Today was the 110th day of school. The school year is more than half way over and there are 19 days till my 3 week long spring break. My co-teacher and I are in a panicky calm because of the amount of assessing we need to do in LESS than 19 days for report cards.
Yet in the middle of all this, I found myself staring at our morning routines. It seems like so long ago when I was teaching the kids how to do the morning jobs and report back to the classroom and wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Mandy and Erica had made this process seem so effortless in the MAC room. Now, my kids can run the whole morning routines by themselves. I'm so proud of them, but now, as I look towards the upcoming school year, I think, I should have taken notes on the beginning of the school year so I could remember what my co teacher and myself did to get them to this point.
Surprisingly though, I was also day dreaming about how my classroom is going to look when we will be able to use ALL of our available space. Maybe we could get an extra table to have two guided reading groups going during centers! The possibilities are endless!
I'm ready for the school year to be over so I can reflect, process, prepare more, take more PD and get ready for next year. And though I am excited, I know, for all the trouble that they are, for all we have gone through, I will miss my students, even the behavior issue ones.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Hablo español, punto final.
All through my academic schooling English was the one and only language I used, except for when I took Spanish classes, and now finally I feel like Spanish is finally taking its rightful place in my life. It feels silly writing about this, but teaching in Spanish, me learning more about the Spanish language and Latin heritage feels so right and fulfilling.
My Spanish vocabulary is expanding and I am learning how to discern where an accent is needed.
Yesterday it was my day to be with my "favorite" friend, and I was sitting next to him while the kids had a lesson about strategies they could use if they are getting distracted given in English by their Physical Education teacher. The teacher was called away and asked me to take over the class. I began talking in English but it felt so weird! I never speak to my students in English! I don't know if they sensed my discomfort, but after I asked a question in English, my students responded in Spanish and I reverted back to Spanish asking more questions in Spanish and basically teaching the rest of the time till the teacher came back in Spanish.
I feel like I sound odd speaking to students in English now, my voice does not sound like my own. Isn't that strange?
We celebrated the 100th day of school today and all the classes from K-2 visited all the classrooms where they did a 100th day activity. It was a great experience, but I feel I am able to more fully express myself in the dual language classrooms, with the students who speak both in Spanish and English. I guess I feel a comfort in speaking in my first language that I have, I feel, often struggled to retain, but I also have comfort in the knowledge that I can say a word in English and have the students help me remember or learn the word in Spanish, thus both of us are the teachers and both of us are the students, my ideal teaching situation.
My Spanish vocabulary is expanding and I am learning how to discern where an accent is needed.
Yesterday it was my day to be with my "favorite" friend, and I was sitting next to him while the kids had a lesson about strategies they could use if they are getting distracted given in English by their Physical Education teacher. The teacher was called away and asked me to take over the class. I began talking in English but it felt so weird! I never speak to my students in English! I don't know if they sensed my discomfort, but after I asked a question in English, my students responded in Spanish and I reverted back to Spanish asking more questions in Spanish and basically teaching the rest of the time till the teacher came back in Spanish.
I feel like I sound odd speaking to students in English now, my voice does not sound like my own. Isn't that strange?
We celebrated the 100th day of school today and all the classes from K-2 visited all the classrooms where they did a 100th day activity. It was a great experience, but I feel I am able to more fully express myself in the dual language classrooms, with the students who speak both in Spanish and English. I guess I feel a comfort in speaking in my first language that I have, I feel, often struggled to retain, but I also have comfort in the knowledge that I can say a word in English and have the students help me remember or learn the word in Spanish, thus both of us are the teachers and both of us are the students, my ideal teaching situation.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
I feel like a teacher, FINALLY
He didn't come back. We have a different classroom. We are actually teaching, I no longer have the horrible teacher guilt that I used to have, however, I have a very strong suspicion that due to all the stress from the first trimester, I now have an ulcer. (Still waiting to hear what the doctor has to say)
But, he didn't come back. I no longer dread being in the classroom, or waking up and going to work every day. I think about the 'difficult' friends that I had last year when I was student teaching and I have to laugh at myself. I thought those children were difficult! I didn't know the half of it.
