Fall is here. Really. With a vengeance. The rain today was intense, but the class was beautiful. It was so quiet and calm in the morning - so much work going on. We have changed up tracking just a bit. Instead of a daily tracking page, they've got four pages in their notebooks marked off for the week - one page for each area: language, math, science and practical life. Throughout the week, whenever they do a language work, they mark it on the language page. No need to mark time or day - just the work. Really makes it easy to see, "Oh, you haven't done any math yet this week. You should focus on that today . . . "
What do I do about the kids who constantly leave the room? The ones who 'have to go to the bathroom,' and 'need a drink real bad' pretty much all day long? I had one boy come into class an HOUR late this morning b/c he was in the bathroom. Really? You can't spend an hour in the bathroom, bud. You just can't. And then there's REB's drama, "You have NO IDEA the pain I went through yesterday!" Yep, and right now I don't care. Oh, that's harsh - tell me what happened so we can move on. Oh, you got smacked in the face with a swing? And you got a bloody nose? And it left a bruise? That's horrible. Now let's go one.
Sometimes I need to work on my compassion.
I think tracking a little differently is going to be a good thing.
I taught the 4th GL today, and the exclamation mark key experience. Both went pretty well. Tomorrow I'm going to finish out the 4th GL, and we're doing the 5th on Thursday. We're only a week behind schedule. I'm not super happy with how the Great Lessons were covered this year, but they're all going to be done, so there's that. I'm supposed to do Weather tomorrow (right? - yep), and I'm going to do the Suffix KE. I'm just plugging ahead.
Oh, and CB - what a firecracker. He's still working the anxiety attacks pretty hardcore - not to imply that he's putting on a show, or anything; they're definitely the real deal. Today with the storm, well, you can guess how he did. At recess he went outside even though the storm clouds were still present. What did he do though? Yoinked the ball from a little 1st grader from another class and ran across the field with her screaming and trailing behind him, only to THROW IT OVER THE FENCE on the other side. Seriously, buddy? WTF?
He got to hang out with me for the rest of recess. Maria Montessori would not have approved, I'm sure.
Showing posts with label Great Lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Lessons. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday (on Tuesday)
Yesterday was a pretty smooth day. Kati did the Second Great Lesson in the morning, and we followed that up with math and language group lessons. She did math with two groups of six, and I did language with two groups of six. Today we'll switch. It went swimmingly, and even my kids who are loathe to write wrote down the lesson without complaining. Then came writing time.
NL is a delightful kid. He's deaf and has a cochlear implant, but he's bright and sweet. He doesn't really get human emotion, though. He wouldn't do the writing yesterday. Immediately after the clip ended, he claimed to have forgotten what happened. I didn't believe him and thought he was just being difficult. Power struggle ensued. Nice, Shel. Did I look for ways to diffuse the problem? Nope - there's me, fanning the flames. Not my finest moment. I don't understand him sometimes, and I'm sure he doesn't understand me. He didn't get that I was frustrated, or he didn't care. He just stares blankly back at me the whole time. I kept him back after class and told him he had to at least start. I asked if watching the clip again would help - he said yes, so we watched it again. Still, he did not write. GAH!
So, how do I not engage him? How do I get him engaged with other kids? A person who has no emotional connection to anyone around him is a sociopath in the making. How do I connect this kid? I don't know what to do.
NL is a delightful kid. He's deaf and has a cochlear implant, but he's bright and sweet. He doesn't really get human emotion, though. He wouldn't do the writing yesterday. Immediately after the clip ended, he claimed to have forgotten what happened. I didn't believe him and thought he was just being difficult. Power struggle ensued. Nice, Shel. Did I look for ways to diffuse the problem? Nope - there's me, fanning the flames. Not my finest moment. I don't understand him sometimes, and I'm sure he doesn't understand me. He didn't get that I was frustrated, or he didn't care. He just stares blankly back at me the whole time. I kept him back after class and told him he had to at least start. I asked if watching the clip again would help - he said yes, so we watched it again. Still, he did not write. GAH!
