Tuesday, August 31, 2010
You must be a new teacher...
Forgot to add about something that happened in the staff area in my previous blog. During lunch my CT was telling us a story about how she remembered getting into trouble in elementary school (and she hardly ever did) for blowing up a plastic bag and then popping it to make that really loud noise. I'll admit I do this as an adult and I have seen others as well because it's just fun. Well, she said that she remembered getting yelled at and then upset because she was in trouble. I made the comment that she could have used that as a 'teachable moment' and talked about why the bag made that sound when their wasn't a noise maker inside, and talked about how pressure effects the bag. Anyway, after that one of the other teachers (younger as well) made the comment "you must be a new teacher." Then some of the others kind of laughed and nodded in agreement. I thought this was sad in a way because it shows that they had lost that spark for teaching to think that way. I did see my CT's eyes like up when I said that which did make me feel good. Hopefully I can continue to find those teachable moments. I think they are some of the most valuable lessons for student and often relate more to real-life critical thinking then the boring grammar workbooks or spelling words.
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo
It was a much much much better day for our class. We still had a few disruptions but far fewer than yesterday. It's amazing how much learning get's done when students are doing what they are supposed to. This morning I got to teacher their second letter in cursive the "t". It was a good learning experience. There are so many little things that you wouldn't think of while teaching. Like remembering to tell them exactly where each line begins and ends. My teacher was able to take notes for me during the lesson. Here are some of the things she said
" Great hob on going around helping individual students. Be sure to give directions as to what to do when they are done."(I forgot at the end to tell them to come back to the learning area and wait for the next thing)." Good work using manners-modeling manners to students. Remember to think about where you are standing and the kids can see from all directions. It's more difficult now with the new Promethean board. Remember when things start getting 'noisy' try to give more praise to the students who are doing the right thing." ( We are trying to praise the kids in the vicinity of those doing wrong as a model for the right behavior).
Later we also talked about using white boards for students to practice on rather than having to go back to their desks after each time they work on one of the strokes. The language is also hard to remember. They use a specific language for each stroke of the letters it's hard to remember to use their specific words. My ct and I talked about how this is something that's learned by practice, and I understand why!
I was able to take a student out to the hallway today and work on his reading. This student is normally one of our busy bodies and likes to talk to any student sitting next to him. Instead of sitting at the desk outside the room I thought that an area next to a big window would be better for us to read. The student seems to enjoy reading especially the Harry Potter books. As he was reading I noticed him rubbing his eyes a lot and having a difficult time focusing. I asked him if he was supposed to wear glasses and he said no. Then I had him use the back of my book which was just a solid color and put it under the line he was reading. This seemed really to help him and he read more fluidly. I'm not sure yet if it's because he needs his vision check or if it's difficult for him to focus on where he is. The CT said that she thought it might just be because it's hard for him to focus on one thing at at time and suggested he might have adhd. I want to help continue showing him ways or strategies for reading, maybe finding a good book mark he can use as a guide for reading.
For our new student we've been having trouble with, they have finally implemented a program for her behavior. She has a special chart that she gets a 1,2, or 3 depending on her behavior. For each subject she will get one of these numbers (hopefully a 3 every time!). Then her specialist will check the chart and will talk with her and work with her on behavior. Mrs. S is going to later have the class fill out a questionnaire asking the students if a. there is anyone in the class that they feel threatened by, or are afraid of, b. Same question but for anyone in the school, and c. any one at home. We are looking to see if anyone does feel afraid of the student as well as check in with them and make sure they know that Taylor is a safe place and we do care about them. I thought it was a good idea to ask more generally in order to see if anyone thinks of the student rather than just asking about that student and putting in their minds that she could be a threat. I also liked that they will ask about home life. I think this shows that we care about them not only when they are in the building but also once they leave. This ties back to a previous blog I wrote about how school is a safe zone for kids and often is a place for security.
The day ended with Title one night at the school. This is a great program for parents to come in with their students and get help with different subjects and extra assistance. My teacher and I were at a station for math. Each grade had a game they were to pick up and then we demonstrated how it worked. This game can then be used at home to practice their math skills. For third graders it was multiplication using a game card and dice. Students were not allowed to attend unless they were accompanied by an adult. This was to help promote learning at home and interaction with the parents. I think this is an awesome idea because it really helps parents who feel they don't know how to help their student a way to help them.
" Great hob on going around helping individual students. Be sure to give directions as to what to do when they are done."(I forgot at the end to tell them to come back to the learning area and wait for the next thing)." Good work using manners-modeling manners to students. Remember to think about where you are standing and the kids can see from all directions. It's more difficult now with the new Promethean board. Remember when things start getting 'noisy' try to give more praise to the students who are doing the right thing." ( We are trying to praise the kids in the vicinity of those doing wrong as a model for the right behavior).
Later we also talked about using white boards for students to practice on rather than having to go back to their desks after each time they work on one of the strokes. The language is also hard to remember. They use a specific language for each stroke of the letters it's hard to remember to use their specific words. My ct and I talked about how this is something that's learned by practice, and I understand why!
I was able to take a student out to the hallway today and work on his reading. This student is normally one of our busy bodies and likes to talk to any student sitting next to him. Instead of sitting at the desk outside the room I thought that an area next to a big window would be better for us to read. The student seems to enjoy reading especially the Harry Potter books. As he was reading I noticed him rubbing his eyes a lot and having a difficult time focusing. I asked him if he was supposed to wear glasses and he said no. Then I had him use the back of my book which was just a solid color and put it under the line he was reading. This seemed really to help him and he read more fluidly. I'm not sure yet if it's because he needs his vision check or if it's difficult for him to focus on where he is. The CT said that she thought it might just be because it's hard for him to focus on one thing at at time and suggested he might have adhd. I want to help continue showing him ways or strategies for reading, maybe finding a good book mark he can use as a guide for reading.
For our new student we've been having trouble with, they have finally implemented a program for her behavior. She has a special chart that she gets a 1,2, or 3 depending on her behavior. For each subject she will get one of these numbers (hopefully a 3 every time!). Then her specialist will check the chart and will talk with her and work with her on behavior. Mrs. S is going to later have the class fill out a questionnaire asking the students if a. there is anyone in the class that they feel threatened by, or are afraid of, b. Same question but for anyone in the school, and c. any one at home. We are looking to see if anyone does feel afraid of the student as well as check in with them and make sure they know that Taylor is a safe place and we do care about them. I thought it was a good idea to ask more generally in order to see if anyone thinks of the student rather than just asking about that student and putting in their minds that she could be a threat. I also liked that they will ask about home life. I think this shows that we care about them not only when they are in the building but also once they leave. This ties back to a previous blog I wrote about how school is a safe zone for kids and often is a place for security.
