Semèn disèt (Week 17)

minggu enam belas (week 16)

            Monday was a very interesting day. MAP testing has been going last week, this week, and next week and it was during our library time so we couldn't go to that. Since it was Earth day Mrs. Z. had this whole school wide Earth day curriculum planned out and since she planned everything I pretty much just let her teach it. She did everything for the entire school so I figured I would let her do her thing. She passed out an Earth day math activity which was pretty much just higher level thinking questions that were all problem solving and the students again just didn't understand. They are smart enough, know the material, and are plenty capable of doing the work it just felt like they didn't really want to. So she did some reading comprehension with them and we decided we would come back to the math the next day.

            Tuesday we started the day with our MAP test. We had reading comprehension and our kids showed so much growth it was unbelievable. Normally with gifted students you don’t see that much growth because they are already at such a high level but these kids raised their scores so much. Mrs. Zientek couldn’t believe it, the principal couldn’t believe it, the other teachers couldn’t believe it, it was crazy. Tuesday for our Earth day activity we did another math activity where they have to read an essay about volunteering and then answer some questions about it. Then finally got to the last thing in math I wanted to teach for that unit and that was the end of the day.

           

            Wednesday we started out by doing a math activity where they had to answer the math questions then cut and paste the pictures to form a picture about recycling as part of the Earth week unit. Then gym, bathroom break, kept working on their math, they came back from lunch and we finished up their math, then wrote an essay about whether or not it’s a good thing to volunteer that tied into their article they read the day before, and finished off the day with a nature scavenger hunt outside.

           

            Thursday we started by doing some science that worked really well connecting the Earth week unit and the unit we had previously been working on so I had them write an essay connecting the 2. We had a fact scavenger hunt where they had to go through the classroom and find the fact cards and write the corresponding answers to the Earth week questions, it was a really cool activity that they also got to learn random facts about the Earth. Then after all our specials and those two things I reviewed with them for the math test and that was the day.

           

            Friday since it was my last day of full time teaching Zientek wanted it to just be a really relaxed day (more so because they did so well on the MAP test she wanted to reward them). So we started out with their spelling test and math test to get them out of the way. That brought us up to gym, bathroom break, lunch. Then after lunch we did a combination of a couple different things. We started with writing letters to the classmate that moved to Texas and then played Bingo. They could also do a couple different Earth day activities that were going to be hung up around the school and that concluded my last week of teaching full time. It’s so weird to be at this point. I feel really hesitant about handing the reigns back over because I’ve been in charge for so long.

saptamana cincisprezece (Week 15)

            Monday we started our poetry unit. I introduced it by reading some of my favorite poems from Silverstein, both short and long, and then I read one from Robert Frost, and the Raven by Poe just to give them a little bit of everything from all different genres. We are going to do a different poem each day until the end of April. The first poem we did was a simple acrostic poem. Between that, library in the morning, and social studies presentations in the afternoon it was a pretty slow day.

            Tuesday we did ABC poems, I figured we would start with the easiest poems and wok our way into the more complex from there. So instead of just making an alphabet book I made them actually have a theme to it. I had them write it in the morning, or at least start on it, then we went to gym, the kids went to lunch, we did some before music, then had computers and I had them type up and finish their alphabet poems, then math before we went home and that was our day.

            Tuesday night was our social studies fair and that was something that was really cool to see. It’s still weird to be on the other side of all these things. I remember all my science fairs and projects like that and it’s weird to be a teacher now on this side of the fence. All the projects turned out really well. Some kids who normally aren’t the best students really put a lot into them and did a great job. I was also very proud considering I was on the committee for this and to see the kids step up for it was awesome.

            Wednesday morning went by pretty fast. We did some science until gym, then bathroom break to lunch. Then in the afternoon we kept going with the probability unit I started Tuesday. The homework Tuesday was really confusing. The directions weren’t clear and even after explaining it, it still didn’t go well, the problem was they understood the content and material, just not the instructions on the homework. So we did more practice with it so that they could practice the skills without the confusing instructions and not only get them repetition but also build their confidence. After that we did our poetry, we did haiku’s which the kids liked, and we worked on those until they went home.

