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 Group Lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Group 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.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, Monday (la la, la la la la)
Good day today. Not just saying that. I did small-group lessons in grammar with everyone - EVERYONE. Did Logical Agreement - Verbs and Random Placement - Verbs with 1st and 2nd years and Length of Action - Verbs with the 3rd years. It was GREAT. Know how I decided what to do? The new tracking software. Yep. Love that thing. I'm going to mail out progress reports here in a few minutes. Good times.
Had SJ bring in a student today. Project "Undermine the Authority" is officially underway. Not two seconds after she left the room I pulled my chair up to this kid and asked if he wanted to do something else. He picked compound dominoes, and he was DONE in a matter of minutes. Awesome! Then he did a vocabulary/spelling work. He was in my room for a half hour, and then we went back to his room. I told the assistant that he had done some great work, but that the work he came in with didn't seem to appeal to him all that much. She thought what he *had* done was great. SJ not so much. She said something about how he is resistant to copying work.
WELL OF COURSE HE IS!!
Gah! So annoying. Would YOU want to sit and copy lines of poetry for no other reason than your teacher told you you had to? No sir.
_____
Case Study
JS came in this morning and did the sentences on the board - without any prompting! Sure, she picked the one-star sentence, but she analyzed and symbolized the grammar correctly AND WITHOUT BEING HASSLED TO DO IT! Wow. Just. Wow. She later took a spelling test, which she passed, and then she spent some time doing math on the computer.
She came in with cool shades. I complimented her look, and then asked her to put them in her box. She did so without fuss. Same thing after recess. No drama, just, "please put those away." And yeah. Also, she has this tiny bottle (old bubble bottle?) that she keeps water in. She likes to take tiny drinks, but today she was leaving the room, and it was distracting her. So I told her that I might need to tell her mom that she can't bring it to school any more (in retrospect, seems kind of like I went overboard here). She kind of got upset and sputtered some half-sentences, seeming on the verge of a melt-down. I attempted to soothe the fuss, telling her that it wasn't the end of the world, when it came out that she hadn't brought it from home - it had been at school for some time. This is why the freak out - because of a misunderstanding of where the tiny bottle of water came from. I calmly asked her if she would mind taking it home then, and leaving it there. She assented.
She seems to have a strong sense of "things must be as they are." I slight misunderstanding - or even the wrong preposition in a sentence - and she'll become upset until the confusion is resolved. Even if the confusion seems insignificant to others - small things are important to this child.
Had SJ bring in a student today. Project "Undermine the Authority" is officially underway. Not two seconds after she left the room I pulled my chair up to this kid and asked if he wanted to do something else. He picked compound dominoes, and he was DONE in a matter of minutes. Awesome! Then he did a vocabulary/spelling work. He was in my room for a half hour, and then we went back to his room. I told the assistant that he had done some great work, but that the work he came in with didn't seem to appeal to him all that much. She thought what he *had* done was great. SJ not so much. She said something about how he is resistant to copying work.
WELL OF COURSE HE IS!!
Gah! So annoying. Would YOU want to sit and copy lines of poetry for no other reason than your teacher told you you had to? No sir.
_____
Case Study
JS came in this morning and did the sentences on the board - without any prompting! Sure, she picked the one-star sentence, but she analyzed and symbolized the grammar correctly AND WITHOUT BEING HASSLED TO DO IT! Wow. Just. Wow. She later took a spelling test, which she passed, and then she spent some time doing math on the computer.
She came in with cool shades. I complimented her look, and then asked her to put them in her box. She did so without fuss. Same thing after recess. No drama, just, "please put those away." And yeah. Also, she has this tiny bottle (old bubble bottle?) that she keeps water in. She likes to take tiny drinks, but today she was leaving the room, and it was distracting her. So I told her that I might need to tell her mom that she can't bring it to school any more (in retrospect, seems kind of like I went overboard here). She kind of got upset and sputtered some half-sentences, seeming on the verge of a melt-down. I attempted to soothe the fuss, telling her that it wasn't the end of the world, when it came out that she hadn't brought it from home - it had been at school for some time. This is why the freak out - because of a misunderstanding of where the tiny bottle of water came from. I calmly asked her if she would mind taking it home then, and leaving it there. She assented.
She seems to have a strong sense of "things must be as they are." I slight misunderstanding - or even the wrong preposition in a sentence - and she'll become upset until the confusion is resolved. Even if the confusion seems insignificant to others - small things are important to this child.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Trying out new tricks
I finished reading Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful over the weekend, and while it kind of freaks me out (optimal class size 28-35 students?!), there was much in it to inspire me. I have decided to give some of it a go. I don't know how much of it I can implement right away, and in a perfect world and all that . . .
But at least I'm trying.
Today I tried (key word: TRIED) to establish proximity before talking to anyone. I taught the pronoun KE without requiring a lot of writing. I gave a very open-ended morning task (which ended up being far too advanced for some of the students, but it was that way on purpose. I needed to learn what they know and don't know so I can focus.) I tried to harness the power of the community to help students who came to me with questions. I don't know how many times I called out, "Children! One of your classmates is struggling with __________! Who will help?" Every time several children jumped at the chance to help.
I also talked with the students about challenges and how we as a community will help anyone in our group overcome our challenges. Specifically we talked about CB. He seems to get picked on and singled out because he is an energetic boy who needs to move and make noise with is body and his mouth. It seems as though children (and myself, honestly) are forever calling him out and telling him to be quiet. There's one boy in particular who seems to be bothered by the very existence of CB - even though they appear to be great friends. I wonder how come that is? Anyway, BF sat next to CB on line and with an exasperated and annoyed tone whispered to CB to stop this and stop that and now he's raising his hand to complain that he can't hear the lesson because CB is drawing in his notebook and the sound of his pencil is distracting??? It seems so unreasonable and over the top. Same boy later complained that it was too loud during a DVD viewing when the group had been *very quiet* and again during the discussion afterward when there were the softest of side conversations. He has recently been seen by an audiologist who indicated to the parents that he may have an auditory processing disorder, but C'MON! Expecting perfect silence because one kid can't calm his brain enough to listen is unreasonable, but I don't know what to do. Also I get the feeling that the parents must have told the boy what the doctor said, because his final complaint this afternoon sounded like parroted medical-ese.
I need to talk to his mom.
ANYWAY. With CB I brought up the fact that this is his struggle. He has a powerful need to be noisy with his body and his mouth, and he needs to be in motion. The community then brainstormed ways we could help CB overcome his challenge. Is it possible he doesn't even *know* when he's making noise with his mouth? Might a simple touch on the shoulder and a kind mention bring it to his awareness so that he can control it? Might there be times when he so much needs to make noise that he could go outside or somewhere where the noise would be less distracting? It was a good community discussion, and I hope it is the first of many to come. I also hope to see some fruits from this effort.
Another child, RB (redhead) came in late, and I made the effort to smile and greet her - to Behold. She has her own way of being. She drifts through her days as though nothing is worth doing and repeatedly has revelations - real or feigned - about the most basic of expectations. Me: "Please remember to sign out when you leave the room so we know where you are," (a rule that has been in force all year). RB: "Oh yeah!" She completed one work and got halfway through another before disappearing into the hall because "her brain hurt." Kati told her she could take a few minutes to practice her calligraphy, but that same moment was when cleanup started. Every day I fight the urge to take her and shake her and holler in her face that she MUST WORK! That school is work and she cannot sit around doing nothing forever. One and a half works in a full school day IS NOT ENOUGH! Sigh. I know that would be counterproductive, so I don't, but yeesh. Maybe eventually the time will come when I won't even feel the urge anymore. I'm so not there.
_____
Case Study
JS struggled mightily with the morning task and repeatedly forgot to ask her classmates for help and kept coming to me. I called students to her aid on several occasions, but she still finished the day with only three works completed (I think). She did her green reading phonics without being prompted, though, and wrote the pronouns lesson without drama - both great achievements. During a lesson she wanted to lie down so she could write better but in so doing she was kicking people behind her. The solution, to me, was obvious - she could move to the edge of the circle and ask the rest of the students to shift over. To her there seemed to be no solution. She has a tendency to slip into a very narrow way of thinking and has a hard time seeing past the barriers she sets up for herself.