We now have one difficult child. Me and my co teacher switch off days on who will be with him the whole day and then the other will teach. He needs the constant attention of an adult. Even when he is right in front of me he does things to other students. It just boggles the mind that I need to have him close to me at all times and make sure that there are no other students near him.
Because we have him separated from the community and he gets a 10 minute break every hour, I feel that at the beginning of this year he felt in so much control that he began to refuse to do any sort of work (except for math because he apparently really likes it). We tried many different strategies to get him to write, cutting back on the amount of work he needed to do, alternating writing, he writes one word and then I write one word but he would say "No". I never realized how much emotion that one little word would cause me to feel. How is a little seven year old child going to tell me "no"? When I would insist, he began running out of the classroom. (before the winter break we had a lock installed on the closet door because both children would get upset and run in there and refuse to come out) Now, because of the lock he would run around the school. We know have our very own code page to inform the whole school that he is out and running and enlist the help of teachers who are not busy. Yes we have already used it.
This past Monday was particularly difficult. My co-teacher was out sick so he did not have the undivided attention of an adult. We don't know what set him off but he began throwing things around the classroom and we had to call a male teacher who is usually able to control him to remove him from the classroom. He spent most of his lunch and recess time in the office kicking at anything he could reach with his feet.
That afternoon I had a meeting with his guardians. 2 hours long. We came to a behavior plan that would be in place at school and at home and I think that he needed to see that both his guardians and his teachers are a team and he can not get away with anything. I think that I needed that meeting too. I needed to see and learn more about how they interacted with him at home , which basically was, not taking any of his crap.
So far this approach has worked. I remind him "You do not say 'no' to me and I will be informing your guardians of every time you say that to me" I feel like a new person and a new teacher.
This was one part of my teaching that I was never fully comfortable with, being the authority figure and laying down the rules and following through. I feel like at the beginning of the school year I still was a bit unsure of myself, but now, my two rules are "you do not say no to me, and you do what I say the FIRST time I tell you."
I feel optimistic about the weeks to come, (not to mention a 3 week spring break!) Hopefully my optimism remains!
But, he didn't come back. I no longer dread being in the classroom, or waking up and going to work every day. I think about the 'difficult' friends that I had last year when I was student teaching and I have to laugh at myself. I thought those children were difficult! I didn't know the half of it.
We now have one difficult child. Me and my co teacher switch off days on who will be with him the whole day and then the other will teach. He needs the constant attention of an adult. Even when he is right in front of me he does things to other students. It just boggles the mind that I need to have him close to me at all times and make sure that there are no other students near him.
Because we have him separated from the community and he gets a 10 minute break every hour, I feel that at the beginning of this year he felt in so much control that he began to refuse to do any sort of work (except for math because he apparently really likes it). We tried many different strategies to get him to write, cutting back on the amount of work he needed to do, alternating writing, he writes one word and then I write one word but he would say "No". I never realized how much emotion that one little word would cause me to feel. How is a little seven year old child going to tell me "no"? When I would insist, he began running out of the classroom. (before the winter break we had a lock installed on the closet door because both children would get upset and run in there and refuse to come out) Now, because of the lock he would run around the school. We know have our very own code page to inform the whole school that he is out and running and enlist the help of teachers who are not busy. Yes we have already used it.
This past Monday was particularly difficult. My co-teacher was out sick so he did not have the undivided attention of an adult. We don't know what set him off but he began throwing things around the classroom and we had to call a male teacher who is usually able to control him to remove him from the classroom. He spent most of his lunch and recess time in the office kicking at anything he could reach with his feet.