            Thursday we kept going with probability and did some more practice to make sure the kids understand it. We did that until we went to gym and lunch. We did a science game before music, the students have a tendency to read the chapter and not pay any attention to the important information in the illustrations and charts. So I gave them 15 minutes to look at and read the chapter’s charts, illustrations, and other things they don’t normally read, then asked them each 2 questions from it and if they got them right they got a panther paw. We went to music and then finished the day with autobiographical poems.

            Friday was another bust. We did a science jigsaw in the morning with the next section in the book which took us up to gym. Then we cleaned out our desks between gym and lunch. After lunch Mrs. Z. decided that we would watch a movie with another class and they did a taxonomy sheet with it, then they went to library with the librarian, then we played math bingo to finish off the day. And I can’t believe next week is my last week of full time teaching.

Classroom Confidential

            In Schmidt’s chapter 7 her topic is all about community in the classroom. I love the idea of bringing community into the classroom because then I think it makes the learning more real for the kids. I know when I was younger I would learn in school and then go home and didn’t think anything would translate. By bringing the community in or bringing your kids out into the community they get a sense for how the learning can be made real and I think it’s one of the most valuable things you can do.

            Unfortunately in today’s world classrooms are test driven, whether we like it or not they are. It’s how schools are assessed and it’s how we are assessed as teacher on our ability to do our job. So one of the concerns that is brought up and Schmidt addresses is how community based learning is actually quite rigorous and in cases can be harder than a classroom curriculum. She lists 8 great reasons as to why this is; Community based projects put kids in the drivers seat, community based projects are academically and socially rigorous, the learning requires different types of knowing, it is active, teaching and learning are shared, life and learning are fused, student work has meaning in the world and beyond, and projects take on a life of their own. I especially like that last one because I like most if not all of my classmates enjoy and believe in alternative assessments. I’m a firm believer in projects and this is what Schmidt says about the potential of a community project; “A single project may unfold over an entire year, as students assess their progress, refine strategies, and ask ‘what do we do now?’” (pg 143). This is exactly the kind of thing I want and hope for in my future classroom, and she mentions why right before that quote; “Next thing you know, you’re in the thick of it and your classroom will never be the same”. I love the potential of getting the community involved, no matter what community it is.  Wealthier communities are sometimes more willing to get involved and higher needs communities when involved can be more rewarding and good for both the community and the kids. For instance I’m in a lower income community now and we have a project going that involves the community, and to get everyone involved and for the kids to see the potential is so good for them. To know that the community is a safe place that cares about them and their education is HUGE for them. That is why no matter what community my school is in I will always try and get it involved.

week quattuordecim (week 14)

            Monday was our field trip to the children’s farm. It was a great field trip for the kids because they got to see all of the little baby animals and learn about them. Part of the reason we had such a good time was because we had a really good guide. Some of the guides weren’t very good so their groups didn’t get as much out of the trip. The kids not only got to learn about the animals but pet and hold them which is something these kids don’t always get to do. On the trip we had a couple chaperones tell us that they had brought their kids their before so they were not only familiar with the farms but the animals, how to hold them, how to pet them, and very responsible. On the other hand some kids had never even seen some animals before so it was a great opportunity for those kids. The weather was a little bad. It was good enough were we could still go and have a good time and not get wet, but this is Illinois so the wind of course picked up and it was too windy to eat there so we went back instead and ate in the cafeteria for an extra 45 minutes they would have gotten otherwise. All in all it was a really good experience and would definitely take my class there again.

            Tuesday was a SIP day so no kids but we got SO much done. We figured out the school wide behavior policy and homework policy for next year and came up with some awesome ideas. We think this might be the pilot for the whole district but that’s just a hunch.

            Wednesday we got through a lot of material again. We had to deal with a minor incident that actually happened last week but due to certain circumstances we couldn’t get to deal with it until today. Other than that the kids were good and we just kept on keeping on. I love these kids and they are such a good group. I have all the staff in the building continually tell me how lucky I got with the group I’m teaching and it’s the best group of kids any have seen come through this building and from what I can tell it’s the truth.

            Thursday and Friday were both practically complete busts. Thursday we had the morning to get through some math and it didn’t really go so well. The kids were so unbelievably quiet I thought they didn’t understand it. It ended up being that they didn’t THINK they understood it but they really did. They thought they kept making mistakes but they weren’t. That was probably the most frustrating thing because they were doing well but weren’t sure of themselves. The rest of the day was gym, lunch, music, and then they had a rehearsal for the concert that was that night. Holy smokes two of my girls had solos, the only solos in the whole thing, and they were AMAZING. I was so proud of them. Even the rest of my kids did great.