The day ended with Title one night at the school. This is a great program for parents to come in with their students and get help with different subjects and extra assistance. My teacher and I were at a station for math. Each grade had a game they were to pick up and then we demonstrated how it worked. This game can then be used at home to practice their math skills. For third graders it was multiplication using a game card and dice. Students were not allowed to attend unless they were accompanied by an adult. This was to help promote learning at home and interaction with the parents. I think this is an awesome idea because it really helps parents who feel they don't know how to help their student a way to help them.
Monday, August 30, 2010
All things come round to him who will but wait. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Starting of the day - This was a day for a lot of refection. Monday's seem to be one of either a lot of activity or really worn out kids. Today it was a lot of both! The morning started out rough with a lot of repeated directions for morning work and very stubborn kids who wanted to do things their way. I guess I'm starting to understand how my teachers felt. I was that stubborn child and would rather pick what I wanted to learn rather than do what I was told. Unfortunately the curriculum seems even more strict from when I was in third grade and kids don't have time to goof off. Coloring pages are frowned upon as activities for students and during 'reading time' or during math students have to be doing something that has to do with that subject otherwise the teacher is in trouble. It's hard to keep those students who are done staying on that one subject when you know they have other work to catch up on. For example you might have a student who is completely done with their reading assessment and you know that they have math to work on, but they have to stick with just reading.
Mid -day occurrence - Our class had a lot of problems today. It seems that a few students had problems and then that rubbed off on to a lot of the other students. One student in particular had a rough day. She's our new student and has many problems before. Today was one of the worst for her :(. She was sent to the office multiple times for not listening, talking when not supposed to, disrupting other students, screeching and pulling on the teachers clothes/lanyard. A big learning moment came for me when the Student Support came into the room to remove our student. As soon as he came in she knew she was going to the office and began roaming the opposite direction around the room, stepping over other students, went around our large table and as he came in she started to put herself behind a chair. Our student is a bigger girl and was very upset. My reaction was to get between her and the students without causing her to feel trapped, but I was worried that she would either run towards the students had hurt them, or would pick up the chair and throw it. She hadn't acted very violent before, but not knowing her history I was unsure. I instinctively walked towards the area she was in and was a few feet behind her and in between her and the other students. After I felt that I shouldn't have done this because it was like I was over stepping my boundaries. This was why our faculty had stepped in and was there to do his job. It's funny how we react though when our instincts take over. After school I caught him in the hallway and apologized for what had happened. He seemed to really appreciate my sincerity and it lead into a really good discussion about the student and a talk about the difficulties of not knowing students and not having an IEP.
Unfortunately the three things I had planned to teach the class (read aloud w/ activity, word of the day, and cursive t) got over rode by classroom management. Our students even lost lunch recess (only recess - which I remember having 2-3 when I was their age) and had to each state what they did that was a hindrance to the classes progress and what can they do to help the class in the future. Then when they were getting in trouble by my ct they were in line laughing about it. It seems that we have pulled out all the tricks in the book as far as positive reinforcement. We have the PBIS, they each have charts for stickers, homework chart for a homework bingo game and a prize box. Then I find that this also seems slightly unfair. The students that are always getting rewarded are the students that are always in the classroom. This also means a lot of our students that are constantly causing problems. Stickers are often given out for those at their desks, or those that are paying attention during lecture. Unfortunately a few of our most well behaved students are often being pulled out for help don't receive as much opportunity to be rewarded or have as much time to complete their homework. One of my goals this week will be to try and reward these students more often when they are in the class and let them know that their hard work is being noticed.
After having a rough day with our class I received a wonderful compliment. I was told I was a natural :). Along with this my CT told me that the principal also gave me a compliment by saying that if I could handle this class I could do well almost anywhere. I hate to brag but it just felt so rewarding and a good reassurance that I was doing a good job in my room. Sometimes I think we all need a bit of a pick me up when the clouds start to form overhead. This was a bright ending to my somewhat cloudy day :)
Mid -day occurrence - Our class had a lot of problems today. It seems that a few students had problems and then that rubbed off on to a lot of the other students. One student in particular had a rough day. She's our new student and has many problems before. Today was one of the worst for her :(. She was sent to the office multiple times for not listening, talking when not supposed to, disrupting other students, screeching and pulling on the teachers clothes/lanyard. A big learning moment came for me when the Student Support came into the room to remove our student. As soon as he came in she knew she was going to the office and began roaming the opposite direction around the room, stepping over other students, went around our large table and as he came in she started to put herself behind a chair. Our student is a bigger girl and was very upset. My reaction was to get between her and the students without causing her to feel trapped, but I was worried that she would either run towards the students had hurt them, or would pick up the chair and throw it. She hadn't acted very violent before, but not knowing her history I was unsure. I instinctively walked towards the area she was in and was a few feet behind her and in between her and the other students. After I felt that I shouldn't have done this because it was like I was over stepping my boundaries. This was why our faculty had stepped in and was there to do his job. It's funny how we react though when our instincts take over. After school I caught him in the hallway and apologized for what had happened. He seemed to really appreciate my sincerity and it lead into a really good discussion about the student and a talk about the difficulties of not knowing students and not having an IEP.
Unfortunately the three things I had planned to teach the class (read aloud w/ activity, word of the day, and cursive t) got over rode by classroom management. Our students even lost lunch recess (only recess - which I remember having 2-3 when I was their age) and had to each state what they did that was a hindrance to the classes progress and what can they do to help the class in the future. Then when they were getting in trouble by my ct they were in line laughing about it. It seems that we have pulled out all the tricks in the book as far as positive reinforcement. We have the PBIS, they each have charts for stickers, homework chart for a homework bingo game and a prize box. Then I find that this also seems slightly unfair. The students that are always getting rewarded are the students that are always in the classroom. This also means a lot of our students that are constantly causing problems. Stickers are often given out for those at their desks, or those that are paying attention during lecture. Unfortunately a few of our most well behaved students are often being pulled out for help don't receive as much opportunity to be rewarded or have as much time to complete their homework. One of my goals this week will be to try and reward these students more often when they are in the class and let them know that their hard work is being noticed.
