1st year story:
As you may recall from other posts, my first year I had a 2nd grade gifted and talented class. They were violent, disrespectful, and constantly disruptive. They were also not gifted and talented.
I intercept a note between two students. J is the writer of the note. I slip it into my back pocket and continue talking to the class making no further acknowledgement of the note. I forget about it and the day ends. I go home. I empty my pockets out at home and remember the note. This is what it said:
Fucin bich mom fuc
suckt my dic
This was so weird. This boy came into the class in September a very quiet boy. He would not get involved in the fights in class; he pretty much kept to himself. Yet, I found him starting to hang out with the violent kids during lunch. It seemed like he was starting to act up to get accepted by them. I knew his mom pretty well. He was an ELL and I knew Spanish. The mom felt comfortable communicating with me and was always very sweet and respectful. I was pretty baffled by this note, but I felt it was probably some way that J was trying to gain acceptance from most of the class of violent kids (I only had 8 girls in the class and about 16 boys). I still thought I should report it. You never know.
The next day I brought it to the attention of the lead guidance counselor. I verbally told him about it- asking him for advice. He shook me off and said, "You can leave the note in my box if you want. But, he didn't do anything. I'm not really concerned with the what ifs. I don't know what you expect, but I'm not planning on doing anything with it." And that was that. I put the note in his box, but nothing came of it. I didn't know how to handle it myself being a first year teacher. I felt it would have been so weird to bring it to the attention of his mom. I looked like a 16 year old and I coudln't see myself talking to his mom about it. So I left it alone.
Now looking back, I would confront the kid and ask him about it. Reprimand him for passing notes during class, and for writing such vulgar language. He would get punished based on his actions and based on the rules and consequences already stated in the classroom. But, before the discipline, I think I would speak to the boy about the content of the note. Then go from there. If the boy refused to tell me anything, I would then bring it to the attention of the mom and discipline him in class.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Innocence
I love it when I see glimpses of innocence in my students.
One day, the students were all sitting on the rug waiting for the minilesson. I went to grab something from the closet.
"Oooooooooo!!!" the kids chant. I turn around with a questioning look on my face.
"Jack said the G-word!" I heard that they said the 'D'- word. I bring Jack to me next to the closet, away from the other kids.
"What did you say?" I ask in a firm voice and a stern face. Poor Jack doesn't know what to say. He's an English Learner and is barely acquiring BICS. I have to work a lot with him to use complete sentences. He can't look me in the eye and stares at his feet. He looks surprised as well as scared because of what he did. He doesn't speak.
"Jack. Tell me what you said." Tears are building up in his eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Jack, I need to know if you said a bad word." I usually make the students own up to their mistakes. They need to tell me what they did rather than have others incriminate them (sometimes falsely).
"Gsh." He mumbles.
"Gosh?" I ask. He nods.
"Gosh." He affirms.
"Oh! Jack, that's okay. That's not a bad word! Class, 'gosh' is NOT a bad word. Let's get back to work."
Awww. Poor Jack. That's how innocent my class is. They think "gosh" is bad.
One day, the students were all sitting on the rug waiting for the minilesson. I went to grab something from the closet.
"Oooooooooo!!!" the kids chant. I turn around with a questioning look on my face.
"Jack said the G-word!" I heard that they said the 'D'- word. I bring Jack to me next to the closet, away from the other kids.
"What did you say?" I ask in a firm voice and a stern face. Poor Jack doesn't know what to say. He's an English Learner and is barely acquiring BICS. I have to work a lot with him to use complete sentences. He can't look me in the eye and stares at his feet. He looks surprised as well as scared because of what he did. He doesn't speak.
"Jack. Tell me what you said." Tears are building up in his eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Jack, I need to know if you said a bad word." I usually make the students own up to their mistakes. They need to tell me what they did rather than have others incriminate them (sometimes falsely).
"Gsh." He mumbles.
"Gosh?" I ask. He nods.
"Gosh." He affirms.
"Oh! Jack, that's okay. That's not a bad word! Class, 'gosh' is NOT a bad word. Let's get back to work."
Awww. Poor Jack. That's how innocent my class is. They think "gosh" is bad.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Ruby the Copycat
I have a Ruby the Copycat in my class (do you know that book?). It's quite annoying. Besides a copycat she's a compulsive liar. Let me give you some examples.
The other day, I had a student with very chapped lips. He laughed at something and the smiling cut his lip open; it started to bleed. Ewww... okay Juan- go to the nurse.