But at least I'm trying.
Today I tried (key word: TRIED) to establish proximity before talking to anyone. I taught the pronoun KE without requiring a lot of writing. I gave a very open-ended morning task (which ended up being far too advanced for some of the students, but it was that way on purpose. I needed to learn what they know and don't know so I can focus.) I tried to harness the power of the community to help students who came to me with questions. I don't know how many times I called out, "Children! One of your classmates is struggling with __________! Who will help?" Every time several children jumped at the chance to help.
I also talked with the students about challenges and how we as a community will help anyone in our group overcome our challenges. Specifically we talked about CB. He seems to get picked on and singled out because he is an energetic boy who needs to move and make noise with is body and his mouth. It seems as though children (and myself, honestly) are forever calling him out and telling him to be quiet. There's one boy in particular who seems to be bothered by the very existence of CB - even though they appear to be great friends. I wonder how come that is? Anyway, BF sat next to CB on line and with an exasperated and annoyed tone whispered to CB to stop this and stop that and now he's raising his hand to complain that he can't hear the lesson because CB is drawing in his notebook and the sound of his pencil is distracting??? It seems so unreasonable and over the top. Same boy later complained that it was too loud during a DVD viewing when the group had been *very quiet* and again during the discussion afterward when there were the softest of side conversations. He has recently been seen by an audiologist who indicated to the parents that he may have an auditory processing disorder, but C'MON! Expecting perfect silence because one kid can't calm his brain enough to listen is unreasonable, but I don't know what to do. Also I get the feeling that the parents must have told the boy what the doctor said, because his final complaint this afternoon sounded like parroted medical-ese.
I need to talk to his mom.
ANYWAY. With CB I brought up the fact that this is his struggle. He has a powerful need to be noisy with his body and his mouth, and he needs to be in motion. The community then brainstormed ways we could help CB overcome his challenge. Is it possible he doesn't even *know* when he's making noise with his mouth? Might a simple touch on the shoulder and a kind mention bring it to his awareness so that he can control it? Might there be times when he so much needs to make noise that he could go outside or somewhere where the noise would be less distracting? It was a good community discussion, and I hope it is the first of many to come. I also hope to see some fruits from this effort.
Another child, RB (redhead) came in late, and I made the effort to smile and greet her - to Behold. She has her own way of being. She drifts through her days as though nothing is worth doing and repeatedly has revelations - real or feigned - about the most basic of expectations. Me: "Please remember to sign out when you leave the room so we know where you are," (a rule that has been in force all year). RB:
_____
Case Study
JS struggled mightily with the morning task and repeatedly forgot to ask her classmates for help and kept coming to me. I called students to her aid on several occasions, but she still finished the day with only three works completed (I think). She did her green reading phonics without being prompted, though, and wrote the pronouns lesson without drama - both great achievements. During a lesson she wanted to lie down so she could write better but in so doing she was kicking people behind her. The solution, to me, was obvious - she could move to the edge of the circle and ask the rest of the students to shift over. To her there seemed to be no solution. She has a tendency to slip into a very narrow way of thinking and has a hard time seeing past the barriers she sets up for herself.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Four day weekend - not quite long enough
Tomorrow we're back at it. Does that put us at 18wks to go? I think so. If the school year were a pregnancy we'd know if it were a boy or girl and would be *almost* at the viable stage.
I don't think I can take that metaphor anywhere. It's kind of weird.
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing the Adverb KE with madlibs playing cards instead of handwritten strips as outlined in the manual. It'll be superfast b/c I'm ALSO doing the Homonym KE. Lots to get through yet, and I'm going to cover it all dangit. I have typed up some homonym riddles (to be mounted and laminated, natch) to be used in a matching work/game. I think it'll be fun, and the kids will like it. I've also got this cool grammar game I found online called "Grammar Ninja" that I'm sure some of the kids will LOVE. I've been playing it, and it gets *me* sometimes!
So I'm down to one blue reader - everyone else is green or beyond. I'm thinking I'm going to drop phonics from the list of morning tasks. Most of my students are beyond the green reading level and are not taking very much away from the green reading task. However, seeing as the green reading boxes are so quick and simple, I'm going to hang onto them as a go-to work. As in, when a student is having a hard time settling, they might be directed to this work.
Kati and I have talked it over, and we're going to drop math and language groups to once a week. It's too disruptive to have formal group lessons going on virtually all day, and if we miss a day (or if a student is absent) it's very difficult to make up the lessons. So we'll do math groups on Mondays and Tuesdays and give students a week to complete their journal tasks. Language groups will also be Mondays and Tuesdays but in the afternoon. If school is out on Monday, like this week, we'll switch the Monday lessons to Wednesdays. Problems solved.
_____
Case Study - I'm keeping an open mind about what the week may bring. Long weekends sometimes result in cranky kids. Will keep my eye on JS to encourage productive working. Considering backing off on singing - she likes to sing while she works, and if it keeps her focused, it could be beneficial. Will discuss it.
I don't think I can take that metaphor anywhere. It's kind of weird.
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing the Adverb KE with madlibs playing cards instead of handwritten strips as outlined in the manual. It'll be superfast b/c I'm ALSO doing the Homonym KE. Lots to get through yet, and I'm going to cover it all dangit. I have typed up some homonym riddles (to be mounted and laminated, natch) to be used in a matching work/game. I think it'll be fun, and the kids will like it. I've also got this cool grammar game I found online called "Grammar Ninja" that I'm sure some of the kids will LOVE. I've been playing it, and it gets *me* sometimes!
So I'm down to one blue reader - everyone else is green or beyond. I'm thinking I'm going to drop phonics from the list of morning tasks. Most of my students are beyond the green reading level and are not taking very much away from the green reading task. However, seeing as the green reading boxes are so quick and simple, I'm going to hang onto them as a go-to work. As in, when a student is having a hard time settling, they might be directed to this work.
Kati and I have talked it over, and we're going to drop math and language groups to once a week. It's too disruptive to have formal group lessons going on virtually all day, and if we miss a day (or if a student is absent) it's very difficult to make up the lessons. So we'll do math groups on Mondays and Tuesdays and give students a week to complete their journal tasks. Language groups will also be Mondays and Tuesdays but in the afternoon. If school is out on Monday, like this week, we'll switch the Monday lessons to Wednesdays. Problems solved.
_____
Case Study - I'm keeping an open mind about what the week may bring. Long weekends sometimes result in cranky kids. Will keep my eye on JS to encourage productive working. Considering backing off on singing - she likes to sing while she works, and if it keeps her focused, it could be beneficial. Will discuss it.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Faith in the Establishment
I love my boss. Couple of years ago it was hard to believe I'd ever feel that way about an employer, but I freaking LOVE my boss. Just when you think you've got her pegged, she goes and does something so blazingly awesome that you have to stand back and revel in her amazingness. Today was such a day.
The drama of yesterday had subsided - in my circle, anyway. We had talked - Teresa, Jenessa, Kati and I - at the beginning of the day, but then nothing more happened. After school I went to Diana to thank her for her reassuring response yesterday, because it really meant a lot to me. She was sweet and brushed off my thanks. I pressed again, saying, no, really, it was exactly the thing I needed to hear, but she chuckled and brushed it off again.
Then she said that Buzz had come to her today and said he wanted to have a meeting with all the elementary teachers to talk about the 2-grade classrooms. I guess he was hoping it could be put to a vote or something silly like that, and since he, Missy and SJ are all on the "Montessori is lame" team, and me and Jenessa are the only 6-12 teachers who aren't, he thought he could pressure Diana into a change. Her response to him just made me so happy. She said no, she wasn't going to call a meeting, but that she wanted to have a meeting with *just him.* I reallyreallyreally hope she can be perfectly blunt and tell him that he's got to stop skulking around the school trying to change the nature of what we are. Stop trying to stage a mutiny!