After having a rough day with our class I received a wonderful compliment. I was told I was a natural :). Along with this my CT told me that the principal also gave me a compliment by saying that if I could handle this class I could do well almost anywhere. I hate to brag but it just felt so rewarding and a good reassurance that I was doing a good job in my room. Sometimes I think we all need a bit of a pick me up when the clouds start to form overhead. This was a bright ending to my somewhat cloudy day :)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own. ~ Ben Sweetland
The end of the week seemed to fly by so fast I didn't have as much time as I thought I would to write in here. I began reading the book "The BFG" and so far the kids have really seemed to enjoy it. We've been working on "main idea" for reading and timelines for social studies. So I've been able to tie in both into this book. Each day we re-call what had been read the previous day, make up a one sentence main idea, then continue reading. Then as a fun activity I had them draw what they thought the BFG looked like as well as the background of the cave. The book gives great descriptive words so I could see how well they were paying attention by what they added. After looking at the pictures I was surprised by how much detail they did add! One thing I need to work on is reading at a slower pace. I tend to speed up my reading especially in the really good parts :). My supervisor watched me during this lesson and also helped point out some things to think about in the future. One of the questions dealt with what to do for those who are not auditory learners. I think I should have suggested that they could have just listened while I read and inform them that they would have time later to draw. In a perfect world I would love to have had enough books for each child that way those that weren't auditory learners could read along with me. Also, if each child had a book some could re-read what I had read or read ahead during free reading time and that would also help with comprehension of the book.
This week has really taught be the power of a minute to a teacher and that being every minute counts. You don't realize how long it takes to do something as simple as taking the class on a restroom break, or going to and from specials. Those few minutes longer than you anticipated takes away from that precious leaning time. Then for a lesson you planned would be 30 minutes long might only be 15. It's also more challenging when you have a class that doesn't have a lot of procedures down like quietly returning to seats, creating the 'one line' (straight, quiet and hands to self) or walking in the halls quietly. Each time the class can't has a hard time following procedure you have to address the issue so that it shows they can't do that and then that's another minute away from learning.
I'm also learning a lot about the frustrations of being a teacher and trying to get help for your students. I was asked to take two students into the hallway to work on math. The problem was to find 10 ways to make 200. I knew that the students I took in the hallways had some difficulties, but I didn't know them well enough to know what they knew. One student was very bright and knew what to do. The problem was she just doesn't want to do anything so it takes her a really long time to do her work. She needs a lot of encouragement and motivation to do it. At one point she asked me to just do it for her. The other student is in level one. The more I worked with her I realized she needs to be getting more help. I was trying to help her figure out what 1+1 is then that would let us know that 100+100 would be 200. When I asked her what that 1+1 was (and should have known) she couldn't remember. Unlike the one student who just didn't want to work, this girl was really trying hard to 'rack her brain' and tell me the answer. I finally put out my two index fingers so that she could count them. Then she said 'oh yea!.' We eventually got down that if we add the 100 plus 100 we got 200. Then we worked on other ways like using temperature (200*) and we could use tallies.
Another frustrating thing I have encountered is having to give students reading tests and knowing that they are not up to par with the information. One of the passages they had to read was about Florance Nightingale. Unfortunately we were unable to help them with any of the reading. The best I could do is give them clues like 'sound it out' or use the sentence as a clue. I had at least 10 students come up to me and ask 'what' it was. I couldn't even tell them it was a name because that would flaw the data :/ I was also reading through some of the passages and they were really advanced. One was even about constellations. Luckily this word is in the next section so my CT is helping teach me ways to sneak in these words. We are going to use constellations as one of our 'words of the day' that way they will have at least seen the word before reading it. For the biographies they are going to have to read we are using our read aloud time to read biographies this week and explain what they are. One of the challenges is that we want to get the extra stuff in but it's hard to find a place and time. The day and lessons are so structured now for teachers they hardly have time to add in the 'fun' stuff.
We had a new student come this week and it's been interesting watching him. Starting out he was very polite and willing to help out in every way. Gets along with all the students etc. Then as the week progressed he seemed to become more snoody and not want to do work. A few times (Thursday and friday) we found him not working on worksheets and not reading the books we were supposed to be reading. He said that he had done them at his other school and he didn't have to do them here. When I caught him doing this I told him that that means he can be an expert on the subject and help his table group with the work. He still seemed frustrated that he had to do it but his eyes lit up when I said 'expert.'
One of the conversations that my CT and I had was about accents and how we pronounce different things differently and how that messes up students spelling. It was interesting because there are a lot of words we say and don't realize that it sounds different to people. One of the words was Chicago and how some people pronounce the a as if it was an o. Another was closet and some sound it out as if the o was an aw sound. Bet you are now thinking to yourself how you say it :)
This week has really taught be the power of a minute to a teacher and that being every minute counts. You don't realize how long it takes to do something as simple as taking the class on a restroom break, or going to and from specials. Those few minutes longer than you anticipated takes away from that precious leaning time. Then for a lesson you planned would be 30 minutes long might only be 15. It's also more challenging when you have a class that doesn't have a lot of procedures down like quietly returning to seats, creating the 'one line' (straight, quiet and hands to self) or walking in the halls quietly. Each time the class can't has a hard time following procedure you have to address the issue so that it shows they can't do that and then that's another minute away from learning.
I'm also learning a lot about the frustrations of being a teacher and trying to get help for your students. I was asked to take two students into the hallway to work on math. The problem was to find 10 ways to make 200. I knew that the students I took in the hallways had some difficulties, but I didn't know them well enough to know what they knew. One student was very bright and knew what to do. The problem was she just doesn't want to do anything so it takes her a really long time to do her work. She needs a lot of encouragement and motivation to do it. At one point she asked me to just do it for her. The other student is in level one. The more I worked with her I realized she needs to be getting more help. I was trying to help her figure out what 1+1 is then that would let us know that 100+100 would be 200. When I asked her what that 1+1 was (and should have known) she couldn't remember. Unlike the one student who just didn't want to work, this girl was really trying hard to 'rack her brain' and tell me the answer. I finally put out my two index fingers so that she could count them. Then she said 'oh yea!.' We eventually got down that if we add the 100 plus 100 we got 200. Then we worked on other ways like using temperature (200*) and we could use tallies.