            Friday we had a collaboration meeting while the kids were at an awards “ceremony” for the third quarter rewards. Then they went right to gym, the bathroom break and lunch, then they worked on their social studies project until library which took us until the end of the day when we had our fun Friday and that was the week. All in all it was a really good week.

Hafta oniki (Week 13)

Compared to last week Friday I could have one of the worst weeks ever and it still wouldn’t be as bad as that day. Fortunately for me the kids were amazing this week.

            Monday we were still off so when we started back on Tuesday I expected they would be off the wall. I started them off on their morning work and they were dead quiet and working hard. I gave them spelling words, handwriting, we did math and language arts. Then for the first time since ISAT prep we actually did some social studies and science. I love teaching math but it was so nice to be able to pull back the reigns and do some other types of work. The funniest part was at the end of the day when we were going over their homework. I didn’t give them any during ISAT week, they didn’t get a whole lot during the week after, then last week over spring break the only thing they had to do was write a rough draft of their social studies project. It seemed like they forgot that they had to do homework when they were in school. It was only a 10 second “you’re in school, you get homework” and that was it.

            Wednesday was a blur. Again the kids were extremely well behaved and we got through a lot of material. We did math in the morning, we started some social studies before gym, did a math minute during bathroom break and corrected their math homework before lunch. Then we finished social studies before music, after that we read the main story of their language arts unit, we did some writing, and then finished with science. It was probably the most productive day I’ve had all semester and it was fantastic.

            Thursday was just another normal day. The biggest thing we’ve been dealing with over the last few weeks is a few students have problems with unstructured times and their interactions with other students. For instance in gym when they aren’t working independently or pre-planned groups, they have time to practice or play the learned content with each other there are a lot of instances with picking on one another. The issue is that they come to us about it and we have no idea what happened because it wasn’t in our classroom. Whether it’s art, music, or gym they come to us (which is understandable, it’s not as if I’m upset about it) and ask us to mediate or help and we have no idea what happened. We’ve told them that if it happens in a certain class it has to stay in that class. There was a minor incident with a couple kids saying something to a third student just to bug him. They came to me and it was just a mess of “he said this” but only because “he said that” and “they were doing this” and we couldn’t get to a complete story so I just told them to stay as far away from each other as possible and that if I have to talk to them again about it they will get referrals and we didn’t have another problem with it the rest of the day.

            Friday was a day we got next to nothing done. I gave their spelling test in the morning and then was doing some fraction review with them and that took much longer than expected. They had gym and a bathroom break then kept working on their math review. Then they went to lunch and afterwards we played jeopardy review of everything they learned this week. Then they went to library and straight to a recital for their concert coming up that went to the end of the day.

Classroom Confidential

              In chapter 10 Schmidt talks about social justice. Social justice is the belief that every child has the right to be educated which I agree with 100%.  In today’s world you have to prepare students for what’s ahead, what the world is like. One of the best things I think was said in this chapter was “school must be about more than worksheets and recess. It needs to be about their world and their lives.” Schmidt talked about a class who learned about the child slaves working the cocoa fields on the Ivory Coast. Kids who would work 12 hour days, underpaid (if paid at all), and malnourished all so people could get their chocolate fix. They ended up writing the president of M&M/Mars and saying they won’t eat any chocolate but fair trade chocolate and sent back all their Halloween candy. On top of learning about all the social justice topics you can, what this does is also teaches other important skills like application of knowledge to real life problems, a lot of critical thinking on how to resolve the issues, realistic ideas about the world, and since social justice applies much closer to home than most people think it gives students awareness of community needs.

            As a Christian educator, teaching about social justice is something that is extremely important. I believe not only as a person we need to teach what is going on in the world, but as a Christian we need to teach and do what we can to make a difference. We are all missionaries and we have to teach our students to be the same, so teaching them about the important issues and what they can do to change them is equally as important as doing mission work yourself. For instance, the class that sent letters to the president of M&M, as third graders that didn’t take a lot of effort or any money other than postage, but they were making a difference to the cruel treatment of God’s children, that’s the important part. Social justice is something that we absolutely need to teach our kids in today’s world and is more important as Christians because we are on this Earth to protect God’s creation and be missionaries.

