#TEACH

I just finished watching TEACH on CBS tonight, and I have a mixture of emotions.  I felt proud to be one teacher in that profession.  I felt honored to have the profession I love celebrated this way.  I felt concern that there are people who don't feel the same way about teaching who would say, "Whoop-de-do!  My job is important too," and "Now teachers will walk around thinking they're something so special." I also felt grief watching the teachers and students on the show say their goodbyes at the end of the school year.  Although I look forward to a break and warmer weather, I don't look forward to parting ways with my students.

I also felt worried that perhaps I'm not a great, or even good teacher because I didn't seem as outwardly stressed about the test scores as the teachers profiled on the show had.  Or am I?  Perhaps I don't show emotion or wring my hands while they're taking tests or as I'm getting the first glance of their scores, but that doesn't mean my mind isn't going at full throttle.  That doesn't mean that I don't seek advice from other teachers, no matter whether or not they have more years in the classroom than I do, on how to deal with a child's struggles, whether academically or behaviorally.  That doesn't mean I'm not scouring the Internet looking for ideas to get their attention, to motivate them, to engage them, and keep them that way.

I've been teaching, as a classroom teacher, an ESL teacher, and a Resource Room educational technician, and as a substitute, for 11 years, this year being my 8th year in my own classroom.  During much of that time I've been a student as well.  Even now as I'm finished my Master's Degree, I feel I'm still a student, learning a new math and spelling program, for example.  But I'm also learning about different classroom strategies that will help make a difference in my student's learning.  Searching for ways to turn my classroom around to be a more student-lead environment, and for ways to reach all of my students, and the whole student.

I guess after having watching the 2-hour special (which I've also recorded in case there was something I wanted to get a closer look at), it's helped me to reflect on my own teaching, how I think about teaching, my past attempts at making my teaching better, and especially how to reach individuals rather than a group.  This leads me to ask...

1- What more can I do?

2- What am I doing right?

3- What am I doing wrong?

4- Am I forgetting anyone?

5- Do I make all of my students feel valued?

6- Do I make an effort to make sure ALL students are reached, and to take their individuality into consideration?

Perhaps I'm being too hard on myself, or not.  Perhaps I'm just trying to sort everything out, or perhaps it's just a Friday night that was so filled with emotions for me, and a wonderful program that made me think.

Update...

This afternoon I went with my youngest to pick up our new class pets.  A former colleague of mine gave me two Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.  It's been a couple of years since I last handled any, so I was a little skittish and intimidated when I saw some of the bigger ones, and see them all huddled together.

We drove the nearly 35 minute drive to bring them to my new classroom, and their new home.

The roaches need plenty of hiding places so they feel safe.

I put wheat germ on the bottom of the tank, the drift wood and half coconut shell came with the tank, and added the egg carton.  They have a petri dish for water, and a piece of banana to eat.  One of my kiddos also brought some fish food, because we read that they do eat that, and I plan to bring in some cat food, too, because apparently, they eat that too.

I took the girls (they're both female) out of the bucket they were in and this little one didn't take long to find a place to hide.  Yes, she is the smaller one.

The older, and bigger, one did more exploring....

She really seems to like the driftwood....

I'm really looking forward to seeing my students' faces Tuesday morning!

*Note - last 3 photos were done with the Skitch app for the iPad.*

Survived Week 1

When I came home Friday afternoon, I was so exhausted from the week that I fought to take a nap.  It was such a busy week, so much got planned and accomplished.  I got to know my new students pretty well.  I now know which ones will be helpful and which ones will be a challenge.  If I were to compare my crew from last year and this year, and I'd have to say there is a similar dynamic going on.

In spite of that, we've accomplished quite a lot.  We've already started talking about our state, locating key places and also talking about the role of the 3 branches of our government.  They've started a research project on our state, such as what our state flag, motto, bird, tree, flower, and so on are.  This Thursday we'll be doing Mystery Skype.  We have our first "meeting" with a 2nd grade class two states away, then we'll be doing the same with others who are waiting for things to be arranged.  I just wanted to have 1 under our belt to get an idea what to expect from this point on.

This afternoon I'll be bring to class our new "pets", if you will.  I know not everyone will feel this way, but my students are excited about getting Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches,  and I am too.  My colleagues are slightly grossed out, and I know some of the parents feel that way as well.  I know that we have to make sure they don't get out, and I have prepared all of the precautions, I think......

Phew!

It was the first day of school for my district today.  Being in a new building with different procedures that my last school, let's just say that I learned a lot today.

When the bell rings at 7:55 in the morning, my kiddos came in to class from the cafeteria where they all wait and some eat breakfast when they arrive, to drop off their book bags.  Not realizing what was going on, I had them all have a seat and began talking with them.  After about 5 minutes I happened to look out the window and saw that the rest of the school was at recess.  My poor kiddos!  I felt so bad, but like I told them, I won't make that mistake again.

One can't say that I over plan, especially today.  Although I was where I wanted to be for math, and the reading portion of the day, what I planned for science and social studies took less time than I expected, and covered the material for the next two days!  Oh well, that works well because we've got lots to do!

One more thing I learned today, is that the shoes I've been practically living in all summer are much more comfortable than the fancy shoes I chose to wear today.  So glad I brought my comfortable pair just in case, because I needed them.