Another frustrating thing I have encountered is having to give students reading tests and knowing that they are not up to par with the information. One of the passages they had to read was about Florance Nightingale. Unfortunately we were unable to help them with any of the reading. The best I could do is give them clues like 'sound it out' or use the sentence as a clue. I had at least 10 students come up to me and ask 'what' it was. I couldn't even tell them it was a name because that would flaw the data :/ I was also reading through some of the passages and they were really advanced. One was even about constellations. Luckily this word is in the next section so my CT is helping teach me ways to sneak in these words. We are going to use constellations as one of our 'words of the day' that way they will have at least seen the word before reading it. For the biographies they are going to have to read we are using our read aloud time to read biographies this week and explain what they are. One of the challenges is that we want to get the extra stuff in but it's hard to find a place and time. The day and lessons are so structured now for teachers they hardly have time to add in the 'fun' stuff.
We had a new student come this week and it's been interesting watching him. Starting out he was very polite and willing to help out in every way. Gets along with all the students etc. Then as the week progressed he seemed to become more snoody and not want to do work. A few times (Thursday and friday) we found him not working on worksheets and not reading the books we were supposed to be reading. He said that he had done them at his other school and he didn't have to do them here. When I caught him doing this I told him that that means he can be an expert on the subject and help his table group with the work. He still seemed frustrated that he had to do it but his eyes lit up when I said 'expert.'
One of the conversations that my CT and I had was about accents and how we pronounce different things differently and how that messes up students spelling. It was interesting because there are a lot of words we say and don't realize that it sounds different to people. One of the words was Chicago and how some people pronounce the a as if it was an o. Another was closet and some sound it out as if the o was an aw sound. Bet you are now thinking to yourself how you say it :)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
To teach is to learn twice. ~Joseph Joubert,
The class is still a bit difficult. This week we implemented a new positive behavior system. Before each time a student was 'caught being good' or answered certain question they could go to the prize box. We realized that we needed away to reward good behavior more to help persuade those students who have a hard time keeping hands to their selves, blurting out, not paying attention, etc. The stickers are given to students when they are using good behavior and then once they fill their chart (5 stickers) they can then go to the prize box. The whole school is using the PBIS but teachers are only allowed to give the blue tickets out when they see students in the hallway, not when they are in a classroom or during instructional time. (They will allow them in class next year) Students have actually caught on to ways of gaining more tickets. They are learning that if they act good in the hallways when they are alone they will most likely get a ticket, so they just happen to ask for more bathroom passes. This then allows them to take their time in the hallway and wait for teachers to 'catch them being good.' We've also noticed one other flaw with the program. We have one student who had 2 times as many tickets than the class while many didn't have any at all. This seemed unbalanced. I also noticed a lot of our good students didn't have any tickets while our 'bad' students had at least on or two. Teachers are asked to find students that are typically disruptive and then give them a ticket when they are behaving showing that their good behavior will be rewarded. Then they get a ticket and are entered into a drawing. This doesn't seem fair to those students who are always good and should always deserve a ticket. The more I learn and use the PBIS system the more I don't know if I like it. I think there are many inconsistencies that need to be ironed out.
We learned that our new student who is often disruptive and seems to crave attention has a behavior IEP. The IEP came from another school she had only been at for a short time and addressed her issues such as blurting out, being rude to other students, and other misbehavings. One of the items the IEP said for the teacher to do was to call on her during instruction time as soon as her hand went up. I noticed that she would raise her hand a lot before and if she wasn't called on she would just blurt out the answer (something we are working on with a few students). It then said if the teacher couldn't call on her immediately there was a hand gesture in place to let her know she would be called on next. There are a few things I disagree about with this. I think that she needs to learn patience and if she is always being called on immediately she isn't learning how to be patient and that she isn't the center or the class. It talked a great deal about giving her a lot of adult attention. While I agree that some adult attention is good and needed, the IEP seemed to have an extensive amount emphasized. (Both the cooperating teacher and I agreed) I will be interested in seeing the new IEP for her time here.
I was able to see a wonderful 'teachable moment.' As the teacher wrote on the board during grammar she wrote "can not.' One student noticed that this word could be a conjunction. He then stopped and discussed with the class what a conjunction was. She also wrote on the board to demonstrate how the word was pulled together. During an earlier lesson Mrs. S told me about how this particular word tricks kids on tests because of the 'nn' together. I thought this was a wonderful way to add in that small lesson and made it relavant to both the instruction she was giving and a lesson that will be introduced later.
I was to instruct the 'word of the day.' This involves playing hangman with the class then they are given a short sheet where they fill in the definition, write a synonym, draw a picture, then write a short sentence. I forgot the modeling aspect of the worksheet. I think this was a learning experience for me. The students had used the worksheet for about every other day during the school year and the idea of modeling and discussing it seemed irrelevnt. I also was informed about everything did differently than Mrs. S. This lack of reviewing in a way was a small test for the students. It was interesting to see who remembered what to do, who had a hard time with remembering, and who had a hard time with a different sequential format. Many students needed that modeling as more of a buffer than just to remember what to do. They were thrown off by the lack of familiarity and asked many question that they knew the answers to. For example one student asked how to write the sentence, and a few had a really hard time figuring out the synonym on their own. (Mrs S would come up with one for the class or they would come up with one together). Some also had a hard time just doing the work themselves. They tried to continually prod for answers in order to get away with not thinking on their own. This was a lesson that taught me a lot. I want to start helping them think for themselves and figure out how to ask themselves the right questions in order to find the answer.
One thing I was proud of was after I taught a short lesson out of the PARRT series the teacher took on one of my ways of teaching. Before or after a question I would say "I'm going to take X number of hands." For me this seems to help with instruction time. Students could go on all day on one topic with stories if they could. My typical number to use was 3. This also helped the students know that after I called that third person they could lower their hands which then helped get their attention in order to continue.
I observed a foss kit lesson over seeds. The teacher that takes over for this is younger and very different then Mrs S. One thing that I want to take for her is that she will ask when time is cramped and a had is up 'is it a question or comment.' Then if it was just a comment she would inform the student that their wasn't time for comments but they could discuss them later. Then at the end when they about about 3 minutes left she told them that she would take the comments that students had before. I thought this was great because it allowed the students to share their exciting story as well as kept the lesson moving forward without pausing for a lot of different side topics.