Not even 5 minutes later, I see Ruby the Copycat peeling skin off of her lip. SELF-MUTILIATING!!! She picks at her lips until they start to bleed. "Ms. T, I'm bleeding. I need to go to the nurse."
"Ruby, I SAW you pick at your lips! I SAW you do that to yourself! Why did you do that?"
"Noooo, it just started bleeding."
"Here's a paper towel. Go sit down." Unbelievable! Are you kidding me? I give her attention- I don't know where this is coming from.
The next day, when the students are at their seats doing independent work, Ruby the Copycat comes to me and shows me her lower lip that has dots of blood on it. Another self-mutilation for attention?? I don't even want to go into it today. I am not going to argue with you.
I sigh. "Just go to the nurse."
About 20 minutes later, Ruby comes back from the nurse. The nurse's note to the parents says:
"Ruby bumped her head on the door. No sign of a bump or redness. If swelling occurs, take to doctor."
"You didn't bump your head, Ruby- I sent you to the nurse for your bleeding lip."
"Oh. I forgot."
Trying to keep my cool... "You forgot? So you lied to the nurse? Why did you make that up?"
She was caught; she had nothing to say to me.
"Uhhh... I didn't though... what happened was..."
"I don't want to hear it. Your mom will though. I'll be talking to her this afternoon. Go sit down please."
You kidding me? Aahhhhh!!!!
One more story for our Ruby the Copycat. Ruby walks into the classroom first thing in the morning- "Ms. T! I have to go to the bathroom!"
This is a common occurance for Ruby. She is always asking to go to the bathroom. I've written about her before in another of my blogs- I just used a different false name. She always asks to go and then takes about 20 minutes in the bathroom. She does not have any bathroom issues. She just wants to get out of doing work.
I always tell my students that they need to go to the bathroom during breakfast in the cafeteria because they will not be allowed to go to the bathroom until after Readers Workshop in the morning (about 1 1/2 hours after they come in).
So, I tell Ruby "No, Ruby. You know the rules." all morning long. We do our Do Now activity and then we do morning meeting. The whole time Ruby's asking me. Trying to wear me down. I know when this child really has to go to the bathroom. I can see it in her face. She did not have to really go.
"Ruby, you have not done your Do Now. You are not following the rules during the morning meeting routine. You have not completed your Weather calendar. How can I let you go to the bathroom when you have not been following the rules?"
So Ruby finishes her Weather calendar and sits nicely for the rest of morning meeting. As soon as morning meeting is over, she asks again. AAHHHHHH! Maybe she does have to go.
"Go quickly please. I need you back before Readers Workshop begins."
She leaves. She's gone for 10 minutes. I teach my minilesson and all the students are already in their reading spots reading. I see Ruby open the door slightly, reach her hand in the room and pull of the bathroom pass from the wall.
"Ruby! Come in please."
Ruby comes in with a smug look on her face.
"What are you doing Ruby?"
"I forgot the pass."
"After 10 minutes you realized you forgot the pass? You should have already gone to the bathroom and been back by now. If it was REALLY an emergency you would have not even worried about the pass, you would have gone really quickly to the bathroom. Isn't that right boys and girls?"
"Yes, Ms. T." the students chant.
I take the pass out of Ruby's hands. "Go sit at your reading spot please. It obviously isn't an emergency for you to go use the bathroom."
"No! But I'll go quickly! I promise!"
"Sit and read."
Again- are you kidding me? Ahhhhh this is the only student in my class the pushes my buttons like that. And it's only 1st grade! I guess there are times where there will be one student in your class that is like that.
The other day, I had a student with very chapped lips. He laughed at something and the smiling cut his lip open; it started to bleed. Ewww... okay Juan- go to the nurse.
Not even 5 minutes later, I see Ruby the Copycat peeling skin off of her lip. SELF-MUTILIATING!!! She picks at her lips until they start to bleed. "Ms. T, I'm bleeding. I need to go to the nurse."
"Ruby, I SAW you pick at your lips! I SAW you do that to yourself! Why did you do that?"
"Noooo, it just started bleeding."
"Here's a paper towel. Go sit down." Unbelievable! Are you kidding me? I give her attention- I don't know where this is coming from.
The next day, when the students are at their seats doing independent work, Ruby the Copycat comes to me and shows me her lower lip that has dots of blood on it. Another self-mutilation for attention?? I don't even want to go into it today. I am not going to argue with you.
I sigh. "Just go to the nurse."
About 20 minutes later, Ruby comes back from the nurse. The nurse's note to the parents says:
"Ruby bumped her head on the door. No sign of a bump or redness. If swelling occurs, take to doctor."