All in all, it was a great first day.  I think we're going to have a great year together!

Ready or not....

Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.  Perhaps.  We had our 2 days of workshops yesterday and today, and tomorrow is our first day with our students.  I mentioned in an earlier post how I received several responses from parents and students on my letters that I sent them.  I also got to meet two of them today.  I feel better about tomorrow.  Although I just taught 3rd graders this past year, for some reason I was imagining my 4th graders as larger students.  I'm not sure why....

On Sunday night I definitely didn't feel ready mentally for school.  The idea seemed surreal.  Yesterday, before our district workshop in another building, I went to my classroom to drop off some items.  When I left, I felt more motivated and energized for school to start.  This morning, after a couple of meetings, I was able to work in my room.  I got pretty much everything I can imagine prepared.   Now I'm sitting on my couch waiting for laundry, patiently waiting for a decent time to get to bed, and I feel that I'm ready.

However, as ready as I feel right now, I certainly was dealing with the nerves this morning and afternoon.  Yeah, let's just say that I'm really looking forward to Thursday, because the first day of school jitters will be over.

Count Down Begins!

This is my last Friday before school begins, and I haven't been to my classroom all week!  Whohoo!  I'm actually impressed with myself, because I'm usually there at least once a week, so not having been there since last Friday is really good for me.  So, I wonder what's waiting for me there...

Our first workshop day is Monday, but it's district-wide, so I won't be spending any time in my building until Tuesday.  So, my plan is to head over there early Monday morning before I need to be at the district wide workshop and just make sure everything is all set.  I have a couple of things to drop off and I probably have some parent or student letters waiting for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent out an introductory letter to my parents and a separate one for my students.  I asked parents to tell me about their child.  It gives them a chance to brag.  In all the years I've been doing this at the start of the year, I only had 1 parent who 'warned' me about how annoying, talkative, and inattentive her child was.  As sad as I felt reading it, I strongly believe it was the best thing, because it gave me an idea of what this little gal went home to, so I was able to give her the positive attention she deserved at school.

As much as I enjoy sending and receiving these letters, I usually only receive a fraction of what I sent out.  For example, this year, I sent out 12 letters and have only heard from 4 families (which includes parent and child).  Like I said, I might still have some waiting for me at school, and last year I received one more on the first day of school.  Oh well, some is better than none.

As of last Friday all of my bulletin boards were finished and my areas were set up.

This is one of my bulletin boards behind where I'm going to have our small groups.  I have a small table with some station work (math & language arts), and the expectations on anchor charts.  My classroom will be loosely based on CAFE, using some of the concepts, but I found a structure that I found worked well last year.

This is how I'm planning to approach our social studies unit.  I have a drawing of our state (I have fixed the paper since this picture was taken so it looks neater), and we're going to spend the first couple of days talking about what we know about our state.  The capital, where we live, other places that we know of (national parks and state parks), then go from there.

This is where I'm keeping track of my classroom jobs.   I've decided to forego the student of the week, at least the way I did last year, and rotate responsibilities instead.

This is my help wall.  Some of what's up there has changed, but the green and blue poster boards are still there.  There are lots of masking tape and Command Strips behind those posters, but I couldn't see undoing them, and the different colors helps divide the subjects.

This is where our calendar is located, as well as our daily schedule.  As long as I can remember to make the appropriate changes each day, I can avoid the usual questions of what do we have today.  Next to the schedule are hanging pockets where I store my concept charts that I'll display on my document camera.

Here is where I've place my classroom management chart.  This is the first time I'm trying it, so  I hope it works out well.

       I thought I had a picture of our meeting/reading area, but couldn't find one finished.  I'll add that picture later on.  Cosmetically, it looks like I'm ready.  Curriculum wise, I feel like I'm ready.  Now I have to get back into the school/teaching zone.  I spent all summer in school mode, and this week I managed to take a break from it.  I just hope I'm there on Monday when we have our first workshop.

Evolution in the Classroom

As teachers we tend to go through a constant evolution, at least many of us do.  There are still some teachers who are comfortable and set in their methods that trying out new ideas is difficult.  Perhaps it's because of the direction my teaching career has taken, going from teaching pre-teens to teaching 8 and 9-year-olds, that haven't allowed me to remain stagnant.

Yesterday I went to my classroom to do some organizing and starting talking with one of my new colleagues.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been thinking of using developmental spelling with my students.  As we talked more, bouncing ideas around as to how to manage it in the classroom and track student progress, we got on the topic of math facts.

Just like I was raised with having a list of spelling words and being expected to spell them correctly at the end of the week, I was also raised with practicing my math facts and being expected to keep up with the rest of the class.  Well, my conversation with my fellow teacher enlightened me on the idea of developmental math as well.  I left school yesterday excited about a new tool I can use to help my students increase their math facts skills at their pace, rather than expecting them to keep up with the rest of the class.

Two new tools!  I felt hopeful with the idea that my new kiddos will have an opportunity to do some aspect of math and language arts at their pace, which is the direction I really wanted to take this year.

With one week left before school begins, I feel that I'm ready.  My plans are made, my room is organized, and I think I'm organized (maybe) and ready to go.