Things I Have Accomplished So Far

• All students leveled in Reading A-Z. Parents notified of reading level. Readers sent home - two with each student.
• All students leveled in San Mateo Spelling. SpellingCity.com set up with units 1-10 of for every level 3-29. Parents notified of spelling level and invited to have children use SpellingCity at home.
• Most students leveled in math. Students split into four groups for formalized math group work to begin tomorrow.
  
• 'At-risk' children identified for watch list.
• First field trip taken successfully. No one lost or injured.
  

Maybe it doesn't seem like much, but I feel really good about it.

First Field Trip

I took my class to the Kennecott copper mine today. It is the largest open-pit mining operation in the history of the world, and it's pretty freaking amazing. I had invited Even to bring his class along, so it was a big group. We had a good time.

It was obviously the first field trip of the year, and it may have been Even's first field trip in, I don't know, maybe ever. He wasn't as organized as he will be someday, and it made me feel like I've really got my act together. Woo, go me!

But it was a hard day too. Field trip days always are, right? There's the stress of making sure everyone gets off OK, and - even though you've got chaperons - making sure everyone gets back to school is kind of stressful too. I rode with a parent - Even had ended up with WAY more drivers than he needed, so I rode with Jennifer Knapp (who I'm a little shocked to learn is a churchgoing Mormon - I guess you just never know with Walden folks) and SIX little boys. When we got back to school I had the biggest headache ever. There was only a half-hour of school left, so we told the kids to find something quiet to do, and we called it good.

After school I learned that some parents are giving Even a hard time for not being academic enough? WTF is that all about? They complained on the SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL that there weren't enough academics going on in the classroom. Give the guy a freaking break already! Then last week the mom came into my class and says, "There is always so much going on in here - they're so busy with work. So what are you using for trackers this year . . . " and so forth. I knew something was up. Problem is, their child was one of SJ's little pets last year, and so they have this very skewed idea of what Walden is or should be like. We're not heavy on the academics - yes, we are concerned about testing and want our students to do well, but that is not the end all be all of what we are about. Fortunately, Lois is not the kind of administrator who would try to solve things by moving the child - b/c you KNOW they'd want their child in my class, and I don't really want to deal with those parents.

Tomorrow Kati is doing the Second Great Lesson. LIFE is coming to our classroom. How exciting! We'll also do a punctuation KE. I've got several kids who are really balking at writing their key experiences - not sure how to address that, except to collect the cards and hand them to each child in turn, "OK, now go write these down . . . " I didn't really have this problem last year (or the year before - except for JJ), so it's new.

I hope to finish the leveling for spelling tomorrow, and I'll probably be staying late at work to get the readers ready to go out in the take-home folders on Friday. It'll be a busy day.

Starting to bloom

There's this thing I've been noticing of late, and I've been meaning to mention it: I have a little second-grade boy who is quiet and reserved. He pitched a colossal fit on the first day of school and has been kind of orbiting the classroom community - not really joining in, but circling and watching - all year.

He has started talking in class. This is HUGE! He's raised his hand and answered questions during group lessons; he's asked to read definition cards during nomenclature presentations . . . he's TALKING! It's pretty cool.

We went on a field trip today. GAH! I am never doing a full-group field trip again. Two classes is now my maximum. Seriously? SJ decided sometime this week that they were going to go, and she never called the museum to inform them that there would be a bigger group than expected. We showed up there with FORTY more people than they had planned for. It wasn't a big deal, because we were then on Title I funds, but for pete's sake, it makes the school look bad when we behave so damn unprofessionally! I was really irritated.

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Case Study -

Nothing to report today.

Another week past

Oh, Maria, it seems I have forgotten you! I don't want you to worry about me, but sometimes I get so caught up with other things that my journal time gets lost along the wayside. I'm sorry, and I'll try to check in more often.
It is Friday afternoon. Today was the last day of our first academy session. I am really pleased with how our academies went, and I'm looking forward to our next session. I wonder what classes will be offered and how the students will react to the new options.

Yesterday we went on a field trip to South Ridge Farms. I loved it. We went on a wagon ride into the orchards where we received a short lesson (10 minutes or so?) on agriculture - pollination, cross pollination, bees, organic/non, grafting . . . there were a lot of topics covered, and honestly, for the size of our group, and considering the fact that we had a lot of little kids, the farmer went on for a little longer than he should have. Even so. Afterward we walked through the orchard, and each child got to pick an apple off a tree and eat it, and then they could just throw the apple core back into the orchard! They got a kick out of that. I suspect that many of my children have never before had the opportunity to pick and eat an apple off the tree. We then visited the pumpkin patch and then rode the wagons back to the barn. To finish off, each child got a fresh apple cider donut. It was just about right on level for my students, and I totally intend to go back next year.

We had a peace lesson today on name calling. We've had a lot of aggressive behavior in the classroom (which I mentioned last week), and name calling has been a big part of it. I read a story and talked about my own childhood as the picked on kid. The students were attentive, and I am hopeful we will see a change.

Ah, Maria, there is so much more, but it's time to go. I'll try to check back in over the weekend so I can fill you in on my plans for the coming week.