But I love Diana. I am so glad she's in charge of the school and that she's seeing this behavior for what it is. Someday soon, we'll be a true Montessori school again.
_____
In class things went nicely again. I felt a bit more pressed for time, and Tower Tuesday was not the raging success it's been in the past, though it went well. There were math groups in the morning *and* afternoon, and there was a language group in the afternoon. It made it just a bit more difficult to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on in the classroom. I'm sure I'll adjust.
There is a student I don't like much, and I'm trying to change that. She's the oldest of four children, and mom is expecting again. She always has a look on her face that is not endearing - like she's afraid I'm going to haul off and smack her. And she's spacey. So I haven't built a strong relationship with her. I'm working on it. I'm consciously trying to smile and connect with her when she talks to me. I want to like her, and I want her to *feel* that I like her. It's one of those, "fake it until you make it" things, I guess.
_____
Case Study
I didn't keep JS on my radar as well as I would have liked today. There was so much more going on in the classroom, that I frequently lost track of her. To her detriment, I must add. She didn't get much of anything done this morning - spent a good chunk of the morning drawing. No surprise there. In the afternoon she enjoyed music class and had her first math group. She seemed to enjoy it.
At lunch there was an altercation with CB. I didn't see it, but the aftermath was unmistakable. Another teacher brought the two of them to me, and she was screaming and crying, and CB seemed a little flustered by it all. He was saying, "She said I got out of line, but she *pushed me* out of line!" She would respond by leaning into his space - into his face, really - and SCREAMING, "You DID get out of line!" This was followed by huge gulping sobs and loud hysterical wails. I put them at a table to work it out, but it quickly became obvious that method wasn't going to work today, as the above conversation was repeated two or three times. I intervened, and tried to calm her down so they could work it out. She responded by grunting loudly and again more loudly. I sent CB to get his lunch and told JS she needed to calm down, and we'd talk when she was ready. I went back to my table to give her some space, but that didn't work. Her loud grunts continued until she finally put her hands (or was it her feet?) on the table in front of her and shoved it away from her. It hit the wall.
I knew I had to take another angle on this. I don't remember exactly what I did or said, all I know is that I got a little silly, and the silliness helped. It pulled her out of her grumpy place, and she laughed a little. Then I asked her if she was ready to talk to CB. She said she was, so I told her I was going to go get him, but I first talked her through how the conversation *might* go.
"You could say, 'You got out of line!' but he'll just say, 'No I didn't! You pushed me!' It could go back and forth like that all day! /silly grin me, giggles her/ Do you think that conversation will help?"
"No."
"So maybe you'll say, 'It *looked to me* like you got out of line,' or 'I *thought* you got out of line,' and he'll say, 'I didn't know you thought I got out of line. I felt like I was pushed.' Maybe it will go something like that? /silly questioning face me, giggles her/ So you think you're ready?"
She said she was, so I went and got CB. Moments later they were both dashing back across the lunch room with smiles. They had worked it out, and all was well. I don't know exactly how it was resolved, but they did it *on their own.*
The drama of yesterday had subsided - in my circle, anyway. We had talked - Teresa, Jenessa, Kati and I - at the beginning of the day, but then nothing more happened. After school I went to Diana to thank her for her reassuring response yesterday, because it really meant a lot to me. She was sweet and brushed off my thanks. I pressed again, saying, no, really, it was exactly the thing I needed to hear, but she chuckled and brushed it off again.
Then she said that Buzz had come to her today and said he wanted to have a meeting with all the elementary teachers to talk about the 2-grade classrooms. I guess he was hoping it could be put to a vote or something silly like that, and since he, Missy and SJ are all on the "Montessori is lame" team, and me and Jenessa are the only 6-12 teachers who aren't, he thought he could pressure Diana into a change. Her response to him just made me so happy. She said no, she wasn't going to call a meeting, but that she wanted to have a meeting with *just him.* I reallyreallyreally hope she can be perfectly blunt and tell him that he's got to stop skulking around the school trying to change the nature of what we are. Stop trying to stage a mutiny!
But I love Diana. I am so glad she's in charge of the school and that she's seeing this behavior for what it is. Someday soon, we'll be a true Montessori school again.
_____
In class things went nicely again. I felt a bit more pressed for time, and Tower Tuesday was not the raging success it's been in the past, though it went well. There were math groups in the morning *and* afternoon, and there was a language group in the afternoon. It made it just a bit more difficult to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on in the classroom. I'm sure I'll adjust.
There is a student I don't like much, and I'm trying to change that. She's the oldest of four children, and mom is expecting again. She always has a look on her face that is not endearing - like she's afraid I'm going to haul off and smack her. And she's spacey. So I haven't built a strong relationship with her. I'm working on it. I'm consciously trying to smile and connect with her when she talks to me. I want to like her, and I want her to *feel* that I like her. It's one of those, "fake it until you make it" things, I guess.
_____
Case Study
I didn't keep JS on my radar as well as I would have liked today. There was so much more going on in the classroom, that I frequently lost track of her. To her detriment, I must add. She didn't get much of anything done this morning - spent a good chunk of the morning drawing. No surprise there. In the afternoon she enjoyed music class and had her first math group. She seemed to enjoy it.
At lunch there was an altercation with CB. I didn't see it, but the aftermath was unmistakable. Another teacher brought the two of them to me, and she was screaming and crying, and CB seemed a little flustered by it all. He was saying, "She said I got out of line, but she *pushed me* out of line!" She would respond by leaning into his space - into his face, really - and SCREAMING, "You DID get out of line!" This was followed by huge gulping sobs and loud hysterical wails. I put them at a table to work it out, but it quickly became obvious that method wasn't going to work today, as the above conversation was repeated two or three times. I intervened, and tried to calm her down so they could work it out. She responded by grunting loudly and again more loudly. I sent CB to get his lunch and told JS she needed to calm down, and we'd talk when she was ready. I went back to my table to give her some space, but that didn't work. Her loud grunts continued until she finally put her hands (or was it her feet?) on the table in front of her and shoved it away from her. It hit the wall.
I knew I had to take another angle on this. I don't remember exactly what I did or said, all I know is that I got a little silly, and the silliness helped. It pulled her out of her grumpy place, and she laughed a little. Then I asked her if she was ready to talk to CB. She said she was, so I told her I was going to go get him, but I first talked her through how the conversation *might* go.
"You could say, 'You got out of line!' but he'll just say, 'No I didn't! You pushed me!' It could go back and forth like that all day!
"No."
"So maybe you'll say, 'It *looked to me* like you got out of line,' or 'I *thought* you got out of line,' and he'll say, 'I didn't know you thought I got out of line. I felt like I was pushed.' Maybe it will go something like that?
She said she was, so I went and got CB. Moments later they were both dashing back across the lunch room with smiles. They had worked it out, and all was well. I don't know exactly how it was resolved, but they did it *on their own.*
Saturday, January 9, 2010
20 Weeks to Go
THAT is a number that blows my mind. Not that I'm keeping track; we just happened to count how many weeks are left in the school year because we redid the classroom job chart, and then we counted to see if every student would have a chance to cycle through each job. They will - just barely.
The first week after break is done and gone. It was a good week. There was a lot of good work that got done, and the mood in the classroom was upbeat. I got key experiences done for the conjunction, the exclamation mark and synonyms. I also got a cool little language manual created for my students. I have a set of seven manuals that cover grammar topics (only for now - other topics to be added soon) spanning grades 2-4. What I love about it is that I'm going to split the kids into three groups and we're starting language circles. Each group will use the SAME MANUAL, and we'll all cover the same topic each day, but I can customize the lesson by having the students turn to different sections of the manual. It takes away the feeling of being more or less advanced than other groups. I'm tickled by the stealthiness of my plan.
We are also starting back up with our math teams on Monday. Each team gets math twice a week, and we will be giving workbook assignments, but they are to be completed in school - the workbooks won't be going home most of the time.