So, how do I not engage him? How do I get him engaged with other kids? A person who has no emotional connection to anyone around him is a sociopath in the making. How do I connect this kid? I don't know what to do.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
2010
First day of school today. We have 25 (maybe 24 - one may have dropped; we don't know yet) students) in grades 2-4. I have two students named Alex(Allie) and two named Micah/Maika. It's going to make for interesting times.
I had met most of the children and their parents before today, but you know how First Day goes - CRAZY in the morning. Children and parents bringing in bags and bags of materials from the supplies list and the wish list. Dropping it in piles (as directed, you know). So many new students who don't know how the room runs - 14 new to me this year. Everyone needs new lessons, and there are only just the two of us. It's kind of nuts.
Did I say kind of? I meant totally. Yeah, totally nuts.
It was good, though. We did a lot of business and a lot of 'getting to know you' and a lot of fun in the morning. I had everyone do a penmanship evaluation, and we got some lessons out. Tomorrow Kati is going to teach the Daily Board so that everyone will have something to DO, and I'm going to see where everyone is in reading. Spelling, too, if I can. Let's be reasonable, though. I won't be able to. The day is just not long enough. We've only got them for six hours, one of which is lunch. Five hours of instruction time including gathering time and whatnot. It's barely enough time for ONE work time, let alone two. Morning work time is - if we count from 8:30, two and a half hours long. Not long enough, really. I wish we didn't have lunch until noon. I feel for Teresa and Melissa - they've only got the kinders for two hours and fifteen minutes. Talk about cutting it short! I get that this schedule was implemented for the benefit of the HS, but it seems like no one considered how it would affect the elementary. Ah, but that is the Walden Way, right?
I taught the First Great Lesson today - first time for me. I had invited Even's class to join us, and Sarai asked yesterday if they could come as well. Sure, the more the merrier, right? Yeah, 75 kids in a lesson is kind of too many. Still, it went well.
We followed the plan for today pretty closely. Only thing was at the end, when the 1GL went long, and the cleanup thereof was not accounted for, it got to be 2PM - writing time - and we hadn't done movement. I had already told the kids we were doing it today, and rather than go back on that, I canceled writing time. I don't want to make a habit of that, though, so I need to plan for cleanup and such when I do lessons.
I'm going to blog again for my journal, and I may do a case study this fall - I'm thinking either NL or REB might be interesting to follow. Of course, there's plenty of other students I haven't gotten a chance to watch yet. Any one of them might be an interesting case.
I'll try to check in a couple of times a week. I'll keep you posted.
I had met most of the children and their parents before today, but you know how First Day goes - CRAZY in the morning. Children and parents bringing in bags and bags of materials from the supplies list and the wish list. Dropping it in piles (as directed, you know). So many new students who don't know how the room runs - 14 new to me this year. Everyone needs new lessons, and there are only just the two of us. It's kind of nuts.
Did I say kind of? I meant totally. Yeah, totally nuts.
It was good, though. We did a lot of business and a lot of 'getting to know you' and a lot of fun in the morning. I had everyone do a penmanship evaluation, and we got some lessons out. Tomorrow Kati is going to teach the Daily Board so that everyone will have something to DO, and I'm going to see where everyone is in reading. Spelling, too, if I can. Let's be reasonable, though. I won't be able to. The day is just not long enough. We've only got them for six hours, one of which is lunch. Five hours of instruction time including gathering time and whatnot. It's barely enough time for ONE work time, let alone two. Morning work time is - if we count from 8:30, two and a half hours long. Not long enough, really. I wish we didn't have lunch until noon. I feel for Teresa and Melissa - they've only got the kinders for two hours and fifteen minutes. Talk about cutting it short! I get that this schedule was implemented for the benefit of the HS, but it seems like no one considered how it would affect the elementary. Ah, but that is the Walden Way, right?
I taught the First Great Lesson today - first time for me. I had invited Even's class to join us, and Sarai asked yesterday if they could come as well. Sure, the more the merrier, right? Yeah, 75 kids in a lesson is kind of too many. Still, it went well.
