“One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.” Michael Cibenko

Today we talked in seminar how a class can be great one day, then all of a sudden they are well not so great. I'm still pondering on what exactly happened that caused the change, but we also talked about how some days are just like that. A lot of my students have a difficult time paying attention when things start to get "new." It takes a lot of tricks of the sleeve and manipulating the lesson plan to help redirect the students. Because I am not trying to use the new Promethean board for instructions I told the students I was looking for individuals who were being responsible and doing their part to come up and use (the almighty) teacher pen. I told students they had to be responsible because I had to be able to trust them when they were in front of the classroom. This worked for a while. I also jumped on my soap box and told the students "why" it was important to learn about the addition and subtraction that we were doing. I also told them that I still use this math and then gave them scenarios for when I used the strategies.

Not only was math a little difficult for our group, but so was grammar and small group. I wasn't able to get to my first reading group because our time was spent trying to get through the grammar page. The students are learning irregular plurals and since it was a new concept it took a little more time. Then once I asked the students to come back to the table while I was finishing up a few directions on the board the students started having difficulties. As they approached the table they were pushing other students out of the way, talking loudly, playing with the teacher materials and laughing loudly. Instead of reading I decided this would be a good time to go over the procedure of small group, focusing on the how to get there.

I think that being in school isn't always just about learning the facts... the 1+1=2. Because eventually one of those numbers are taken away and replaced with an x. This is where we have to know more than just how to add, but also subtract. In life the answers aren't always concrete for us. Sometimes something is missing and we have to figure out how to fill that missing spot. This was like the idea that they knew they belonged at the table but the missing addend was how to get there. In school we also need to learn about those life lessons and what to do. To us what seems to be obvious was ingrained in our minds by school. We weren't born knowing that we shouldn't budge people in line and we need to be quiet when someone else is talking. We learned all of that 'obvious stuff' for the most part, in school.

I think my quote is relevant for this blog because as a teacher I need to keep going. Even if I have a not so great day, I shouldn't dwell on it because that takes up the time I should be using to look at what needs to be done so that history doesn't repeat itself. I also need to keep moving forward because if my head is always stuck on the 'I should have' or 'why did I do that" I lose that time needed to think about 'tomorrow will be better because I am going to..."