In the cultural curriculum, I introduced US history and geography and also did a key experience for the amphibian. Kati introduced desert habitats. After Kati's lesson Thursday, the class was very chaotic. I came back into the room and found overwhelming craziness, so she finished up and I called loudly, "OK, I want everyone to lie down on the floor! Just lie on your back and close your eyes. Make sure you're not touching anyone else." Some of them held onto the silly, but I eventually got everyone on their backs. Then I talked them through a yoga savasana (corpse pose). In a soft voice I talked them through giving their breath a color and feeling that color fill their bellies and flowing through their whole bodies. I talked them through letting their minds go blank and shooing away intruding thoughts like dry leaves being blown away by the wind.
Peace came back into the classroom.
I held them in savasana for about five minutes, and it was a beautiful feeling. After a few minutes I told them I would come around and touch them gently on the forehead. When I touched them, they were invited to *very quietly* get up and get their journals or DEAR books. It was a lovely end to the day.
SPEAKING OF DEAR. I had a revelation in training yesterday: MORE THAN ONE BOOK! Yes! I will have the students choose at least three books at the beginning of DEAR time, and then they *stay put* the whole time. No more up and down and up and down. No, they will sit and read. What a concept.
______
Case Study: JS, seven years old, 2nd grade. Non-traditional family.
This is the button child from last post. I have chosen to do a case study of this child so that I may better address her needs in the classroom. I will likely have her in my classroom for one more year at least, so I need some better options when it comes to encouraging her to make progress.
The first week after break is done and gone. It was a good week. There was a lot of good work that got done, and the mood in the classroom was upbeat. I got key experiences done for the conjunction, the exclamation mark and synonyms. I also got a cool little language manual created for my students. I have a set of seven manuals that cover grammar topics (only for now - other topics to be added soon) spanning grades 2-4. What I love about it is that I'm going to split the kids into three groups and we're starting language circles. Each group will use the SAME MANUAL, and we'll all cover the same topic each day, but I can customize the lesson by having the students turn to different sections of the manual. It takes away the feeling of being more or less advanced than other groups. I'm tickled by the stealthiness of my plan.
We are also starting back up with our math teams on Monday. Each team gets math twice a week, and we will be giving workbook assignments, but they are to be completed in school - the workbooks won't be going home most of the time.
In the cultural curriculum, I introduced US history and geography and also did a key experience for the amphibian. Kati introduced desert habitats. After Kati's lesson Thursday, the class was very chaotic. I came back into the room and found overwhelming craziness, so she finished up and I called loudly, "OK, I want everyone to lie down on the floor! Just lie on your back and close your eyes. Make sure you're not touching anyone else." Some of them held onto the silly, but I eventually got everyone on their backs. Then I talked them through a yoga savasana (corpse pose). In a soft voice I talked them through giving their breath a color and feeling that color fill their bellies and flowing through their whole bodies. I talked them through letting their minds go blank and shooing away intruding thoughts like dry leaves being blown away by the wind.
Peace came back into the classroom.
I held them in savasana for about five minutes, and it was a beautiful feeling. After a few minutes I told them I would come around and touch them gently on the forehead. When I touched them, they were invited to *very quietly* get up and get their journals or DEAR books. It was a lovely end to the day.
SPEAKING OF DEAR. I had a revelation in training yesterday: MORE THAN ONE BOOK! Yes! I will have the students choose at least three books at the beginning of DEAR time, and then they *stay put* the whole time. No more up and down and up and down. No, they will sit and read. What a concept.
______
Case Study: JS, seven years old, 2nd grade. Non-traditional family.
This is the button child from last post. I have chosen to do a case study of this child so that I may better address her needs in the classroom. I will likely have her in my classroom for one more year at least, so I need some better options when it comes to encouraging her to make progress.
Friday, October 23, 2009
I am a horrible person
We went to lunch today and received less than stellar service from the burger joint we visited. After we ate (after a 30 minute wait for our meals), I went in to complain. After I unloaded my frustration on this sweet blonde girl, she interrupted and informed me that they were short handed because their coworker died last night.
And then she started to cry.
What does this have to do with school? It was a clear reminder to me that I don't always know what is going on behind the scenes and that I am sometimes too quickly bothered, too easily angered. The behavior of the shop employees was frustrating to me, but there were extremely extenuating circumstances. How often are there extenuating circumstances with my students that influence their behavior, triggering my ire, yet I don't consider that the students have a life outside of class.
And now I'm babbling.
School went well this week. Tuesday I was back to work, and we did the verb key experience (that I was going to do on Monday). It went really well, and we're now analyzing whole sentences for grammar. In the afternoon I introduced Earth Studies and we talked about the layers of the earth. Wednesday Kati introduced our study of Biomes and Habitats, and Thursday I did the Kingdoms of Life lesson. I was well prepared for that lesson, and it went well. I also introduced our classroom microscope, to an audible GASP, from the students - that was exciting.
The new academy period started today. The students are enjoying their classes, and I'm looking forward to another four weeks of relaxing Fridays.
And then she started to cry.
What does this have to do with school? It was a clear reminder to me that I don't always know what is going on behind the scenes and that I am sometimes too quickly bothered, too easily angered. The behavior of the shop employees was frustrating to me, but there were extremely extenuating circumstances. How often are there extenuating circumstances with my students that influence their behavior, triggering my ire, yet I don't consider that the students have a life outside of class.
And now I'm babbling.
School went well this week. Tuesday I was back to work, and we did the verb key experience (that I was going to do on Monday). It went really well, and we're now analyzing whole sentences for grammar. In the afternoon I introduced Earth Studies and we talked about the layers of the earth. Wednesday Kati introduced our study of Biomes and Habitats, and Thursday I did the Kingdoms of Life lesson. I was well prepared for that lesson, and it went well. I also introduced our classroom microscope, to an audible GASP, from the students - that was exciting.
The new academy period started today. The students are enjoying their classes, and I'm looking forward to another four weeks of relaxing Fridays.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Routines
Dear Maria,
I'm home sick today - first sick day of the year - and I'm thinking of the lessons I had planned for today and how missing ONE day throws my routine all to hell. Actually, I've been sick for a week now, starting last Monday, and my routine has been off for a while. How will I get back on track? Do I blow off one day (a week, really) and pick up tomorrow like nothing happened? Will it take some time for *me* to feel like I'm back on top of things? Will my students show the effects of having their routines messed up?
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the idea of getting my shit back together, and I'm not entirely sure why. I know I can do this, and I know my kids are resilient.
I need chocolate.
I'm home sick today - first sick day of the year - and I'm thinking of the lessons I had planned for today and how missing ONE day throws my routine all to hell. Actually, I've been sick for a week now, starting last Monday, and my routine has been off for a while. How will I get back on track? Do I blow off one day (a week, really) and pick up tomorrow like nothing happened? Will it take some time for *me* to feel like I'm back on top of things? Will my students show the effects of having their routines messed up?
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the idea of getting my shit back together, and I'm not entirely sure why. I know I can do this, and I know my kids are resilient.
I need chocolate.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sick
Ugh, so sick. The whole world has the flu - swine or otherwise, no one really knows - and it has caught up with me. I knew it was only a matter of time, really. Both my kids have it, and today I woke up with the achy body, chills and nausea that heralds the onset of the yuck. Of course, I can't not go. So I pull myself together and head off to work. Where I sit and am a nearly useless lump. Awesome.
I got the rest of my students from yesterday leveled on reading comprehension. I'm finding this leveling process so fascinating. I can't wait to really get into reading comprehension work. I'm planning on sending reading packets home with students and doing round robins with students on similar levels and doing LOTS AND LOTS of comprehension work. It so needs to happen.
I was going to do a key experience for the verb and language lessons and an introduction to earth studies - movement of the earth - in the afternoon . . . none of which happened. I just didn't have it in me to do ANYTHING that required more than a modicum of energy.
Tomorrow is a half day and the jog-a-thon starts at 11:00. It'll be a pretty pointless day.