We followed the plan for today pretty closely. Only thing was at the end, when the 1GL went long, and the cleanup thereof was not accounted for, it got to be 2PM - writing time - and we hadn't done movement. I had already told the kids we were doing it today, and rather than go back on that, I canceled writing time. I don't want to make a habit of that, though, so I need to plan for cleanup and such when I do lessons.
I'm going to blog again for my journal, and I may do a case study this fall - I'm thinking either NL or REB might be interesting to follow. Of course, there's plenty of other students I haven't gotten a chance to watch yet. Any one of them might be an interesting case.
I'll try to check in a couple of times a week. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Bread Party!
The title says it all!
Well, ok, let me explain. We have been working on creating a classroom civilization with students working in various committees to meet all of the fundamental needs of humans in our chosen settlement location. I learned a lot about what my students are capable of (being "turned loose" to work on a project, not so much - yet), and it was a lot of fun. Today we added a new twist: The Written Word. I taught the 4th Great Lesson this morning, and it went almost as I thought it would. I called the students to line and proceeded to speak Spanish as though I expected them to understand. I carried on in this manner for several minutes feigning more and more frustration as they failed to catch my meaning. Finally Kati intervened and helped the students come up with the idea of giving me something to write with. I began to draw pictures, and we then had a discussion about how drawing pictures leads to the creation of writing. It was fun, and I think the message got through.
At lunch time I took the food committee outside and lit the charcoal for the dutch oven cornbread. It got a lot flamier than I expected it would, and I thought to myself, "Remember the day that Miss Shelly burned down the school?" Soon the flames died down, and the food committee and I mixed up the cornbread and got it cooking. It was done by the time lunch was over. I took the class outside while Kati had the food committee help her set up the bread party. We had several different bread options and toppings for the bread including meats and cheeses, fruit dips, cream cheese, butter and honey.
It was DE-LICIOUS! The cornbread turned out so well, I can't wait to do it again next year!
After we ate bread, we cleaned up again. I introduced the idea of creating their own written language for our civilization using pictures that start with each letter in the alphabet and stylizing the pictures into written characters. I think many students will take this idea and run with it.
We then cleaned up one last time and then each committee had the chance to present what they had learned.
Once again we had not so much work time, but I feel pretty good about the way this day went.
To sum up:
The day as I had it planned:
Well, ok, let me explain. We have been working on creating a classroom civilization with students working in various committees to meet all of the fundamental needs of humans in our chosen settlement location. I learned a lot about what my students are capable of (being "turned loose" to work on a project, not so much - yet), and it was a lot of fun. Today we added a new twist: The Written Word. I taught the 4th Great Lesson this morning, and it went almost as I thought it would. I called the students to line and proceeded to speak Spanish as though I expected them to understand. I carried on in this manner for several minutes feigning more and more frustration as they failed to catch my meaning. Finally Kati intervened and helped the students come up with the idea of giving me something to write with. I began to draw pictures, and we then had a discussion about how drawing pictures leads to the creation of writing. It was fun, and I think the message got through.
At lunch time I took the food committee outside and lit the charcoal for the dutch oven cornbread. It got a lot flamier than I expected it would, and I thought to myself, "Remember the day that Miss Shelly burned down the school?" Soon the flames died down, and the food committee and I mixed up the cornbread and got it cooking. It was done by the time lunch was over. I took the class outside while Kati had the food committee help her set up the bread party. We had several different bread options and toppings for the bread including meats and cheeses, fruit dips, cream cheese, butter and honey.
It was DE-LICIOUS! The cornbread turned out so well, I can't wait to do it again next year!
After we ate bread, we cleaned up again. I introduced the idea of creating their own written language for our civilization using pictures that start with each letter in the alphabet and stylizing the pictures into written characters. I think many students will take this idea and run with it.
We then cleaned up one last time and then each committee had the chance to present what they had learned.
Once again we had not so much work time, but I feel pretty good about the way this day went.
To sum up:
The day as I had it planned:
- 4th Great Lesson on morning line
- Cook dutch oven cornbread with food committee
- Bread party in the afternoon
- Committee presentations
- 4th Great Lesson on morning line
- Cook dutch oven cornbread with food committee
- Bread party in the afternoon
- Committee presentations
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)