We learned that our new student who is often disruptive and seems to crave attention has a behavior IEP. The IEP came from another school she had only been at for a short time and addressed her issues such as blurting out, being rude to other students, and other misbehavings. One of the items the IEP said for the teacher to do was to call on her during instruction time as soon as her hand went up. I noticed that she would raise her hand a lot before and if she wasn't called on she would just blurt out the answer (something we are working on with a few students). It then said if the teacher couldn't call on her immediately there was a hand gesture in place to let her know she would be called on next. There are a few things I disagree about with this. I think that she needs to learn patience and if she is always being called on immediately she isn't learning how to be patient and that she isn't the center or the class. It talked a great deal about giving her a lot of adult attention. While I agree that some adult attention is good and needed, the IEP seemed to have an extensive amount emphasized. (Both the cooperating teacher and I agreed) I will be interested in seeing the new IEP for her time here.
I was able to see a wonderful 'teachable moment.' As the teacher wrote on the board during grammar she wrote "can not.' One student noticed that this word could be a conjunction. He then stopped and discussed with the class what a conjunction was. She also wrote on the board to demonstrate how the word was pulled together. During an earlier lesson Mrs. S told me about how this particular word tricks kids on tests because of the 'nn' together. I thought this was a wonderful way to add in that small lesson and made it relavant to both the instruction she was giving and a lesson that will be introduced later.
I was to instruct the 'word of the day.' This involves playing hangman with the class then they are given a short sheet where they fill in the definition, write a synonym, draw a picture, then write a short sentence. I forgot the modeling aspect of the worksheet. I think this was a learning experience for me. The students had used the worksheet for about every other day during the school year and the idea of modeling and discussing it seemed irrelevnt. I also was informed about everything did differently than Mrs. S. This lack of reviewing in a way was a small test for the students. It was interesting to see who remembered what to do, who had a hard time with remembering, and who had a hard time with a different sequential format. Many students needed that modeling as more of a buffer than just to remember what to do. They were thrown off by the lack of familiarity and asked many question that they knew the answers to. For example one student asked how to write the sentence, and a few had a really hard time figuring out the synonym on their own. (Mrs S would come up with one for the class or they would come up with one together). Some also had a hard time just doing the work themselves. They tried to continually prod for answers in order to get away with not thinking on their own. This was a lesson that taught me a lot. I want to start helping them think for themselves and figure out how to ask themselves the right questions in order to find the answer.
One thing I was proud of was after I taught a short lesson out of the PARRT series the teacher took on one of my ways of teaching. Before or after a question I would say "I'm going to take X number of hands." For me this seems to help with instruction time. Students could go on all day on one topic with stories if they could. My typical number to use was 3. This also helped the students know that after I called that third person they could lower their hands which then helped get their attention in order to continue.
I observed a foss kit lesson over seeds. The teacher that takes over for this is younger and very different then Mrs S. One thing that I want to take for her is that she will ask when time is cramped and a had is up 'is it a question or comment.' Then if it was just a comment she would inform the student that their wasn't time for comments but they could discuss them later. Then at the end when they about about 3 minutes left she told them that she would take the comments that students had before. I thought this was great because it allowed the students to share their exciting story as well as kept the lesson moving forward without pausing for a lot of different side topics.
Friday, August 20, 2010
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." Keller, Helen
Well, today was a lot better than yesterday until i made it to my car. I went to start it and nothing. But while sitting in the parking lot it made me think of how safe school makes me feel. In many ways id rather have my car parked here than in the parking lot next to my apt.will be continued once I get to a computer.
Well luckily my battery wasn't dead but I just had a loose cable. But as I was texting before, school is a safe place for kids and it should be that way. I remember staying at school for various functions until late hours of the night in high school and I never once felt scared walking back to my car whether I was with a few other girls or just myself. I think this was because my school created a safe feeling. I believe most schools relay the message that school is not only a place to attend class but almost a second home. At the school I'm working for the teacher has referred to the class as being a family and there is a sense of pride the school radiates. I think this is extremely important for the students, especially those that may not have a comfort zone outside of the school premises.
Back in our classroom the students were better than yesterday (considering it was friday). There were still a few issues to work out but I believe with time and constant reminder of how to behave they will be great third graders! One student that caused us the a lot of trouble yesterday (the one that was off her 'meds') was practically a little angel today. She had no problems and listened attentively. I also learned that she was one of the highest performing students in her class. She is the only student in our group that has an advanced list of spelling words (the more difficult words of the main list with a few added for a challenge). It was spelling test day so I took her to the hallway and she had a 20/20 and instead of me giving her a sentence for the word she would tell me one. It also seemed as if she didn't even have to try at spelling the words. We also had a worksheet of math facts that they had to solve then color in the spaces with a corresponding color for the answer and this student began coloring with out first working out the problems and had them all correct. While watching her she seemed to mostly know the facts in her head while other students were still using their fingers. While working in the computer lab she had finished her test a bit early and decided to begin drawing/coping a picture out of a book. I was surprised on the amount of detail she was adding in. The picture was of a bear surfing in water and about to go down a waterfall. She added the small lines for the water and strokes on the bear for the fur. Most students of her age are more likely to just draw the bigger picture. I think that she could probably draw better than me! (which isn't to great) I was also able to observe during art. They were using watercolors and making sun flowers. The child copied the colors as they were on the flower and even adding the small brown spots in the peddles. Other students were not looking at the object they were coloring and choosing whatever color they wanted.
Art was such an interesting special to watch. It's unlike other classes where students have to sit and listen. They were able to stand and work, sit on the floor, or just get up when needed to look for their supplies. The room probably appeared to be a mad chaotic mess from the outside, but after watching the system it was very structured. The students knew that supplies had to be cleaned a certain way and put back in appropriate places, they new where to take their finished projects and where to go to start the next. There was a minimal amount of instruction, just a few reminders of what they were doing. The students seemed to be in their element in this classroom. I would like to watch this teacher start a project at some point. (they were in between two of them).
Well luckily my battery wasn't dead but I just had a loose cable. But as I was texting before, school is a safe place for kids and it should be that way. I remember staying at school for various functions until late hours of the night in high school and I never once felt scared walking back to my car whether I was with a few other girls or just myself. I think this was because my school created a safe feeling. I believe most schools relay the message that school is not only a place to attend class but almost a second home. At the school I'm working for the teacher has referred to the class as being a family and there is a sense of pride the school radiates. I think this is extremely important for the students, especially those that may not have a comfort zone outside of the school premises.