"You didn't bump your head, Ruby- I sent you to the nurse for your bleeding lip."
"Oh. I forgot."
Trying to keep my cool... "You forgot? So you lied to the nurse? Why did you make that up?"
She was caught; she had nothing to say to me.
"Uhhh... I didn't though... what happened was..."
"I don't want to hear it. Your mom will though. I'll be talking to her this afternoon. Go sit down please."
You kidding me? Aahhhhh!!!!
One more story for our Ruby the Copycat. Ruby walks into the classroom first thing in the morning- "Ms. T! I have to go to the bathroom!"
This is a common occurance for Ruby. She is always asking to go to the bathroom. I've written about her before in another of my blogs- I just used a different false name. She always asks to go and then takes about 20 minutes in the bathroom. She does not have any bathroom issues. She just wants to get out of doing work.
I always tell my students that they need to go to the bathroom during breakfast in the cafeteria because they will not be allowed to go to the bathroom until after Readers Workshop in the morning (about 1 1/2 hours after they come in).
So, I tell Ruby "No, Ruby. You know the rules." all morning long. We do our Do Now activity and then we do morning meeting. The whole time Ruby's asking me. Trying to wear me down. I know when this child really has to go to the bathroom. I can see it in her face. She did not have to really go.
"Ruby, you have not done your Do Now. You are not following the rules during the morning meeting routine. You have not completed your Weather calendar. How can I let you go to the bathroom when you have not been following the rules?"
So Ruby finishes her Weather calendar and sits nicely for the rest of morning meeting. As soon as morning meeting is over, she asks again. AAHHHHHH! Maybe she does have to go.
"Go quickly please. I need you back before Readers Workshop begins."
She leaves. She's gone for 10 minutes. I teach my minilesson and all the students are already in their reading spots reading. I see Ruby open the door slightly, reach her hand in the room and pull of the bathroom pass from the wall.
"Ruby! Come in please."
Ruby comes in with a smug look on her face.
"What are you doing Ruby?"
"I forgot the pass."
"After 10 minutes you realized you forgot the pass? You should have already gone to the bathroom and been back by now. If it was REALLY an emergency you would have not even worried about the pass, you would have gone really quickly to the bathroom. Isn't that right boys and girls?"
"Yes, Ms. T." the students chant.
I take the pass out of Ruby's hands. "Go sit at your reading spot please. It obviously isn't an emergency for you to go use the bathroom."
"No! But I'll go quickly! I promise!"
"Sit and read."
Again- are you kidding me? Ahhhhh this is the only student in my class the pushes my buttons like that. And it's only 1st grade! I guess there are times where there will be one student in your class that is like that.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
1st year story: Kyle the Killer
They should really tell you in education courses more about the 1st year obstacles you might encounter. There are certain things that I needed to have in order, especially for the first day and I didn't. These are small things that I didn't even consider. A morning routine. How kids enter the classroom and unpack. I thought I could just tell the kids, "Good morning. Come in, unpack, and sit at your seats." First of all, not all kids will unpack at the same time. Kids need something to do at all times. If not, they become troublesome. What do kids need to unpack? Where should they put it? Where do they hang their backpacks and jackets?
So the first day, I did not have all of that thought out. Not that I wasn't prepared, I just didn't realize I had to think it through that far. I think I've written about my first morning in another blog, so I'll skip all that part.
We haven't done anything all morning because I've had to correct students' misbehavior. I give paper to students to do some writing. I tell them to write about something they did over the summer. Typical assignment for the first few weeks. I had already moved Kyle the Killer to sit by himself off to the side away from kids near the backpacks. I had seen after a few weeks that Kyle is a very violent kid and pretty much hates everyone in the class. Today, Kyle starts writing on his own. Yes! Good for him. I'll leave him alone and hopefully we'll have a peaceful afternoon. Again, spoke too soon.
Billy decides to get something from his backpack. On his way, he also decides to antagonize Kyle. Stupid stupid Billy. Have you not seen what this kid is capable of? You deserve whatever is coming to you. Kyle only moves his eyes from his paper and starts huffing and puffing. Oh gosh... I'm across the classroom quickly moving towards Kyle to try to calm him down and talk to the other kid. Billy doesn't say anything more but turns to go back to his desk and on his way bumps Kyle's desk. Kyle had his pencil point on his paper in mid-sentence and it made him make a scribble line across his paper. That was all it took. Kyle breaks his pencil and growls the most menacing growl I have ever heard. His hands grip the bottom of his desk and he THROWS the desk to the front of the room. It flips over and bangs on the floor and the cabinet. It hits one of the girls who starts to cry and hold onto her arm. I go to her briefly to make sure she's okay. Kyle grabs Billy by the collar of his shirt and shoves him to the ground. Billy quickly gets up, cursing at Kyle. I get all the kids up and crowd them to the other side of the room before I go try to calm Kyle down. Kyle winds up and punches Billy in the jaw. Billy falls to the floor, crying, holding his bloody mouth. "Kyle!" I scream. I go straight to him. Kyle is also crying. "He bumped my desk and made me mess up."