I got the rest of my students from yesterday leveled on reading comprehension. I'm finding this leveling process so fascinating. I can't wait to really get into reading comprehension work. I'm planning on sending reading packets home with students and doing round robins with students on similar levels and doing LOTS AND LOTS of comprehension work. It so needs to happen.
I was going to do a key experience for the verb and language lessons and an introduction to earth studies - movement of the earth - in the afternoon . . . none of which happened. I just didn't have it in me to do ANYTHING that required more than a modicum of energy.
Tomorrow is a half day and the jog-a-thon starts at 11:00. It'll be a pretty pointless day.
Monday, October 12, 2009
All Quiet
There is some serious sickness at Walden right now. My class had five kids out today, and the lower elementary had a total of more than 20 kids out. Crazy. I actually had six out until one student showed up an hour and a half late. Really? 90 minutes late?! C'mon parents! Step up! That is SO annoying.
So it was a quiet day. I only had 14 students, and we implemented our "get your works done" policy today. We talked about it starting last week, that students now need to complete (AND TRACK) four works in the morning or else they can use recess time to finish up. Is it "punishment?" I don't think so. It is extra time for the kids who have a hard time working. And it totally worked. I have students who have NEVER tracked themselves, not for lack of capability, just for, I don't know, lack of motivation. Today, most everyone was on task, working all morning and ready to go at recess time - with their trackers completed. Sweet.
I started leveling kids in reading comprehension today. Very enlightening. I have one student who was reading at grade level and scored above benchmarks on both accuracy and fluency, but after taking seven minutes to read the story (that benchmarks suggested ought to take four), I asked her to retell the story in her own words, and she shrugged saying, "I don't really remember." NO comprehension. I had another student who was the exact opposite. Well below benchmarks on accuracy and fluency, but above benchmarks on comprehension. Go figure. I am looking forward to having all my students leveled so I can start to really work on their comprehension. It is going to be interesting to see how they do.
I didn't follow through with a lot of my plan today, though. I was going to teach a language lesson on the line that I totally blew off, because, well, I had six kids out at the time. What's the point? Then I did an intro to Pre-Columbian North American civilizations that was really done by the seat of my pants. I should have prepared more, but the kids were attentive, and when the lesson was over, I placed the books on the history shelf, and I noticed that several of them were chosen during DEAR time. So I guess it went all right.
OH! I failed to mention the introduction of the North American passports last week! The book has a space for each North American country, and the students get to "visit" each country by doing a single-page study of the country and turning it in to the teacher. For each country visited, the students get that space of their passport book "stamped" with a flag sticker for the country. The kids are LOVING it! One of my students who tends to be a goof - lots of talking, not so much with the work - has already done THREE country reports. It's pretty amazing.
So that's it, Maria. I wonder how many students will be out tomorrow?
So it was a quiet day. I only had 14 students, and we implemented our "get your works done" policy today. We talked about it starting last week, that students now need to complete (AND TRACK) four works in the morning or else they can use recess time to finish up. Is it "punishment?" I don't think so. It is extra time for the kids who have a hard time working. And it totally worked. I have students who have NEVER tracked themselves, not for lack of capability, just for, I don't know, lack of motivation. Today, most everyone was on task, working all morning and ready to go at recess time - with their trackers completed. Sweet.
I started leveling kids in reading comprehension today. Very enlightening. I have one student who was reading at grade level and scored above benchmarks on both accuracy and fluency, but after taking seven minutes to read the story (that benchmarks suggested ought to take four), I asked her to retell the story in her own words, and she shrugged saying, "I don't really remember." NO comprehension. I had another student who was the exact opposite. Well below benchmarks on accuracy and fluency, but above benchmarks on comprehension. Go figure. I am looking forward to having all my students leveled so I can start to really work on their comprehension. It is going to be interesting to see how they do.
I didn't follow through with a lot of my plan today, though. I was going to teach a language lesson on the line that I totally blew off, because, well, I had six kids out at the time. What's the point? Then I did an intro to Pre-Columbian North American civilizations that was really done by the seat of my pants. I should have prepared more, but the kids were attentive, and when the lesson was over, I placed the books on the history shelf, and I noticed that several of them were chosen during DEAR time. So I guess it went all right.
OH! I failed to mention the introduction of the North American passports last week! The book has a space for each North American country, and the students get to "visit" each country by doing a single-page study of the country and turning it in to the teacher. For each country visited, the students get that space of their passport book "stamped" with a flag sticker for the country. The kids are LOVING it! One of my students who tends to be a goof - lots of talking, not so much with the work - has already done THREE country reports. It's pretty amazing.
So that's it, Maria. I wonder how many students will be out tomorrow?
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
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
One of those days
You ever have one of those days, Maria? One of those days where you have no motivation? No energy? No get-up-and-go?
Today was one of those days for me.
It didn't start out as such. No, that's not entirely true. Yesterday we got back from Timp Lodge around 2:45 (Teresa and I were the last to roll in because we waited at the lodge until all of the parents had left - to make sure everyone had gone), and when I went into the room, the students were all busily, and fairly quietly I might add, engaged in project work. Kati said the kids had gotten back to work without so much as a suggestion from her. I had thought to have them write in their journals and DEAR until pickup, but instead I let them keep working on their projects.
Yeah, it was a good idea, except for the part where they left the room an unholy disaster.
Coming in to work to a room that was so messy and chaotic, well, it was not the best foot to start on. The kids didn't seem to mind much, but I was totally discombobulated by it. Still, the students came in and did their morning tasks (mechanics today), and the day got underway in the normal fashion. I was thinking of doing the suffix functions lesson I had planned for yesterday, but instead I did capitalization rules. Felt rushed and unprepared - because I was.
I went out at lunchtime to get crickets for Viejo and picked up lunch for everyone at Cafe Rio. Got back and realized that I had forgotten to make Cait's lunch, and now it's late, and eat your lunch, and this is where the disconnect started for me. The rest of the day I kind of wandered in a fog. Kati did three small group lessons on types of triangles, and I just sat around watching. Watching her lessons, watching kids work (and not work), watching the clock tick off the minutes. I was going to do Lois's lesson from training - with the children of the world and the M&Ms, but instead I watched.
We cleaned up around 2:00 and went outside for movement activities. We played Fruit Salad, but it didn't work so well because we were sitting on the grass, and everytime "fruit salad" was called it was just a huge chaotic mess of students scrambling for open spots, but there were no defined spots. So then we played Red Rover, which worked out fine until JS got hurt, and then there was drama as all my attention seekers decided they were in horrible pain too.
I was less than sympathetic when LH sobbed and carried on as though the world had come to an end because "her head hurt." I told her to go out in the hall and get a drink of water and pull herself together. Seriously.
So, to sum up:
What I intended to do:
Today was one of those days for me.
It didn't start out as such. No, that's not entirely true. Yesterday we got back from Timp Lodge around 2:45 (Teresa and I were the last to roll in because we waited at the lodge until all of the parents had left - to make sure everyone had gone), and when I went into the room, the students were all busily, and fairly quietly I might add, engaged in project work. Kati said the kids had gotten back to work without so much as a suggestion from her. I had thought to have them write in their journals and DEAR until pickup, but instead I let them keep working on their projects.
Yeah, it was a good idea, except for the part where they left the room an unholy disaster.
Coming in to work to a room that was so messy and chaotic, well, it was not the best foot to start on. The kids didn't seem to mind much, but I was totally discombobulated by it. Still, the students came in and did their morning tasks (mechanics today), and the day got underway in the normal fashion. I was thinking of doing the suffix functions lesson I had planned for yesterday, but instead I did capitalization rules. Felt rushed and unprepared - because I was.
I went out at lunchtime to get crickets for Viejo and picked up lunch for everyone at Cafe Rio. Got back and realized that I had forgotten to make Cait's lunch, and now it's late, and eat your lunch, and this is where the disconnect started for me. The rest of the day I kind of wandered in a fog. Kati did three small group lessons on types of triangles, and I just sat around watching. Watching her lessons, watching kids work (and not work), watching the clock tick off the minutes. I was going to do Lois's lesson from training - with the children of the world and the M&Ms, but instead I watched.