Back in our classroom the students were better than yesterday (considering it was friday). There were still a few issues to work out but I believe with time and constant reminder of how to behave they will be great third graders! One student that caused us the a lot of trouble yesterday (the one that was off her 'meds') was practically a little angel today. She had no problems and listened attentively. I also learned that she was one of the highest performing students in her class. She is the only student in our group that has an advanced list of spelling words (the more difficult words of the main list with a few added for a challenge). It was spelling test day so I took her to the hallway and she had a 20/20 and instead of me giving her a sentence for the word she would tell me one. It also seemed as if she didn't even have to try at spelling the words. We also had a worksheet of math facts that they had to solve then color in the spaces with a corresponding color for the answer and this student began coloring with out first working out the problems and had them all correct. While watching her she seemed to mostly know the facts in her head while other students were still using their fingers. While working in the computer lab she had finished her test a bit early and decided to begin drawing/coping a picture out of a book. I was surprised on the amount of detail she was adding in. The picture was of a bear surfing in water and about to go down a waterfall. She added the small lines for the water and strokes on the bear for the fur. Most students of her age are more likely to just draw the bigger picture. I think that she could probably draw better than me! (which isn't to great) I was also able to observe during art. They were using watercolors and making sun flowers. The child copied the colors as they were on the flower and even adding the small brown spots in the peddles. Other students were not looking at the object they were coloring and choosing whatever color they wanted.
Art was such an interesting special to watch. It's unlike other classes where students have to sit and listen. They were able to stand and work, sit on the floor, or just get up when needed to look for their supplies. The room probably appeared to be a mad chaotic mess from the outside, but after watching the system it was very structured. The students knew that supplies had to be cleaned a certain way and put back in appropriate places, they new where to take their finished projects and where to go to start the next. There was a minimal amount of instruction, just a few reminders of what they were doing. The students seemed to be in their element in this classroom. I would like to watch this teacher start a project at some point. (they were in between two of them).
Thursday, August 19, 2010
“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism” Colleen Wilcox
Today was an interesting day. It was one that was difficult but I learned a great deal. The class was definitely not on their best behavior and showed a bad example to our new student. The day started out with our new student coming in. She is a unique individual. Right away she expressed her excitement to be there in a very loud way. She seemed to be very polite to Mrs. S and myself and was eager to see where she would be sitting and asked who would be sitting around her. It was exciting to see a student thrilled to be at school.
As the students arrived I noticed right away it was going to be a difficult day. I had to give lots of directions about using our manners, starting morning work, sitting in our own seats, and doing things that they should have been used to doing by this point. As morning work ended community circle began. Mrs S reminded the students that hey would be given an extra 11 minute recess. This was displayed on the board with the word "Hallway Lines." The students were given one minute for every letter and each time they were not using proper line procedures in the hall a letter would be erased. In order to show the students their lack of line behaviors I carried a camera with me during passing time and would randomly snap a picture of the line. These pictures will then tomorrow be shown in the IMC and we will talk about better line basics. I think a few of the students that were causing the most problems don't quite realize they are doing something wrong and are out of place. When I would ask them to stand properly in line I often got a strange look at first as if they thought they were doing the right thing. I believe it will help the students see what they are doing wrong in a visual way rather than always verbal.
After community circle was complete we began our daily lesson knowing that we would be interrupted by the Kernals players bringing in new binders for the students. These were donated by the team. It was a great idea and the kids were very excited to see the players themselves. One student even commented that it was his very first binder. The players were in the room for less than 5 minutes but the commotion created lasted for a lot longer. The excitement escalated into a chaotic class. Students were ripping the cellophane off of the binders and putting it on their heads or throwing it at each other. They were playing with the clamps by opening and closing them and students were loudly conversing about their new treasure. Mrs. S began by giving them instructions to put the binders on their desks when their name was called and then they were supposed to line up at the door. Not a single student noticed the first student (who was quiet and did what she was told) set a good example and lined up. The second student that was called didn't even hear their name called because of the lack of attention. They weren't even phased by the lights being turned off by Mrs. S. It took her raising her voice *which she never does* and a stern settle down in order for them to stop.
Normally a class will have issues with a few select students, but over half of the class had issues today. One student was sent to the 'thinking chair' after being warned multiple times to stop disrupting other students. For this student the day ended with being referred to the office and missing out in the majority of afternoon instruction. Whats strange about this student is that she is normally well behaved and is beyond level in her literacy. One comment that was made was that she hadn't taken her 'meds.' This was an interesting comment for me. First because it seemed like the first thing that was thought was wrong with the student where as before I wondered if something happened at home (she was discussing head lice with another student during morning work) or maybe she didn't feel well. The idea of a students 'meds' being the number one thing thought about took me off guard. Do students behaviors really change that dramatically because of a pill? OR are there underling issues that lead up to that point. I wanted to talk to the student one-on-one and only had a breif second. I got down to her level and just looked her in the eye (While on the thinking chair as everyone was getting a bathroom break) and asked 'how are we doing today _name__) She quietly in almost a teary eyed voice said 'good.' Then I waited a second to see if she would say anything else and then asked "are you not having a good day" in a sympathetic voice and she just told me no. By that time the class was returning so I was unable to talk more.
During lunch I sat in the teachers lounge while my cooperating teacher attended to some personal stuff. It was an interesting experience just listening to the conversations around me. Most of them talked about the picnic coming up, and one teacher had a husband bring lunch and flowers in. It was really pleasant. Then the mood changed when one particular teacher brought up a negative thing that happened in her classroom with one of her students. The faculty then started talking a bit with hear and acted (not sure if they really were) interested in her complaints. I found the change of tension in the room to be interesting. It was almost as if no one wanted to talk about class stuff but also didn't want to be rude and stop her. I think it would be insightful to see the difference between a classroom with a negative teacher such as this one an another teacher that is positive and leaves the comments to herself.
At the end of the day Mrs S and myself were exhausted and ready to sit down and listen to silence. One teacher whom the students had a special with apologized for their behavior to me and said that this group is a bit of a challenge this year. I thought that was kind of him to say that to me when it wasn't his own class. I think he also didn't want me to feel as if it was my fault.
One thing that I've had a hard time with in the last few days is not talking to the students in the hallways. The teachers are not allowed to talk to students while waiting in line and are only allowed to praise the students for being good, warn them when they are being bad or give them a ticket (PBIS). For other classes I have observed and helped with I've always found this time useful in bonding with the students. It was a gateway into what they like, what is happening with them and so on. I caught myself holding my hands behind my back a few times like a drill Sargent :(. I asked my cooperating teacher about whether she liked this policy or not and she also said that she didn't and misses talking to the kids. It's often hard to find time to talk in between instruction as well when there are 20 other students that have questions. It made me start thinking about how other teachers connect with their students and when. Or do they get a chance to either? I think my next quest will be to ask them how they manage bonding with the students and creating those personal connections.
