Back to School

I have the smallest class ever this year. There are 20 first graders. I must admit, I am going to enjoy the extra room (I removed a table). I can already feel a change because of size. Recently I researched class size and most of the results were that class size does not impact student success if the teacher is a good teacher. Of course, most of the education research out there is quantitative. Maybe there is no proof of improvement in test scores, but we are about so much more than that. I feel so much more lighthearted without the extra students. It is amazing how five or so students can make such a powerful impact on time, the ability to manage, the ability to work more one-on-one, and in small groups. The grading and record keeping alone is already much less time consuming. I feel I will have time to actually follow through on and plan better for inquiry projects. My theme this year (which I change every year) is a camping theme. Most of what I am doing so far, I stole from other teachers, but I may come up with some things of my own. I did not set everything up for the start of school, but am letting my students be involved in that process. It made preparing for the return so much less stressful. It is going to be a good year. Stay tuned.

Summer

Summer is here offiicially for me.  I finished the psychosocio literacy class which was fabulous and have so much to try this fall.  I also participated in a three-day summer institute with Katie Wood Ray.  I’m excited about what the coming year will bring.  There are so many changes going on at the state level..many reforms.  I signed up for another class in the fall..Trade Books.  Once school starts up I really want to turn this blog into day-to-day experiences with teaching writing and reading.  I am not, however, going to pressure or expect to blog daily.  That was unrealistic and I started out defeated from the beginning.  I hope to feature picture books here, how I’ve used them in writing workshop, post student work, and so forth.

Graduate School

I am in grad school and working on my 4th class.  I’m frustrated right now because there is so much I want to do, so much I want to learn, and so much I want to share.  I just finished a course, a poorly taught (nothing was being taught) but still did well.  Now I’m beginning a class on sociopsycholinguistics…big word huh?  But the professor (this isn’t my first class with her) is fabulous and I’ll take everything I can that she teaches.  I’m ashamed and disappointed in my lack of blogging this year, and want to find some sort of way to move this effort into a new more focused direction centering around the teaching of reading and writing.  I guess it is just part of the process..growing and  learning.  It’s awfully boring to look at as well.  I have much work to do.

Award

I won an award for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  It’s really rather uncomfortable.  I’m admittedly proud and excited, but at the same time the attention has been uncomfortable.  Things are settling down now.  The truth is there are plenty of teachers equally or more deserving.  So, I’m headed to New Orleans, all expenses paid (well almost) late April to represent the Archdiocese.  I look forward to hanging out with my amazing energetic and supportive principal and a few folks from downtown, who are equally supportive.  One exciting event will be to finally meet an internet penpal of mine to whom I’ve been connected for around 15 years.  She and her husband live in Baton Rouge and will drive in to spend an evening with me. 

When I return from Spring break we’ll be working on a project-based learning experience centering on money (their choice as it is supposed to be).  We’ll be starting a unit in poetry as well.

Blog Blog

I started a Kidblog for my first graders.  We kicked off this week.  The posts have not been overwhelming at all.  My goal is to keep it simple.  I’m glad to see they aren’t spending a ton of time at the computer.  I’ve had a few fun and simple posts.  I’m hoping we can use it some at school in the computer lab, should the computer teacher want to do so, where they can try some writing.  Of course it will take them the entire period to pick out the letters on the keyboard in all likelihood to get down just one sentence.  I’m brainstorming for some fun ways to use it.  I started something at school.  First one of my students told her brother who then asked his third grade teacher to start one for her classroom; and then at our staff meeting yesterday the fourth grade teachers were asking me about it so they are starting one.  I hope it works out.  There is a lot more potential for misuse in the upper grades, but Kidblog is private, simple, and you can set it up as a teacher to have to approve all posts and/or all comments.

Half A Year

We are close to half way through the year. Technically we are only halfway through the 2nd quarter, but school will fly by between now and the holidays. I’m in grad school. I’ve been extremely challenged, and I’ve loved it. I like thinking. I like learning. I like stretching myself. I’ve had a few comments. They aren’t what I’d call negative exactly, but they are of the mindset, you know, where you say something about yourself and the other person immediately has to do a comparison and justify why they AREN’T in grad school or didn’t pursue an advanced degree. It isn’t as if I am bragging when I bring it up. Often someone else bring it up, or I just mention it because I have to excuse myself from social event because I have a project to work on. I know I’m older than the average teacher who is pursuing a Masters. I’m 55. Who cares? I will never let age stand in the way of who I want to be and what I want to do, other than the obvious physical (and maybe mental) limitations that will appear as I age. I believe it will keep me young. Other than the usual aches and pains of a 55 year old, I feel young and I think I act young. One of the men in one of my classes flattered me greatly the other day when his mouth dropped open after he asked me when I graduated from high school. He said I was holding up very well. Ha! Having four young adult daughters helps keep me young too.

