the overwhelming majority contributes significant amounts of their time, energy, and money to a classroom. But, although it breaks our hearts, we can't do it all for every child.
So people assume that teachers don't know what students need, even though we generally spend at least 30 hours a week with our students. Instead, let's ask politicians or economists or businesspeople or other "experts" who are no doubt incredible in their field but may not have set foot in an elementary school since they were 10. And they've never even met my students!
Before people get upset, I recognize that statisticians and CEO's can have some great ideas for education. I don't have a problem with involving those people in our brainstorming sessions and think-tanks. My problem is that, often, teachers aren't invited.
Just include us too! That's all I ask.
To all you who want to make sweeping prophecies about school solutions:
- Go to schools that are working, and figure out why by asking the teachers what makes them able to be better teachers and what they see making the biggest difference for students.
- Talk directly to teachers, not just unions, to discuss reforms. Not all of us agree with the unions completely. I know quite a few teachers in the major union here who are in it for the support and liability just in case- but don't agree with all of their actions.
- Spend a day or two with a highly qualified teacher in a generally low-performing school to see what the challenges are even when someone is succeeding, and brainstorm with those teachers for solutions.
- Substitute teach, and try it yourself. And not just in the suburbs or charter schools.
- Spend days in classrooms of highly effective teachers in all kinds of schools with all sorts of styles, considering your plan. Would your plan strip these teachers of the very strategies and personality that make their lessons successful?
- If you think that a common curriculum and required lesson plans are the answer, give at least 5 teachers the same lesson plan and observe the success of that lesson.
- Visit charter schools and public schools and private schools, but not just the famous and infamous. There are great and poor examples of each type.
- Try your plan in a small sample, such as a single school or corporation, before suggesting it to states and the country as a surefire solution to education.
I do not agree, though, with the current pattern of everyone but those who spend each day in a school deciding how to go about those issues and then drafting policy that we will have to follow. This doesn't happen in any other business.
As Mrs. Mimi put here,
Hess says that so many other organizations have accepted cut backs and laid off people due to our current economic distress. And he's right, a lot of people have lost their jobs...people in my family and probably in yours too. BUT (and there's always a but with me, isn't there), those people weren't blamed for the downfall of their business, portrayed as lazy by the media and villainized by the general public. They were just quietly let go. Why is this guy acting like what is happening to teachers is the same thing?
Teachers are not perfect, but we are being almost universally blamed for failing schools by people who don't spend 7 hours a day in them. It's like me trying to tell BP how to fix the oil spill. The fact that I have used gasoline before doesn't make me an oil expert, just as attending schools doesn't make someone an education expert.
Ask the people that have spent 4 years in school studying to become a teacher, required hours of professional development to remain a teacher, and countless hours of experience becoming a better teacher. Those are the experts.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Using Computers for Differentiation
I have worked with Renaissance Learning's Accelerated Math program before, and I have to say I like it much better than its reading counterpart.
Accelerated Reading is meant to differentiate reading by giving students points for reading books "at their level" and then taking quizzes on them. Time and time again, I see students frustrated by the lack of choice in their books, or motivated only by the prospect of points. Sometimes, these students seem to discover more things they enjoy reading- but usually, they just want to Silly String the principal at the end of the year. The program seems, to me, to actively kill a love for reading and make quiz scores the reason for reading. I can appreciate that it levels students and promotes choosing books at instructional level, but I firmly believe that a student who learns to enjoy reading for intrinsic rewards will become a better reader than one who is in it "for the points."
Accelerated Math, though, is a little different. It would not work as your entire math program, at least not without constant small group lessons, but I think it works as a nice supplement, and here's why:
Annie's class has just finished learning about fractions, but she hasn't quite gotten it yet. Unfortunately, the class mostly got it and is moving on to learning about telling time. Annie's math learning and math practice will focus mostly on telling time, and she won't really spend time on fractions anymore, meaning that she probably won't learn the skills she needs.
With Accelerated Math as a supplement, Annie's teacher could assign her the objectives she needs to still work on, such as fractions. Accelerated Math will then print an individualized practice page for Annie based on what she needs to work on. Her answers are scored on a ScanTron style sheet and scored through a little scanner right here in our room so that the computer program can determine if Annie has done well enough to take a test, or if she needs more practice. The teacher also gets a report of how all students are doing, so that any students who need extra help can be worked with in small groups for re-teaching while everyone else works on practicing skills.
I find it works very well for reviewing through the year, too, so that a student doesn't forget information by the end of the year. You can also include standards above grade level for benchmark students' enrichment.