Onze Setmana (Week eleven)

            Overall the beginning of the week was pretty cut and dry. Monday I gave out spelling words, we did math, gym, lunch, computer time I let them research their social studies projects, then James and the Giant Peach to finish the day. Tuesday was much the same, Math, gym, lunch, music, computers for social studies, James and the Giant Peach to end the day again. Nothing very eventful happened either day.

            Wednesday was where things started to go a little off the tracks. We had our 3^rd quarter reward celebration at the end of the day. I was observed in the morning and the students were great. I passed out the handout for the reading we did the day before and had them work on that before the reward because after the math lesson between gym, lunch, and art that was all we had time for.

            Thursday was going along fine, nothing uneventful until after art. Then the train started going more off the tracks. We were on our way back and about to go on the bathroom break. I had a student who wasn’t doing anything all day and so I was asking the teacher how he was in art while Mrs. Z. was taking them. I could hear the guys all the way on the other end of the building. I walked back and took all the guys into the classroom and had it out with them. I had to put the fear of the Lord in them again. I told them that just because spring break was around the corner we were still in school and if they were that loud that they were disrupting the whole school from being able to learn. I asked them that if I had to send a note home or call their mom or dad and tell them that their child is disrupting the whole school if they would be happy? I have never heard a group of guys so quiet in my life. So for the rest of the week they do not get a group bathroom break, they are sent out one at a time. We finished the day by reading James and the Giant Peach.

            Friday was the epitome of a train wreck. If we continue to use the train metaphor, It’s off the tracks, on its side, on fire, blowing up, with another train about to crash into it and blow it up further.  We started the day and took our spelling test. That was normal. Then they went to gym and that started out normal. During gym we had a meeting with the principal about a parent who is giving us some trouble. Then the classroom just turned upside down. They came back from gym and I saw 2 kids sort of going at it in what looked like a pretty heated argument and these 2 have had problems inn the past. I pulled them outside to talk to them and it turns out another student was calling them names and hitting them in the head with dodge balls. I pulled him out and it turned out to be this big hoopla involving 7 guys all ticked off at each other for the most part.   So I pulled them all to the front of the class while the rest were working (not to make an example out of them just to have a talk by my desk) and as I was going to inform Mrs. Z. of what was going on and while I was doing that one of the female students told me she was moving to Texas during spring break, and she is one of the best kids in class both academically, socially, and overall a really nice girl. Then I told Mrs. Z. what was happening just to keep her in the loop and she said she wanted to handle it because this sort of thing has been happening all year. Then after she had finished we were having what we call “talk time” which is just something once or twice a week where the students can just talk to us about random things related to school. They were complaining about a certain lunch lady who is either eating off their plates, pinching kids, pushing kids, yelling at them to be quiet for no reason, it was bad. So we said we would talk to the principal about it. Mrs. Z. has also been in the principal’s office laying on his couch twice so far because she’s extremely light headed, felt like she was going to pass out, and had no color in her face. Turns out he had talked to the lunch monitor about these things that very morning. This is ALL BEFORE LUNCH! During lunch we find out that a teacher from another school in the district was walked out of the building. Then after lunch I was running up money to the office for some poster boards and I see Mrs. Z. walking in to the principal’s office with one of the sweetest girls in the class. Apparently the lunch lady had heard her yelling from all the way across the loud lunch room with over 150 kids in it (this is the girl who sits 7 feet away from me and I can’t hear). She made her stand in the corner of the lunch room with her nose against the wall in front of everyone. So she was walked out. Then Mrs. Z. stayed up there because she was feeling sick again. I had them clean out their desks while I graded the first part of their social studies project and one of my guys started having a meltdown right as we were about to go to the movie (the whole school was watching it before spring break). Turn out he was extremely upset about the girl moving to Texas because out of all the girls in the class she’s the nicest to him and his best friend in the class who’s a girl. Then once we got him good to go we had a meeting with the social worker about the child and his parent we’ve been having problems with, then met with the principal about the parent again, then one of our students who is a diabetic had his sugar CRASH, then finally we got a class that one girl’s mother was going into labor so she had to go about an hour early. Then after school we were talking to a teacher who didn’t have his class there because he never got the permission slips (which out students were in charge of passing out) because they didn’t want to go in there when there was no teacher there. The problem was they didn’t tell us and they didn’t have more than 5 left over so we had no idea. And then finally, it was spring break…

Seachtain deich (Week ten in Irish for St. Patty's day!)