So I’m looking forward to really applying some of the things I’ve learned. I have particularly learned a lot about critical literacy. This theory (and my class very definitely was very balanced between theory and practical application) was not around much when I was in undergrad so it is new to me. It is very fitting with Catholic social justice. I’ve tried a few things in my class and have been very pleased with the results. I hope to bring it to my principal in time. My professor has written some with her colleagues (we used one of their textbooks in our class) and another is in the works. She interviewed me for a vignette in the new book, and I hope she will visit my classroom at some point. Critical literacy can be very helpful with many social issues, including bullying which has been in the forefront recently. I would like to think teachers practice critical literacy as a way of deterring social problems rather than schools buying “programs.” It struck me this year that Red Ribbon Day has become a bit of a joke. I know it had a good purpose, but as time has passed it has become more like a day to celebrate something…getting to wear something besides school uniform as long as it’s red, getting a cookie, having balloons and streamers around the halls, watching a video (the same lame video…very outdated..we’ve been watching for years).  I think Red Ribbon Day (for one thing) needs some updating and tweeking.  I thinks we’ve forgotten what it’s all about.

(I’m posting this although I drafted it almost two months ago.  Update:  I worked VERY hard, and I mean hard, and successfully finished my two classes..both A’s.  I’m starting again, but only taking one class this time.)

Thirteen Years

This will be my 13th year as a first grade teacher.  It is a little ironic that the number 13 is considered unlucky, when I indeed feel lucky.  My absence has been due to some life changes.  To put a complicated change simply, since early in the year I have become partly responsible for caring for my 89-year-old mother-in-law.  I’m glad to be able to do this and hope one day others will pay it forward to me in giving me a certain quality of life should I live as long; that said, I have adjusted, and I am back. 

This year does feel lucky.  I have a full class of 26 students.  The majority of them are older first graders in that their parents did not enter them into kindergarten too early if they were on the bubble.  Many of my students have or are already close to turning seven.  I have a balance of boys and girls this year.  Almost all of my students’ parents are familiar to me because I have already been the teacher of an older child.  Some of the parents had children in my class just last year.  Some had children in my class only two years ago.  I taught the siblings of around nine of my students more than two or three years ago.  Some actually fall into more than one category…having had a son or daughter in my class just last year and another a few years ago.

My theme this year revolves around the idea of construction.  I stole (that’s what good teachers do) an idea from some Teach For America videos I’ve watched…Work Hard, Get Smart.  I’ll be teaching them a sort of cheer of that phrase.  I extended it a bit by having S.M.A.R.T. become an acronym for the words super, magnificent, amazing, rockin’ and terrific.  I considered the “Get Smart” old television show and movie and thought about making them detectives, but instead of going with a Sherlock Holmes approach, I went with construction.  Their names are on construction hat clip art I found with the theme posted in the hall.  I found some kid sized plastic construction hats from a party place, and put the names on those as well with labels.  I haven’t decided if I’ll keep them in the classroom (maybe for a while) or send them home.  So our focus is going to be on “building our brains.”

I’m trying a lot of other new things this year.  I’ll come back and post some pictures soon.  It is going to be a great year.

Teacher-Student-Parent Relationships

Sometimes I wonder if I get too involved with my students.  Sometimes I find myself becoming judgmental of parents.  How dare I?  Probably because the older I get, the easier it is to forget how hard it is to be a young parent.  And I know by instinct that it is a lot harder now than even 25 years ago.  Being in a private school, parents naturally feel a great sense of ownership in what I do.  That can be good and bad.  But I won’t ever be one to complain about parent involvement; not when I have a daughter who teaches at an inner city combined middle and high school.  My daughter does call the parents of some of her students.  I find that fascinating because I don’t think that happens as frequently as when students are in elementary school, and even more so in an inner city school where children face so many challenges just to get through each day.  If she is fortunate enough to actually reach a parent or have a parent return a call, she frequently gets “Yeah, I don’t know what to do with her either” or something similar. 

What exactly is the dividing line between home and school?  For a good partnership to exist, teachers and parents must communicate.  For a good partnership to exist, teachers do sometimes need to know about issues going on at home.  I just wonder at what point is it unprofessional to inquire?  Do you leave it up to the parents to tell you things?  Do you tell parents what your students have told you?  Or if your students trust you enough to confide in you, do you share that information with parents?  Obviously, I’m not referring to anything such as abuse which of course I would report to the proper authorities.  I’m talking about a student who says his or her mom or dad is mean, or a student who tells me that he/she hasn’t practiced his spelling words, or stayed up late watching a movie I don’t consider appropriate?  Do I offer my opinion?  Do I try to guide my students away from behaviors which ultimately could lead them to poor habits?  Do I try to protect them from things which I myself as a parent believe are inappropriate for their age?  Or do I just mind my own business and keep my nose out of the home and into the classroom?  Do I intervene and try to assist a parent whose child behaves perfectly for me at school, but has fits at home?  (I usually avoid this, but have relented and tried to help that parent in a couple of cases; I just didn’t want my student to feel I was ganging up on him). 

