Naoi seachtaine (Week nine)

            Monday we had off for Casmir Pulaski day and Tuesday was a snow day so it made for a nice 4 day weekend.

            Wednesday instead of starting our ISAT tests we decided to have our review day and try and cram everything we couldn’t get to with decimals and fractions in one day which was very difficult considering our specials for that day and the time we actually had to work with. Obviously I am not a fan of worksheets, I tried to teach them out of their books, I tried giving instruction on the board, I tried giving them examples from the real world and tried using money (fake of course), I tried having them get up in front of the class to represent turning a fraction into a decimal, I felt like I tried everything and none of it worked. Finally they were in gym and I was looking at the supplemental math book and they had some worksheets with instructions at the top that were laid out very simply for them and so I printed them out and gave them a whirl and after that they really seemed to start to grasp it. I don’t necessarily think it was the worksheets that were the trick, what I really think that happened was that I was making it much too complicated. I think I was over explaining things and on the first day back after a 4 day weekend I just think it was too much. So when I got the worksheets it laid out what they were supposed to do at a level that was perfect for them and practice problems that were the same level. Once I figured that out we really flew through everything. We got through the equivalent of 3 whole lessons in the time it would normally take to do about half of that. All we did was math on Monday and by the end of it the kids were really burnt out so I had them wind down the day with some silent sustained reading and discussion time so that way they would have somewhat of a break.

            Now that ISATs are here my days are really dull. We do an hour of testing in the morning, then straight to gym, then to lunch after 15 minutes when you factor in bathroom break, then we have a half hour until art then another test and then they go home. While they were in the room they were just silent sustained reading so they would be quiet and give their minds a break. They said the math test was basically all a review which was a good thing because of the review day on Wednesday I was worried how much would stick. So all in all it was a really uneventful day. The best thing about today was when Matthew walked in he had a scowl on his face and looked extremely mad. This is typically what happens before he has a colossal meltdown and we couldn’t have that when he was starting an ISAT test within 20 minutes. So instead of sending him up to the social worker and making this whole ordeal out of it and wasting time I just had him come over to my desk and tried something I’m not sure some teachers have…talking to him. I just asked what was going on and why he looked so mad and he just said “everyone in my house is dumb”. Whatever that meant I don’t know but I just told him that’s not true and just started talking to him and within 5 minutes he was smiling and happy. All it took was talking and some coaxing and he was fine. So that was my biggest accomplishment for the day, taking that kid who has started the day sometimes on the ground literally kicking and screaming and making turning his morning around and starting him off on the right track.

            Friday started the same day with Matthew, he came in all scowled and looked ticked off at the world and again all I did was call him over to my desk and tell him to stop. I said yesterday we had the same problem and we took care of it so that’s what we were going to do again. Again it seemed to work and he was fine in the span of about 3 minutes. Again it was a good feeling and if we can do this whenever he is off to a bad start then the rest of the school year gets a whole lot easier. They took their third ISAT test and that was the last one for the week. Then gym, lunch, and library took up the rest of the day. One thing I noticed was that the 3 days I was in school felt like 2 full weeks and what the other teachers said became so true for me, the shortest weeks are the longest weeks.  I know there isn’t much but that’s because there wasn’t much done. Other than Wednesday when they weren’t testing they were silent reading and that was it.