As the students arrived I noticed right away it was going to be a difficult day. I had to give lots of directions about using our manners, starting morning work, sitting in our own seats, and doing things that they should have been used to doing by this point. As morning work ended community circle began. Mrs S reminded the students that hey would be given an extra 11 minute recess. This was displayed on the board with the word "Hallway Lines." The students were given one minute for every letter and each time they were not using proper line procedures in the hall a letter would be erased. In order to show the students their lack of line behaviors I carried a camera with me during passing time and would randomly snap a picture of the line. These pictures will then tomorrow be shown in the IMC and we will talk about better line basics. I think a few of the students that were causing the most problems don't quite realize they are doing something wrong and are out of place. When I would ask them to stand properly in line I often got a strange look at first as if they thought they were doing the right thing. I believe it will help the students see what they are doing wrong in a visual way rather than always verbal.
After community circle was complete we began our daily lesson knowing that we would be interrupted by the Kernals players bringing in new binders for the students. These were donated by the team. It was a great idea and the kids were very excited to see the players themselves. One student even commented that it was his very first binder. The players were in the room for less than 5 minutes but the commotion created lasted for a lot longer. The excitement escalated into a chaotic class. Students were ripping the cellophane off of the binders and putting it on their heads or throwing it at each other. They were playing with the clamps by opening and closing them and students were loudly conversing about their new treasure. Mrs. S began by giving them instructions to put the binders on their desks when their name was called and then they were supposed to line up at the door. Not a single student noticed the first student (who was quiet and did what she was told) set a good example and lined up. The second student that was called didn't even hear their name called because of the lack of attention. They weren't even phased by the lights being turned off by Mrs. S. It took her raising her voice *which she never does* and a stern settle down in order for them to stop.
Normally a class will have issues with a few select students, but over half of the class had issues today. One student was sent to the 'thinking chair' after being warned multiple times to stop disrupting other students. For this student the day ended with being referred to the office and missing out in the majority of afternoon instruction. Whats strange about this student is that she is normally well behaved and is beyond level in her literacy. One comment that was made was that she hadn't taken her 'meds.' This was an interesting comment for me. First because it seemed like the first thing that was thought was wrong with the student where as before I wondered if something happened at home (she was discussing head lice with another student during morning work) or maybe she didn't feel well. The idea of a students 'meds' being the number one thing thought about took me off guard. Do students behaviors really change that dramatically because of a pill? OR are there underling issues that lead up to that point. I wanted to talk to the student one-on-one and only had a breif second. I got down to her level and just looked her in the eye (While on the thinking chair as everyone was getting a bathroom break) and asked 'how are we doing today _name__) She quietly in almost a teary eyed voice said 'good.' Then I waited a second to see if she would say anything else and then asked "are you not having a good day" in a sympathetic voice and she just told me no. By that time the class was returning so I was unable to talk more.
During lunch I sat in the teachers lounge while my cooperating teacher attended to some personal stuff. It was an interesting experience just listening to the conversations around me. Most of them talked about the picnic coming up, and one teacher had a husband bring lunch and flowers in. It was really pleasant. Then the mood changed when one particular teacher brought up a negative thing that happened in her classroom with one of her students. The faculty then started talking a bit with hear and acted (not sure if they really were) interested in her complaints. I found the change of tension in the room to be interesting. It was almost as if no one wanted to talk about class stuff but also didn't want to be rude and stop her. I think it would be insightful to see the difference between a classroom with a negative teacher such as this one an another teacher that is positive and leaves the comments to herself.
At the end of the day Mrs S and myself were exhausted and ready to sit down and listen to silence. One teacher whom the students had a special with apologized for their behavior to me and said that this group is a bit of a challenge this year. I thought that was kind of him to say that to me when it wasn't his own class. I think he also didn't want me to feel as if it was my fault.
One thing that I've had a hard time with in the last few days is not talking to the students in the hallways. The teachers are not allowed to talk to students while waiting in line and are only allowed to praise the students for being good, warn them when they are being bad or give them a ticket (PBIS). For other classes I have observed and helped with I've always found this time useful in bonding with the students. It was a gateway into what they like, what is happening with them and so on. I caught myself holding my hands behind my back a few times like a drill Sargent :(. I asked my cooperating teacher about whether she liked this policy or not and she also said that she didn't and misses talking to the kids. It's often hard to find time to talk in between instruction as well when there are 20 other students that have questions. It made me start thinking about how other teachers connect with their students and when. Or do they get a chance to either? I think my next quest will be to ask them how they manage bonding with the students and creating those personal connections.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
From the begining...
Wow! This is a word that's popped in my head a lot these past few days. I officially started in the classroom this past Monday (Aug 16th). I am working in a third grade room with 19 students. The school is unique in that in 2008 it was flooded along with a large portion of the neighborhood. This created a different challenge outside of already having a decent low income population. I've talked to multiple teachers and they have told me about how different the students are now than they were before and how the school it self has changed. The faculty at Taylor are so welcoming and have made me feel right at home! It seems that I have started up conversations with many of them then later realized that we didn't even introduce ourselves because it just seemed natural.
I have been placed in a room with an outstanding teacher! She is definitely what we would call a master teacher. She is filled with information and ideas and all sorts of stories for me about teaching. Walking into Mrs. S's room you can tell that she has taught her share of years. The room is exploding with books, educational toys, posters, you name it she probably has it! My favorite part of the room (and seems to be the kids favorite too!) is the 'book nook.' This is a mostly enclosed area with a few shelves of books, a wicker seat and a few stuffed animals. Just gazing at it makes reading seem more enjoyable! When the students are done with their assigned work they know that they can walk to the 'book nook' and choose a book to read while sitting on the floor or chair and read. It's awesome to see children so excited to read and look at books! Watching Mrs. S teach is also fascinating. She uses her past experiences as stories and lots of expression that captivates the students. It's easy to tell when a teacher is mediocre just by looking at the students. This third grade class listens to her and is interested in what she has to say. She also incorporates using the students names when she does catch them not paying attention in a way that doesn't disrupt the learning flow and brings the students attention back in.
The first day was all about observing and taking everything in (which was a lot!). Yesterday I was able to take two students into the hallway so that they could work on their math tests. Both students have a difficult time with staying on task and are below their learning level. The first student, the girl, seemed to just need instruction given to her directly. She was over all happy and loved to talk about anything and everything other than the math that was in front of her. I believe this is probably why it wasn't completed in the first place. She did well when I directed her attention to the test and read allowed the directions. For multiplication and division she had a hard time remembering what to do, but after being reminded of the process she proceeded in doing them well.