Every situation is different and I’m not thinking about a particular scenario here, although I could provide a couple of examples.  I just know I don’t like parents coming in and telling me how to teach.  So is it my right to try to influence how they parent?  These are such big questions.  When I was in school many moons ago we were encouraged to make home visits.  I actually never experienced that, and I don’t know anyone who does it.  Is that still a viable and beneficial thing to accomplish, or is it an invasion of privacy?

I find through my years of teaching, though still far fewer than many of the veterans in my building, students are changing, families are changing, the world is changing.  These are tough questions.  They are questions I haven’t heard asked in any professional development I’ve received in recent years.

And another somewhat related question I have is…what do you do when part of the reason a student cannot reach his potential is because of a parent who won’t follow what is going on in the classroom, never remembers anything, doesn’t read the newsletter, etc., and whose hand you feel you are holding just as much as you are holding the hand of the first grader?  Do you just accept it for what it is?  Do you give that student extra breaks?  Can he help it if there is no support at home?  How can you accomplish a gradual release of responsibility in a student when you can’t accomplish it with a parent?  I’m talking extremes here.  I was a parent, and I certainly didn’t always have it together.

I’d enjoy hearing from anyone and everyone who might run onto this blog or reads it on occasion….as a parent, as a teacher, or as a student.

Student Teacher

I have a student teacher join me after the start of our new year and new semester.  She is teaching me a lot.  This is the 2nd student teacher I’ve had, and already I had forgotten how beneficial it is for me.  It is very hard to let go of your students.  It reminds me of leaving my girls with a new sitter. 

One reason it is very good for me is that I am forced to look into my classroom from the outside.  This is her first week of full-time teaching, and that is a good thing because I had to be gone one day for a professional workshop, and I’ve been out sick two other days.  But even when I was at school this week, you see a lot of things when you are on the outside looking in that you don’t notice when you are on the inside doing the teaching.  My aid laughed when I mentioned this because she said, “Yes, you see who is paying attention and who isn’t, and it makes you kind of crazy.  It’s really hard to keep quiet and not interrupt.” 

Well, I found myself honing in on my student teacher for just that reason; I have apologized a number of times.  Maybe God made me sick for this very reason (sorry God, I’m not really blaming you).  I need to leave her alone.  I need to keep my mouth shut.  As a result, she’s had to handle things on her own, whether I like it or not, because I’M NOT THERE, I’M HERE..HOME with a sinus infection.  A legal requirement, there is a sub with her, or actually an aid.  There are so many teachers sick at our school right now, they don’t have enough subs to cover everyone.  Fortunately, one of the aids who helped her yesterday is also a licensed teacher (my aid, who isn’t a licensed teacher was also out because her son was sick).  It’s chaos.

But, I think my student teacher likes it.  I got an email from her last evening telling me that things went extremely well and the students were well-behaved.  I sensed a lot of excitement in her email and think she enjoyed me being out of the way. 

Next week I will make a point of staying out of the classroom a lot more.

A New Year

A new year is almost here.  I’ve been away preparing for Christmas.  December is always a crazy month for a teacher and a mother.  We’ve had a Christmas program at school, a party, a sing-along, lots of reading of Christmas picture books (there’s no way I can ever actually get through my whole collection), and I received lots of affirmation through my wonderful parents.  My parents chipped in a gave me a credit through our SCRIPS program, so I can choose whatever gift cards I want in the money amount they gave me, and it was more than generous.  In addition to that, I still received lots of nice cards and personal gifts from my students and their parents.

This year at home I purchase a new artificial tree (we still have a live tree for our main one).  This one is white and sort of retro looking.  On it I placed all the student ornaments I’ve received as gifts, and added some smaller teddy bears dressed up for Christmas and/or winter.  It turned out to be very cute and it is our basement tree.  We also set up the train I got for my husband a few years back, so our finished basement is quickly becoming a teacher/education theme when it comes to holiday decorating. 

I am going to enjoy the week off prior to 2010, but am also looking forward to the fact that our first day back is a teacher only day, which will give me a lot of time working in my classroom.  I am being joined by a student teacher who will be with me for eight weeks.  My first goal is to organize all of my classroom library into book bins, with labels on the bins, and stickers on the bins and each book so the first graders will know where to return them.  I thought of involving the first graders in that sorting, but it  would be too much of a sacrifice in instructional time to accomplish it.  It is going to be quite a project and may not even be complete by the time the students return on Tuesday, as I do have other things to accomplish as well.

Thankfully, I have most of my plans in place that first week back.  We are going to easily slide back into the routines on that four-day week (for students).  I do want to gear up for some units of study in writing and reading that are a bit more focused and organized in my mind, and with the help of my student teacher covering some grading and other things for me, I’ll be able to better accomplish that.

I will post a picture of my student Christmas tree later by editing this post, so do check back.