We cleaned up around 2:00 and went outside for movement activities. We played Fruit Salad, but it didn't work so well because we were sitting on the grass, and everytime "fruit salad" was called it was just a huge chaotic mess of students scrambling for open spots, but there were no defined spots. So then we played Red Rover, which worked out fine until JS got hurt, and then there was drama as all my attention seekers decided they were in horrible pain too.
I was less than sympathetic when LH sobbed and carried on as though the world had come to an end because "her head hurt." I told her to go out in the hall and get a drink of water and pull herself together. Seriously.
So, to sum up:
What I intended to do:
- Suffix functions lesson on morning line
- Spelling tests for blue and green readers
- Hunger lesson
- Individual lessons/small group lessons throughout the day
- Movement activity in the afternoon
- Capitalization rules lesson on morning line
- Movement activity in the afternoon
Monday, September 21, 2009
Creation
Last week we had the third great lesson, and I introduced the Fundamental Needs of Humans. We went for a walk down the lonely trail in the adjacent property (which, I know, is *lovers' lane* for high school sweethearts), and we found ourselves almost isolated in the middle of the city. The trees effectively blocked out the view and most of the sounds of the busy street in front of the school, and we were able to imagine . . . what might it have been like to live here before modern times? It was longer than most lessons, but the students stuck with it pretty well.
(Side note: while we were heading out we passed a high school algebra class that was outside using sidewalk chalk to work math problems in the cul-de-sac. I filed this idea away for later. Sidewalk chalk! Brilliant!)
After the lesson we went back to class, and Kati and I introduced the project day assignment: investigating ways to meet the fundamental needs of humans in pre-modern times. The students were stoked, and I expected great things.
Friday was the first project day, and we had an awesome curriculum training day. Lois is so amazing. Her ideas . . . I tell you, she could write books! Maybe she does, I don't know, but if she were to put all of her wisdom down, it would take the ages to read through it all. She introduced extensions on the fundamental need for nutrition - the bread party that we did last year and a thought provoking lesson on how much we have, and how so many have so little. I plan to do it on Wednesday.
While we were training, the students were home working on their project day submissions. Today we got to see what they came up with, and it was astonishing! So many fantastic creations, I could not have been prouder of my kids. After we shared our projects, we talked about creating our own classroom civilization. Kati sat down with them and led the group through a discussion that ended up with the students choosing to settle near a sandy seashore with a forest nearby in a temperate climate. We talked about what resources would be available, and then we turned the kids loose. They had been divided into groups or committees focusing on each of the five fundamental needs, and they spent the last hour of the day solving problems of shelter, nutrition, defense, clothing and transportation. I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Tomorrow is Timp Lodge. The students are looking forward to it. I am too, but I'll be glad when it's over. Field trips are always stressful.
(Side note: while we were heading out we passed a high school algebra class that was outside using sidewalk chalk to work math problems in the cul-de-sac. I filed this idea away for later. Sidewalk chalk! Brilliant!)
After the lesson we went back to class, and Kati and I introduced the project day assignment: investigating ways to meet the fundamental needs of humans in pre-modern times. The students were stoked, and I expected great things.
Friday was the first project day, and we had an awesome curriculum training day. Lois is so amazing. Her ideas . . . I tell you, she could write books! Maybe she does, I don't know, but if she were to put all of her wisdom down, it would take the ages to read through it all. She introduced extensions on the fundamental need for nutrition - the bread party that we did last year and a thought provoking lesson on how much we have, and how so many have so little. I plan to do it on Wednesday.
While we were training, the students were home working on their project day submissions. Today we got to see what they came up with, and it was astonishing! So many fantastic creations, I could not have been prouder of my kids. After we shared our projects, we talked about creating our own classroom civilization. Kati sat down with them and led the group through a discussion that ended up with the students choosing to settle near a sandy seashore with a forest nearby in a temperate climate. We talked about what resources would be available, and then we turned the kids loose. They had been divided into groups or committees focusing on each of the five fundamental needs, and they spent the last hour of the day solving problems of shelter, nutrition, defense, clothing and transportation. I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Tomorrow is Timp Lodge. The students are looking forward to it. I am too, but I'll be glad when it's over. Field trips are always stressful.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Rainy Days and Mondays . . .
. . . . usually get me down.
Today was pretty good. I confiscated a love note from a 4th grade boy; he was writing it to a 3rd grade girl. Ah, young love. Funny, this little girl is new in the class, and ALL of the boys - ok, not all for real, but a lot of them! - are all a-twitter over her. I can see drama in my future.
Started something new today: Morning Tasks. Today's task was sentence analysis. Students came in, did their planning, and analyzed the four simple sentences on the blue chart, AND THEY ALL DID IT! Seriously, have I mentioned how I love my group of kids? I give them a task to do, and with hardly any whining, it gets done. It's a beautiful thing. I'm thinking of challenging students to get their three daily tasks (phonics, problems on the board, morning tasks) done before morning line. It should be eminently doable for all of them.
I introduced grammar analyze & symbolize, and that's tomorrow's morning task. They know the symbols for the noun and the article, so they'll have four short phrases to mark. Easy. In the afternoon Kati introduced bead frame addition, and at the end of the day I presented the Clock of Eras, and we all made clocks showing the history of the Earth. We were going to have an art lesson today, but Kati got caught up doing other things, and it didn't happen. Ah well. In a perfect world, right?
This week is going to be kind of nuts. We're out of school at 2PM on Wednesday for parent teacher conferences from 4-8, and on Thursday we're out at noon for PTCs from 1-4. Friday is the first Project Day, and we'll be having curriculum training in the morning. I think it's going to be sort of a whirlwind week. Fun, though. In a crazy sort of way.
It feels so late, but it's not even 10PM. The rain made it prematurely dark this evening, so the night has been dragging on forever already. Rainy days and Mondays . . .
Today was pretty good. I confiscated a love note from a 4th grade boy; he was writing it to a 3rd grade girl. Ah, young love. Funny, this little girl is new in the class, and ALL of the boys - ok, not all for real, but a lot of them! - are all a-twitter over her. I can see drama in my future.
Started something new today: Morning Tasks. Today's task was sentence analysis. Students came in, did their planning, and analyzed the four simple sentences on the blue chart, AND THEY ALL DID IT! Seriously, have I mentioned how I love my group of kids? I give them a task to do, and with hardly any whining, it gets done. It's a beautiful thing. I'm thinking of challenging students to get their three daily tasks (phonics, problems on the board, morning tasks) done before morning line. It should be eminently doable for all of them.
I introduced grammar analyze & symbolize, and that's tomorrow's morning task. They know the symbols for the noun and the article, so they'll have four short phrases to mark. Easy. In the afternoon Kati introduced bead frame addition, and at the end of the day I presented the Clock of Eras, and we all made clocks showing the history of the Earth. We were going to have an art lesson today, but Kati got caught up doing other things, and it didn't happen. Ah well. In a perfect world, right?
This week is going to be kind of nuts. We're out of school at 2PM on Wednesday for parent teacher conferences from 4-8, and on Thursday we're out at noon for PTCs from 1-4. Friday is the first Project Day, and we'll be having curriculum training in the morning. I think it's going to be sort of a whirlwind week. Fun, though. In a crazy sort of way.
It feels so late, but it's not even 10PM. The rain made it prematurely dark this evening, so the night has been dragging on forever already. Rainy days and Mondays . . .
Friday, September 11, 2009
Where did the Week Go?
So it's Friday, Maria, and I haven't written all week. Monday was Labor Day, so the school week didn't get underway until Tuesday. It seems like every time we lose a day that the whole week is a little off kilter. In addition, President Obama addressed the school children on Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM, taking up a sizable chunk of the morning work time that day. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have been able to give my students the opportunity to listen to the president speak directly to them, but it made the morning feel truncated. I had one student, BP, who came to me as we were headed out into the commons and tell me, "My mom says I can't watch this." He hung his head a little as he said it, and his face was somewhat red. I suspect he may have been embarrassed at being set apart from his classmates, but I respected his mother's wishes and allowed him to work quietly in the classroom until the speech was over.