Are you serious???? Ahhhhh I can't do this! I can't deal with this!
"Okay, I understand. Let's calm ourselves." I put my arm around him and give him a hug. I walk him to the door. I'm going to call Mr. P (the VP) to take you on a walk to let you breathe a little. We'll give you some space."
Now you understand the pseudonym: Kyle the Killer?
I definitely got to know a lot of my students and saw how they ticked- sometimes. Too bad I wasn't experienced enough to 'fix' them. Or at least to tame them a bit. I grew some thick skin that year. I also cried more than I've ever cried before.
So the first day, I did not have all of that thought out. Not that I wasn't prepared, I just didn't realize I had to think it through that far. I think I've written about my first morning in another blog, so I'll skip all that part.
We haven't done anything all morning because I've had to correct students' misbehavior. I give paper to students to do some writing. I tell them to write about something they did over the summer. Typical assignment for the first few weeks. I had already moved Kyle the Killer to sit by himself off to the side away from kids near the backpacks. I had seen after a few weeks that Kyle is a very violent kid and pretty much hates everyone in the class. Today, Kyle starts writing on his own. Yes! Good for him. I'll leave him alone and hopefully we'll have a peaceful afternoon. Again, spoke too soon.
Billy decides to get something from his backpack. On his way, he also decides to antagonize Kyle. Stupid stupid Billy. Have you not seen what this kid is capable of? You deserve whatever is coming to you. Kyle only moves his eyes from his paper and starts huffing and puffing. Oh gosh... I'm across the classroom quickly moving towards Kyle to try to calm him down and talk to the other kid. Billy doesn't say anything more but turns to go back to his desk and on his way bumps Kyle's desk. Kyle had his pencil point on his paper in mid-sentence and it made him make a scribble line across his paper. That was all it took. Kyle breaks his pencil and growls the most menacing growl I have ever heard. His hands grip the bottom of his desk and he THROWS the desk to the front of the room. It flips over and bangs on the floor and the cabinet. It hits one of the girls who starts to cry and hold onto her arm. I go to her briefly to make sure she's okay. Kyle grabs Billy by the collar of his shirt and shoves him to the ground. Billy quickly gets up, cursing at Kyle. I get all the kids up and crowd them to the other side of the room before I go try to calm Kyle down. Kyle winds up and punches Billy in the jaw. Billy falls to the floor, crying, holding his bloody mouth. "Kyle!" I scream. I go straight to him. Kyle is also crying. "He bumped my desk and made me mess up."
Are you serious???? Ahhhhh I can't do this! I can't deal with this!
"Okay, I understand. Let's calm ourselves." I put my arm around him and give him a hug. I walk him to the door. I'm going to call Mr. P (the VP) to take you on a walk to let you breathe a little. We'll give you some space."
Now you understand the pseudonym: Kyle the Killer?
I definitely got to know a lot of my students and saw how they ticked- sometimes. Too bad I wasn't experienced enough to 'fix' them. Or at least to tame them a bit. I grew some thick skin that year. I also cried more than I've ever cried before.
No appreciation: My rant.
Ahhh I've spent so much money on my students. For prize box stuff, crafts, everyday supplies, classroom storage, and classroom necessities (pocket charts, etc). I also have weekly lunches with one student and I get our "dessert"- some cookies & snacks. It adds up. I now have no money. Haha, my fiance kids around with me sometimes saying I spend to frivolously. And I have to admit I do, but not the usual way people are frivolous with their money. I don't spend it on me! I haven't gotten new clothes in I don't know how long! I always feel guilty spending money on myself when I know I should save. But I guess I have no guilty feelings about spending all my money on my kids because it's for someone else. :) Ahhh I need to not be such a *newbie* teacher (still in first few years of teaching) and put so much into my class.