The options for differentiated math practice are great, and my students last year found the scanning process extremely motivating. There are challenges, though; for 2nd graders, transferring your answer to a score sheet without any mistakes takes a lot of practice. Students also need one scanning sheet for Practice pages and one scanning sheet for Tests, which can get confusing. Some students will rush through the pages to get to the scanning part. Finally, it takes a ton of paper (and time) to constantly print out the practice pages needed for each individual.
This is the first time I will be running Accelerated Math 'on my own,' so I'll try to let you know how it goes this summer. It's a bit of a complicated process, but I'm hoping I'll be able to match each student with what they truly need to practice the most!
P.S.- Accelerated Math's reviews have been mixed, and I think success probably depends on how it is used.
P.P.S.- If you have Accelerated Math but have trouble figuring out how to use it, this may be a helpful resource.
Accelerated Reading is meant to differentiate reading by giving students points for reading books "at their level" and then taking quizzes on them. Time and time again, I see students frustrated by the lack of choice in their books, or motivated only by the prospect of points. Sometimes, these students seem to discover more things they enjoy reading- but usually, they just want to Silly String the principal at the end of the year. The program seems, to me, to actively kill a love for reading and make quiz scores the reason for reading. I can appreciate that it levels students and promotes choosing books at instructional level, but I firmly believe that a student who learns to enjoy reading for intrinsic rewards will become a better reader than one who is in it "for the points."
Accelerated Math, though, is a little different. It would not work as your entire math program, at least not without constant small group lessons, but I think it works as a nice supplement, and here's why:
Annie's class has just finished learning about fractions, but she hasn't quite gotten it yet. Unfortunately, the class mostly got it and is moving on to learning about telling time. Annie's math learning and math practice will focus mostly on telling time, and she won't really spend time on fractions anymore, meaning that she probably won't learn the skills she needs.
With Accelerated Math as a supplement, Annie's teacher could assign her the objectives she needs to still work on, such as fractions. Accelerated Math will then print an individualized practice page for Annie based on what she needs to work on. Her answers are scored on a ScanTron style sheet and scored through a little scanner right here in our room so that the computer program can determine if Annie has done well enough to take a test, or if she needs more practice. The teacher also gets a report of how all students are doing, so that any students who need extra help can be worked with in small groups for re-teaching while everyone else works on practicing skills.
I find it works very well for reviewing through the year, too, so that a student doesn't forget information by the end of the year. You can also include standards above grade level for benchmark students' enrichment.
The options for differentiated math practice are great, and my students last year found the scanning process extremely motivating. There are challenges, though; for 2nd graders, transferring your answer to a score sheet without any mistakes takes a lot of practice. Students also need one scanning sheet for Practice pages and one scanning sheet for Tests, which can get confusing. Some students will rush through the pages to get to the scanning part. Finally, it takes a ton of paper (and time) to constantly print out the practice pages needed for each individual.
This is the first time I will be running Accelerated Math 'on my own,' so I'll try to let you know how it goes this summer. It's a bit of a complicated process, but I'm hoping I'll be able to match each student with what they truly need to practice the most!
P.S.- Accelerated Math's reviews have been mixed, and I think success probably depends on how it is used.
P.P.S.- If you have Accelerated Math but have trouble figuring out how to use it, this may be a helpful resource.
Monday, June 07, 2010
"Something smells funny..."
Today the kids in my class were making a model of groundwater. They actually sparked the idea- I wasn't planning to do it- but they asked why there was clay in the ground. To them, clay is something you play with- not something you'd dig up underground.
I realized I had some clay leftover from our sink/float exercise, so I pressed it into the middle of a clear plastic cup, and then poured water on the top so they could see what happened. They kept asking questions, and- well, I realized that we had almost all of the materials to make a model of the underground layers and aquifers. So the students read the book an extra time and used the pictures to make a plan of their model. After they built it, I tried to "pollute" it with some water and food coloring, but the aquifers stayed pretty clean.
While we were building, one of the kids commented that something smelled funny. I explained that it was probably the soil I'd picked up from the store. "No," they told me, "I think it's the clay." One boy sniffed it and told me, "It smells like something... not school" and I didn't know what he meant until the next boy said, "It smells like," (in a whisper) "weed."
Wonderful. Glad to know our 8 year old kids recognize the smell of marijuana.
Anyway, I seem to have more teaching followers lately. I'm not great at every aspect of teaching, but I ROCKED the science lessons for the Water unit this summer. It's about a week's worth of awesome, thanks in large part to a Project WET workshop I attended, and if anyone's interested, I'll share. All of the lessons were pretty easy to implement, very hands-on, lasted 30 minutes or less, and while they might have cost a little at first- most of the materials could be used again from year to year.