I taught the second great lesson Tuesday afternoon, and it went smoothly enough. I'm not totally jazzed with it, and I hope to improve the lesson for the coming year. Wednesday morning I taught a lesson on capitization rules (and I am loving how my students this year record lessons without fuss and drama. Somehow they've all gotten the message that after group lessons we record, and they just do it - Fabulous!) but I spent most of Wednesday looking forward to the afternoon extension of the second great lesson, "Survival of the Fittest." I sent the students outside with Kati while I set up, and then we played. I had a collection of small objects - fake flowers, marbles, safety pins, pom poms and jacks - and an assortment of tools - tongs, tweezers, spoons, scoops, etc. I divided the students into two groups, just because of the size of the group, and I told the students a story about the animals who lived in a forest, long ago on a planet much like ours, and on cue, each child was to use their tool to gather up food (the objects) in turn with the story. In the end some of the children had lots of food an all varieties, and some children had very little, and this led to a discussion of natural selection. The students were laughing and engaged, and I could tell they were enjoying the lesson.
Thursday was another bumpy day - it was picture day, and our picture time concided precisely with our music lesson, so our music lesson was bumped back a half hour. In the end we had very little work time in the morning. The afternoon went smoothly - we didn't have an extension for the 2GL, but Kati did an awesome art lesson.
Today we had Friday Academies. I love Fridays.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the DRAMA! Big fun, Maria, we have boy-likes-girl drama in the class. I've got this one little 3rd grade girl, AD, who is new to Walden, and ALL of the boys are falling all over themselves for her. It's still kind of cute, but I can see it causing some problems in the future. I'll keep you posted.
I taught the second great lesson Tuesday afternoon, and it went smoothly enough. I'm not totally jazzed with it, and I hope to improve the lesson for the coming year. Wednesday morning I taught a lesson on capitization rules (and I am loving how my students this year record lessons without fuss and drama. Somehow they've all gotten the message that after group lessons we record, and they just do it - Fabulous!) but I spent most of Wednesday looking forward to the afternoon extension of the second great lesson, "Survival of the Fittest." I sent the students outside with Kati while I set up, and then we played. I had a collection of small objects - fake flowers, marbles, safety pins, pom poms and jacks - and an assortment of tools - tongs, tweezers, spoons, scoops, etc. I divided the students into two groups, just because of the size of the group, and I told the students a story about the animals who lived in a forest, long ago on a planet much like ours, and on cue, each child was to use their tool to gather up food (the objects) in turn with the story. In the end some of the children had lots of food an all varieties, and some children had very little, and this led to a discussion of natural selection. The students were laughing and engaged, and I could tell they were enjoying the lesson.
Thursday was another bumpy day - it was picture day, and our picture time concided precisely with our music lesson, so our music lesson was bumped back a half hour. In the end we had very little work time in the morning. The afternoon went smoothly - we didn't have an extension for the 2GL, but Kati did an awesome art lesson.
Today we had Friday Academies. I love Fridays.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the DRAMA! Big fun, Maria, we have boy-likes-girl drama in the class. I've got this one little 3rd grade girl, AD, who is new to Walden, and ALL of the boys are falling all over themselves for her. It's still kind of cute, but I can see it causing some problems in the future. I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
What a Day
Holy socks, Maria, today was one huge trainwreck. The nightmare began last night when my two-year-old woke up at 1AM and proceeded to vomit every thirty minutes until 5:30. I had this great, beautiful plan, and it was all shot to hell by circumstances beyond my control. So frustrating. I could see it all unravel, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. At first I thought I'd be able to keep it together, you know, run on adrenaline, until the early afternoon, but it was not to be; I crashed around 10AM. I saw myself, heard myself, take on a terse and impatient tone and soon enough the twinkle, which I tried to recapture, was all but gone. Even when we were in the middle of what should have been an awesome afternoon, I could tell my twinkle was forced and fake. Even so, I kept it up as best I could.
Here's what we had on the agenda: I started off with a mechanics lesson - the capitalization key experience. It's not a super entertaining lesson, and for most of my students it's 100% review. I was off my game already, and it kind of fell flat. I spent the rest of the morning teaching individual lessons - I got ID, BP and AC started on geometry nomenclatures, and I helped CB do the problems on the board among other things - and I did individual interviews and spelling tests with three students. LH has been planning and completing the same works every day so far: metal insets and creative writing for language and the binomial cube for math. We had a talk about challenging herself, and we decided on a goal of one language skyscraper and one math box each day. I know she can do it if she just puts her mind to it. KL is new and still figuring out tracking, and I know it will help immensely to get her more lessons. We're working on that.
The afternoon was supposed to be the high point of the day. I would teach them about harnessing the energy of the sun by creating a solar cooker, and we would talk about the scientific method (without calling it such). While our experiement processed, we would play games for movement time, and then we'd enjoy marshmallows dipped in chocolate. A short work time would follow, and we'd finish the day with a lesson by Miss Kati on the relative sizes of stars. That was how it was supposed to go, and on paper we got through it all. It was, however, not my most shining moment. I snapped at NL twice - once during the creation of the solar cookers because he kept sneaking his fingers out to snatch chocolate chips and later as we were enjoying our chocolate dipped marshmallows because he decided to stick his fingers into the chocolate bowl not 15 seconds after I had asked students to keep their fingers out of the bowls. Maybe he didn't hear me? Entirely possible, but did I consider that at the time? No way. Sleep deprivation got the better of me, and I lost my composure. I'll have to be sure to apologize tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I'm anticipating a much better day. My boy has been feeling fine all day, and I'm hoping he'll go to sleep soon so that I can join him in sweet slumber. We have a field trip planned tomorrow. First one of the year. I'm looking forward to it, and I know the students are too.
If I can just get some sleep.
Here's what we had on the agenda: I started off with a mechanics lesson - the capitalization key experience. It's not a super entertaining lesson, and for most of my students it's 100% review. I was off my game already, and it kind of fell flat. I spent the rest of the morning teaching individual lessons - I got ID, BP and AC started on geometry nomenclatures, and I helped CB do the problems on the board among other things - and I did individual interviews and spelling tests with three students. LH has been planning and completing the same works every day so far: metal insets and creative writing for language and the binomial cube for math. We had a talk about challenging herself, and we decided on a goal of one language skyscraper and one math box each day. I know she can do it if she just puts her mind to it. KL is new and still figuring out tracking, and I know it will help immensely to get her more lessons. We're working on that.
The afternoon was supposed to be the high point of the day. I would teach them about harnessing the energy of the sun by creating a solar cooker, and we would talk about the scientific method (without calling it such). While our experiement processed, we would play games for movement time, and then we'd enjoy marshmallows dipped in chocolate. A short work time would follow, and we'd finish the day with a lesson by Miss Kati on the relative sizes of stars. That was how it was supposed to go, and on paper we got through it all. It was, however, not my most shining moment. I snapped at NL twice - once during the creation of the solar cookers because he kept sneaking his fingers out to snatch chocolate chips and later as we were enjoying our chocolate dipped marshmallows because he decided to stick his fingers into the chocolate bowl not 15 seconds after I had asked students to keep their fingers out of the bowls. Maybe he didn't hear me? Entirely possible, but did I consider that at the time? No way. Sleep deprivation got the better of me, and I lost my composure. I'll have to be sure to apologize tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I'm anticipating a much better day. My boy has been feeling fine all day, and I'm hoping he'll go to sleep soon so that I can join him in sweet slumber. We have a field trip planned tomorrow. First one of the year. I'm looking forward to it, and I know the students are too.
If I can just get some sleep.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Constellation Fun
We had the whole group together today for the first time. All 18 of my students - and I don't expect to lose anyone else, though I'll probably get at least two more (if not three). It's a big group! They're such great kids, though. With all those bodies in the room it got louder than I'm used to, and I was a bit snappish close to lunch time. It would probably help if I ate breakfast. I wouldn't be nearly so cranky.