The second student, a little boy, had a bit more difficulty. He seemed to be easily overwhelmed and frustrated when he saw that he had a lot of problems to complete. He also told me that he was going to then have more work to catch up on because he was in the hallway. It seemed that he knew that he was a slower worker than the other students and he was upset by this. He began working on some of the problems and would get easily frustrated when he came to something he didn't know. The first part was counting numbers then writing tallies, then ending it by putting the information into a bar graph. It looked complicated on the page and it had multiple steps where as the problems before were mostly one step. This then caused him to cry. I pulled the test a way for a second and had him just breath and then we had some small talk. This helped him calm down and his eyes lit up when he was able to just talk about his friends for a minute. After he settled down and was in a better mood we proceeded with the test. I showed him how to break it down and only had him do one direction at at time. He was then able to do this at perfectly. I feel that he sees that he has a lot do do and becomes overwhelmed and looses confidence in himself. I think I will continue to help show him how to break big things down into smaller categories.
Today was the faculty meeting in the morning then staff learning/development in the afternoon. The morning session was interesting in that we it started with a small raffle (for a bag and a dinner at cici's pizza) then they moved into talking about disciplinary procedures. They were discussing when to send students to the office and when issues could be dealt with by the teacher. The comment was made about when the teacher sends the student to the office it relays an idea of lack of power to the student. The student then sees this as too difficult of the teacher to handle and in some situations they won. I had never thought of that idea in that way. It seems to be such a easy way out if a teacher can't deal with the child to just have them sent to the office. The teachers then discussed ways to deal with the issue in the classroom or one-on-one with the student in order to keep the respect and also create a stronger bond with the student. The student can then see that the teacher wants to help (if there is an issue) and that the teacher won't put up miss behaving. One idea that was presented was instead of sending the student to the office, have a person from there come and watch over the class while the teacher steps outside with the student. This then shows that it is something that needs to be dealt with immediately and the whole class isn't as disrupted. The afternoon staff learning was a continuation of situations and ways to deal with them. Once everyone came up with the rules they were then going to create a small book and use these as a guide line so that everyone was on the same page.
Another way I felt "at home" with the staff was that during this session they included me as if I was another teacher rather than the student. I was able to participate in the activities and when in table discussions they asked what I thought on different things. At first I thought they would probably think of me more as inferior since they've had more experience and are all older.
These past few days have already been exceptionally rewarding and I'm excited to see what's more to come!
I have been placed in a room with an outstanding teacher! She is definitely what we would call a master teacher. She is filled with information and ideas and all sorts of stories for me about teaching. Walking into Mrs. S's room you can tell that she has taught her share of years. The room is exploding with books, educational toys, posters, you name it she probably has it! My favorite part of the room (and seems to be the kids favorite too!) is the 'book nook.' This is a mostly enclosed area with a few shelves of books, a wicker seat and a few stuffed animals. Just gazing at it makes reading seem more enjoyable! When the students are done with their assigned work they know that they can walk to the 'book nook' and choose a book to read while sitting on the floor or chair and read. It's awesome to see children so excited to read and look at books! Watching Mrs. S teach is also fascinating. She uses her past experiences as stories and lots of expression that captivates the students. It's easy to tell when a teacher is mediocre just by looking at the students. This third grade class listens to her and is interested in what she has to say. She also incorporates using the students names when she does catch them not paying attention in a way that doesn't disrupt the learning flow and brings the students attention back in.
The first day was all about observing and taking everything in (which was a lot!). Yesterday I was able to take two students into the hallway so that they could work on their math tests. Both students have a difficult time with staying on task and are below their learning level. The first student, the girl, seemed to just need instruction given to her directly. She was over all happy and loved to talk about anything and everything other than the math that was in front of her. I believe this is probably why it wasn't completed in the first place. She did well when I directed her attention to the test and read allowed the directions. For multiplication and division she had a hard time remembering what to do, but after being reminded of the process she proceeded in doing them well.
The second student, a little boy, had a bit more difficulty. He seemed to be easily overwhelmed and frustrated when he saw that he had a lot of problems to complete. He also told me that he was going to then have more work to catch up on because he was in the hallway. It seemed that he knew that he was a slower worker than the other students and he was upset by this. He began working on some of the problems and would get easily frustrated when he came to something he didn't know. The first part was counting numbers then writing tallies, then ending it by putting the information into a bar graph. It looked complicated on the page and it had multiple steps where as the problems before were mostly one step. This then caused him to cry. I pulled the test a way for a second and had him just breath and then we had some small talk. This helped him calm down and his eyes lit up when he was able to just talk about his friends for a minute. After he settled down and was in a better mood we proceeded with the test. I showed him how to break it down and only had him do one direction at at time. He was then able to do this at perfectly. I feel that he sees that he has a lot do do and becomes overwhelmed and looses confidence in himself. I think I will continue to help show him how to break big things down into smaller categories.
Today was the faculty meeting in the morning then staff learning/development in the afternoon. The morning session was interesting in that we it started with a small raffle (for a bag and a dinner at cici's pizza) then they moved into talking about disciplinary procedures. They were discussing when to send students to the office and when issues could be dealt with by the teacher. The comment was made about when the teacher sends the student to the office it relays an idea of lack of power to the student. The student then sees this as too difficult of the teacher to handle and in some situations they won. I had never thought of that idea in that way. It seems to be such a easy way out if a teacher can't deal with the child to just have them sent to the office. The teachers then discussed ways to deal with the issue in the classroom or one-on-one with the student in order to keep the respect and also create a stronger bond with the student. The student can then see that the teacher wants to help (if there is an issue) and that the teacher won't put up miss behaving. One idea that was presented was instead of sending the student to the office, have a person from there come and watch over the class while the teacher steps outside with the student. This then shows that it is something that needs to be dealt with immediately and the whole class isn't as disrupted. The afternoon staff learning was a continuation of situations and ways to deal with them. Once everyone came up with the rules they were then going to create a small book and use these as a guide line so that everyone was on the same page.
Another way I felt "at home" with the staff was that during this session they included me as if I was another teacher rather than the student. I was able to participate in the activities and when in table discussions they asked what I thought on different things. At first I thought they would probably think of me more as inferior since they've had more experience and are all older.
These past few days have already been exceptionally rewarding and I'm excited to see what's more to come!
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