That afternoon I had a meeting with his guardians. 2 hours long. We came to a behavior plan that would be in place at school and at home and I think that he needed to see that both his guardians and his teachers are a team and he can not get away with anything. I think that I needed that meeting too. I needed to see and learn more about how they interacted with him at home , which basically was, not taking any of his crap.
So far this approach has worked. I remind him "You do not say 'no' to me and I will be informing your guardians of every time you say that to me" I feel like a new person and a new teacher.
This was one part of my teaching that I was never fully comfortable with, being the authority figure and laying down the rules and following through. I feel like at the beginning of the school year I still was a bit unsure of myself, but now, my two rules are "you do not say no to me, and you do what I say the FIRST time I tell you."
I feel optimistic about the weeks to come, (not to mention a 3 week spring break!) Hopefully my optimism remains!
Monday, January 5, 2009
A little hope...
Just got the news today, it is possible that one of our boys might be transferring out. He is not here today and it is a completely different classroom. I actually feel like a teacher and not a referee. I know I shouldn't be wishing this, but I really hope he transferrs out.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Dread vs. Excitement
School starts on Monday, and for the last two weeks, except for earlier this week I have not thought or done anything related to school, and now, though I know I should be planning, am not too keen to start planning or doing anything remotely related to school. So right know I would have to say that Dread is winning by 100 points.
I keep thinking about the last day of school before break, not a moment I am happy to think about but it was a long time coming. Me and my co-teacher had a meeting with the school based problem solving team about coming up with new ideas and plans about how to deal with our two behavior children, and instead of speaking up and explaining my frustration, my beliefs about the needs of these children, I spent most of the meeting in a sea of frustrated tears. (Earlier I had had a wonderful interaction with one of these kids where I got kicked, scratched and almost pushed down the stairs) thankfully my co teacher was there and she was able to relate most of our frustrations, I really don't think that anything was accomplished.
We are going to start on Monday with both of the boys being taken out of the community. They will sit in separate seats and only one will be with the group while the other will get parallel teaching with the teacher who is not teaching the whole group (so there goes our intervention time with the students who are way behind).
I went to school on Tuesday and we re arranged our classroom to help manage these students. We had to get rid of furniture and put it in storage to have more space inside the classroom. And while I understand that there needs are different than those of my other students, I feel that it is completely unfair, the amount of energy, planning, and attention these students require when I have other students who would benefit from more one on one teacher student interactions that will now not be taking place because, on our non teaching day, either my co teacher or I will become a one on one aid for that one student. We are not allowed to walk away from them or let them out of our sight.
I want this school year to be over. 51 teaching days till spring break (3 Weeks!) and 103 days till the end of the school year!
I keep thinking about the last day of school before break, not a moment I am happy to think about but it was a long time coming. Me and my co-teacher had a meeting with the school based problem solving team about coming up with new ideas and plans about how to deal with our two behavior children, and instead of speaking up and explaining my frustration, my beliefs about the needs of these children, I spent most of the meeting in a sea of frustrated tears. (Earlier I had had a wonderful interaction with one of these kids where I got kicked, scratched and almost pushed down the stairs) thankfully my co teacher was there and she was able to relate most of our frustrations, I really don't think that anything was accomplished.
We are going to start on Monday with both of the boys being taken out of the community. They will sit in separate seats and only one will be with the group while the other will get parallel teaching with the teacher who is not teaching the whole group (so there goes our intervention time with the students who are way behind).
I went to school on Tuesday and we re arranged our classroom to help manage these students. We had to get rid of furniture and put it in storage to have more space inside the classroom. And while I understand that there needs are different than those of my other students, I feel that it is completely unfair, the amount of energy, planning, and attention these students require when I have other students who would benefit from more one on one teacher student interactions that will now not be taking place because, on our non teaching day, either my co teacher or I will become a one on one aid for that one student. We are not allowed to walk away from them or let them out of our sight.
I want this school year to be over. 51 teaching days till spring break (3 Weeks!) and 103 days till the end of the school year!
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