            Today (Monday) we were supposed to have a day to review because we originally didn’t want to test them on Mondays, however… the snow day last week keeps coming back to bite us in the butt.  We were worried that we might have run out of time to test the students because Mrs. Z. might have to administer a test to another class because a teacher is out so we wouldn’t be able to test that day because I can’t administer them. We could get the tests in within the week but if someone misses we wouldn’t have any time to do make up tests.  So this was my day today, morning work was handed out then after 5 minutes we went to library for an hour and a half for them to research their social studies projects. Then we actually had a few minutes where I taught comparing and ordering decimals and fractions which went well. Then we went to gym, then 10 minutes to work on their assignment because we don’t give out homework during ISAT week, then they went to lunch and that was our morning. After that we had to get in 2 tests before an assembly addressing the social studies fair that ran to the end of the day. Then they left and I felt like I got next to nothing done.

            One thing I forgot to mention next week is that one of my students with an IEP is having an extremely difficult time with the math project that is due today. So I gave him a completely different assignment (which wasn’t a big deal because he hadn’t done anything on the first one anyways) and I’m hoping he will understand this better but he desperately needed the differentiation.

            Tuesday was another day that seemed like I didn’t have more than a minute with them, and what few minutes I did have I had to either take care of some housekeeping business or put out fires. If it wasn’t making up and copying a parent note it was “this person pushed me” or “this person said this”. It was constantly one thing after another all day. Then I had 15 full minutes and I had to go through everyone and pick the students so they could choose Native American tribes for their Social Studies Fair projects. I am really excited about this project because I am actually on the committee for it so it’s nice to see both sides of something big like this and I’m taking a little extra pride in it. We also had to make a permission slip for them to watch a movie Friday, then I had to get both permission slips translated into Spanish, it just seemed like one thing after another after another. I’m really starting to hate ISATs for more reasons than just the basic premise of them. 

            Wednesday we finally finished our last ISAT test! I was so happy when we finished. We have been learning and talking about these tests for the last few years and sometimes we were aiding in a school when the students were taking them but this was the first time I really saw the full effect of them. It was so hard on our students and emotionally taxing that by the time they were all over even I was drained. The rest of the week we are honestly just doing mindless activities that aren’t hard on the students. Plus there are still students who have to do make up tests right above us in the conference room so we can’t be too loud anyways. We did a lot of silent sustained reading or coloring the rest of the day in between specials. Then at the end of the day I started the James and the Giant Peach unit. I like reading to the kids but I really have to work on the voices I use for the characters, and even the ones I have I feel sort of dumb using them. But at the same time I really don’t care because the kids love it and if that means making a fool of myself using funny voices then so be it I don’t have a problem with it.

            Thursday I checked out a bunch of books on Native American tribes for them to read. First I went through their textbook with them and showed them how to look through books to find information so they don’t spend hours reading a book with nothing to get out of it. Then I had them go through on their own and find just 5 useful pieces of information and write them down with the page number as a reference. Then in the 15 minutes before lunch I had half the students silent read their own books while the other half read the books on the Native American tribes, the after 5 minutes they switched, and then they lined up for lunch. I went through the grade book and found all of the missing work and had students try and find them while the others read. I taught them adding and subtracting decimals because it’s absolutely no different from adding and subtracting regular numbers except the decimal point itself. As soon as I told them they started moaning and groaning, but once I showed them an example their attitude completely changed and they handed it well. Then they worked on their assignments while they were trying to find their missing ones. Then we finished the day with James and the Giant Peach.

            Friday we started with reading and working on the writing follow up. That took us to gym, and then I had a math minute for them to do during the bathroom break. They had some more math follow up on what we covered yesterday. We went to lunch, we switched library times with another class so we went to library immediately after lunch, and then finished the day watching Despicable Me.

            Next week I have to figure out what to teach the week before spring break, after they are wiped out from ISATs, I’m going to try and teach like normal, using multiple different techniques that are engaging and fun for them to try and keep them interested while having them retain the information. I just remember when I was their age the week before spring break was the worst so I’m going to do everything I can to change that.