A highlight I'm definitely interested in sharing is an experiment in mixing oil and water, and then tying it to the recent oil disaster in the Gulf. Let me know if you'd like me to post it!
I realized I had some clay leftover from our sink/float exercise, so I pressed it into the middle of a clear plastic cup, and then poured water on the top so they could see what happened. They kept asking questions, and- well, I realized that we had almost all of the materials to make a model of the underground layers and aquifers. So the students read the book an extra time and used the pictures to make a plan of their model. After they built it, I tried to "pollute" it with some water and food coloring, but the aquifers stayed pretty clean.
While we were building, one of the kids commented that something smelled funny. I explained that it was probably the soil I'd picked up from the store. "No," they told me, "I think it's the clay." One boy sniffed it and told me, "It smells like something... not school" and I didn't know what he meant until the next boy said, "It smells like," (in a whisper) "weed."
Wonderful. Glad to know our 8 year old kids recognize the smell of marijuana.
Anyway, I seem to have more teaching followers lately. I'm not great at every aspect of teaching, but I ROCKED the science lessons for the Water unit this summer. It's about a week's worth of awesome, thanks in large part to a Project WET workshop I attended, and if anyone's interested, I'll share. All of the lessons were pretty easy to implement, very hands-on, lasted 30 minutes or less, and while they might have cost a little at first- most of the materials could be used again from year to year.
A highlight I'm definitely interested in sharing is an experiment in mixing oil and water, and then tying it to the recent oil disaster in the Gulf. Let me know if you'd like me to post it!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
My Own Class... Yay? part 2
On the second day of school, this girl was the first one there. I greeted her enthusiastically at the door and encouraged her to put her things away and get started on her morning work.
She sat down, and was a little talkative, but otherwise fine. When it was time to go over morning work, I made sure to call her up early and often. Keeping her involved seemed to really help, but she also came over to me a few minutes later.
"Did you notice? I'm trying really hard to be good." And I gushed about how much I had noticed her effort, and she smiled.
About an hour later, the secretary called down. She had to go to a doctors' appointment. She was gone the rest of the day.
But on the third day of classes, she came back. The morning started out rough, and I nearly called her mom again (as this seems to be the only consequence that really motivates her). She finally let me talk with her, though, and she told me she had a rough morning. I told her I didn't want to make it even rougher by calling home or sending her to the office, but I needed her help for that to happen. I told her I wanted to call her mom or send a note at the end of the day telling her mom what a wonderful job she had done today. She liked that. After we talked for a few minutes, she went back to her seat a little subdued.
Her former teacher had told me that she usually has more trouble before her medicine kicks in, about an hour into the morning. And that may be true, because it did seem like after a point, she wasn't struggling so much to behave, and honestly, just to be in a good mood. I don't know how much of that is the medicine, and how much of that was distancing herself from a rough morning at home, but it did seem like the day improved.
I think she still misses her teacher from the school year, and it's hard because we are in the same classroom. But by the third afternoon, she wrote "I love Miss _______" (me) on the back of one of her papers, and handed it to me proudly.
From making me miserable to saying she loves me in less than three days... well, I think we're making progress! :)
She sat down, and was a little talkative, but otherwise fine. When it was time to go over morning work, I made sure to call her up early and often. Keeping her involved seemed to really help, but she also came over to me a few minutes later.
"Did you notice? I'm trying really hard to be good." And I gushed about how much I had noticed her effort, and she smiled.
About an hour later, the secretary called down. She had to go to a doctors' appointment. She was gone the rest of the day.
But on the third day of classes, she came back. The morning started out rough, and I nearly called her mom again (as this seems to be the only consequence that really motivates her). She finally let me talk with her, though, and she told me she had a rough morning. I told her I didn't want to make it even rougher by calling home or sending her to the office, but I needed her help for that to happen. I told her I wanted to call her mom or send a note at the end of the day telling her mom what a wonderful job she had done today. She liked that. After we talked for a few minutes, she went back to her seat a little subdued.
Her former teacher had told me that she usually has more trouble before her medicine kicks in, about an hour into the morning. And that may be true, because it did seem like after a point, she wasn't struggling so much to behave, and honestly, just to be in a good mood. I don't know how much of that is the medicine, and how much of that was distancing herself from a rough morning at home, but it did seem like the day improved.
I think she still misses her teacher from the school year, and it's hard because we are in the same classroom. But by the third afternoon, she wrote "I love Miss _______" (me) on the back of one of her papers, and handed it to me proudly.
From making me miserable to saying she loves me in less than three days... well, I think we're making progress! :)
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