Then there was the bird. Sometimes I really can't handle having her in the room, and today it totally was not her fault. She was being full-on harassed by several students at once, and it seemed to me that she just wanted to be left alone. That was the thing that set me off before lunch - leave the poor bird alone!
Kati did the student interviews today, and I did lessons and classroom management. At the end of the day we did a fun constellations lesson. I got out the constellation viewer and cards that came with my solar system unit kit (thank you DonorsChoose.org!) and then we used glow-in-the-dark paint on black construction paper to create constellations. The students really got into it, and I'm sure several will return to the work throughout the next several days. It's on the shelf now ready for them in the morning. I also did a group lesson on compound words - a couple of extensions called Logical Agreement and Random Placement. MS took it before I could even get it to the shelf. I also did several individual lessons - dictionary usage with LH and KL, squaring chains with AD and BF and reading in Spanish with ID, just to name a few. It was a good productive day.
Then there was the bird. Sometimes I really can't handle having her in the room, and today it totally was not her fault. She was being full-on harassed by several students at once, and it seemed to me that she just wanted to be left alone. That was the thing that set me off before lunch - leave the poor bird alone!
Kati did the student interviews today, and I did lessons and classroom management. At the end of the day we did a fun constellations lesson. I got out the constellation viewer and cards that came with my solar system unit kit (thank you DonorsChoose.org!) and then we used glow-in-the-dark paint on black construction paper to create constellations. The students really got into it, and I'm sure several will return to the work throughout the next several days. It's on the shelf now ready for them in the morning. I also did a group lesson on compound words - a couple of extensions called Logical Agreement and Random Placement. MS took it before I could even get it to the shelf. I also did several individual lessons - dictionary usage with LH and KL, squaring chains with AD and BF and reading in Spanish with ID, just to name a few. It was a good productive day.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Dear Maria
Day one of the second week of school. It was overcast but still warm. I had a very small group today - only fourteen children. There were four out absent, and I for sure lost KS to a different school. That makes me rather sad. I wonder if I'll get another new student. I'm up to six already, and I'd be glad to be done. Even so, I'll take more if that's how it goes.
SD came in this morning looking sad. She came to me with the +4 wheel to pass off, and in the middle of her math facts, she started to cry. She couldn't tell me why she was crying; in fact she told me "I don't know why I'm crying." I called her mom to ask if it had been a hard morning, and mom was surprised to hear her daughter was upset. We ended up having her go up the counselor's office to work in the sand tray for a while, but what really helped was recess. She got playing with her friends, and she was all smiles in the afternoon.
We had a good language key experience today on the Article, and this group of kids does not hesitate to record the lessons when they're asked to. It's nice to not need to nag. I think it really helped that from the beginning I presented the recording of lessons as something that was just done, rather than something that was optional. We also had a fun lesson - a really quick one - on the relative sizes of the moon and the stars. I showed them how to make a moon frame, and then I put paper plates on a tray for them to make their own. Several children completed the work.
I did interviews with four children today. The new kids, and the younger kids, are still working on tracking their work, but given that we've only been tracking for six days, they're doing pretty well. I am also going to combine spelling tests with interview times to make sure that everyone gets tested each week. I like using the Pink, Blue and Green words lists as spelling lists, and I think it's going to work out really well.
I taught several individual lessons today - other than the two group lessons. AD is so new she's still getting into it. I ended up doing many informal lessons with her, but I also did two formal lessons - squaring chains and secrets. She was drawn to secrets, and I noted her doing it later with MS. She must have given him a lesson. They were laughing, and appeared to be having a good time. I also showed BP the squaring chains, and AB was interested in learning how to use the verb grammar boxes. My but that girl has grown up over the summer. She is such a self starter these days! RB came in late - after lunch, late - but he got straight to work and completed five works before the end of work time. He's another that I'm marveling at. He spends his work time so productively. He needed a review lesson on compound splitting, and I was glad to oblige. There were many other lessons, both formal and informal, but there were too many to record here.
It's probably the honeymoon period, but I am finding it easy (ok, maybe easy is not the right word) to be twinkly with the students. However, there is this one child who is making it complicated. She has such a hard time focusing, and yet she is not a problem causer, so she easily slips off my radar. I need to work on keeping track of her so I can keep her on track. Come to think of it, there's a little boy I'm having the same trouble with. I need to strategize with Kati so we can come up with a plan to better serve these two little ones.
I came to school ready to go today. I had a good plan, and I followed it pretty closely. It helped to have the daily schedule posted, and that Kati and I were together on the plans for lessons.
The bird came and visited me several times today. She sat on me while I did group lessons and hung out with me while I read to the class after lunch. We're reading The Graveyard Book, which the students seems to enjoy immensely. One student was pretty freaked out by the first chapter, but today she decided to stay in with the class, and she too seemed to like the story. I'm glad, because I'd hate to have her miss out on such an awesome book.
Most of the students have gone now, Maria. I'm enjoying the year, thus far, and I think things will only get better.
Until tomorrow,
SD came in this morning looking sad. She came to me with the +4 wheel to pass off, and in the middle of her math facts, she started to cry. She couldn't tell me why she was crying; in fact she told me "I don't know why I'm crying." I called her mom to ask if it had been a hard morning, and mom was surprised to hear her daughter was upset. We ended up having her go up the counselor's office to work in the sand tray for a while, but what really helped was recess. She got playing with her friends, and she was all smiles in the afternoon.
We had a good language key experience today on the Article, and this group of kids does not hesitate to record the lessons when they're asked to. It's nice to not need to nag. I think it really helped that from the beginning I presented the recording of lessons as something that was just done, rather than something that was optional. We also had a fun lesson - a really quick one - on the relative sizes of the moon and the stars. I showed them how to make a moon frame, and then I put paper plates on a tray for them to make their own. Several children completed the work.
I did interviews with four children today. The new kids, and the younger kids, are still working on tracking their work, but given that we've only been tracking for six days, they're doing pretty well. I am also going to combine spelling tests with interview times to make sure that everyone gets tested each week. I like using the Pink, Blue and Green words lists as spelling lists, and I think it's going to work out really well.
I taught several individual lessons today - other than the two group lessons. AD is so new she's still getting into it. I ended up doing many informal lessons with her, but I also did two formal lessons - squaring chains and secrets. She was drawn to secrets, and I noted her doing it later with MS. She must have given him a lesson. They were laughing, and appeared to be having a good time. I also showed BP the squaring chains, and AB was interested in learning how to use the verb grammar boxes. My but that girl has grown up over the summer. She is such a self starter these days! RB came in late - after lunch, late - but he got straight to work and completed five works before the end of work time. He's another that I'm marveling at. He spends his work time so productively. He needed a review lesson on compound splitting, and I was glad to oblige. There were many other lessons, both formal and informal, but there were too many to record here.
It's probably the honeymoon period, but I am finding it easy (ok, maybe easy is not the right word) to be twinkly with the students. However, there is this one child who is making it complicated. She has such a hard time focusing, and yet she is not a problem causer, so she easily slips off my radar. I need to work on keeping track of her so I can keep her on track. Come to think of it, there's a little boy I'm having the same trouble with. I need to strategize with Kati so we can come up with a plan to better serve these two little ones.
I came to school ready to go today. I had a good plan, and I followed it pretty closely. It helped to have the daily schedule posted, and that Kati and I were together on the plans for lessons.
The bird came and visited me several times today. She sat on me while I did group lessons and hung out with me while I read to the class after lunch. We're reading The Graveyard Book, which the students seems to enjoy immensely. One student was pretty freaked out by the first chapter, but today she decided to stay in with the class, and she too seemed to like the story. I'm glad, because I'd hate to have her miss out on such an awesome book.
Most of the students have gone now, Maria. I'm enjoying the year, thus far, and I think things will only get better.
Until tomorrow,
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