I spend so much TIME also on my class. I have weekly and monthly newsletters. My monthly newsletters are all themed and contain pictures of activities and things that happened the previous months like writing celebrations, field trips, and kids birthdays. (Oh that's another thing my money goes to- ink cartridges)
In November I had a 3 page newsletter with pictures, captions, stories, and blurbs about what we were going to do academically in November. I was so proud of it. I printed 20 copies of it on my own computer using my laser printer, my ink, and my paper. The kids were excited about it. I sent it home. I see parents the next day as they pick up their children. Nothing. Not one parent commented on the newsletter. A few days later, some students' newsletter is still in their folder where I had put it. Thanks a lot parents. Do you know how much work and time I put into your children? A simple, quick, acknowledgement or thank you would be much obliged.
A friend (a colleague from my school) told me not to expect much. Most parents are like that with this population of students. If they're talking to you it's to complain about other children bothering their child or about the homework. Rarely do they come and thank you just for your time and effort.
Do my parents understand that if their children were with the other teacher of the grade they wouldn't be getting HALF of what I provide for these kids? Do they know that their child wouldn't be learning HALF as much as what they are learning in my class? No appreciation. Most teachers do more than their job requires. We don't just go in there and pass out worksheets. We don't have them open their text books and read. If we care enough, we make learning interactive, creative. We spend our money on supplies to supplement the hands on experiences for our students. We also celebrate our kids' learning. My kids have told me, "Aww, it's time to go home? But we're having fun!" and it's math time.
I obviously don't teach for the recognition or for others to praise me. If I did, I would have quit a long time ago. But it would be nice once in a while. Just a simple, "Thank you for what you do."
I spend so much TIME also on my class. I have weekly and monthly newsletters. My monthly newsletters are all themed and contain pictures of activities and things that happened the previous months like writing celebrations, field trips, and kids birthdays. (Oh that's another thing my money goes to- ink cartridges)
In November I had a 3 page newsletter with pictures, captions, stories, and blurbs about what we were going to do academically in November. I was so proud of it. I printed 20 copies of it on my own computer using my laser printer, my ink, and my paper. The kids were excited about it. I sent it home. I see parents the next day as they pick up their children. Nothing. Not one parent commented on the newsletter. A few days later, some students' newsletter is still in their folder where I had put it. Thanks a lot parents. Do you know how much work and time I put into your children? A simple, quick, acknowledgement or thank you would be much obliged.
A friend (a colleague from my school) told me not to expect much. Most parents are like that with this population of students. If they're talking to you it's to complain about other children bothering their child or about the homework. Rarely do they come and thank you just for your time and effort.
Do my parents understand that if their children were with the other teacher of the grade they wouldn't be getting HALF of what I provide for these kids? Do they know that their child wouldn't be learning HALF as much as what they are learning in my class? No appreciation. Most teachers do more than their job requires. We don't just go in there and pass out worksheets. We don't have them open their text books and read. If we care enough, we make learning interactive, creative. We spend our money on supplies to supplement the hands on experiences for our students. We also celebrate our kids' learning. My kids have told me, "Aww, it's time to go home? But we're having fun!" and it's math time.
I obviously don't teach for the recognition or for others to praise me. If I did, I would have quit a long time ago. But it would be nice once in a while. Just a simple, "Thank you for what you do."
Saturday, December 6, 2008
textbook response!
I have one student in my class who, let's say, needs the most guidance behaviorally. She is quite a character and loves negative attention (likes everyone's eyes on her when she's getting reprimanded).
I have tried many tactics with her. I have used various forms of positive reinforcement, such as "I like how Jose is sitting criss-cross with his eyes on me. That tells me he's listening." and waiting for her to respond... that usually doesn't work. The times that I can catch her doing something right, I do the same thing for her, "Wow look at how she is sitting with her feet on the floor and using her finger to read her book. I really see her thinking about her story." 5 minutes later, she has slumped down to the ground and has started tapping the floor with her book. For this in the beginning, I praised the people around her, hoping she would straighten up and correct her behavior so she could be praised too. But this very rarely worked. So I decided to try a different approach. Call her out and demand that she sit properly and read. She would sigh deeply and make an "ugh" sound and sit correctly and look at her book. Then 2 minutes later, she would be bothering the group next to her.
I thought about all the things that could be causing her to act like this. She's frustrated. She feels like she can't read. But this doesn't only happen during reading, this happens in writing, math, morning meeting, science, and social studies! Throughout the whole day! I guess she could feel like she's not smart and she doesn't want to even try. I conference with her regularly and I see that she is capable and she reads just fine. She's a little bit below grade level, but she's where a clump of the class is. She's able to write just fine. I feel that she's just lazy. She doesn't like to do work.
So the things I've tried: praise students around her, catch her doing something right and praising her, telling her directly very firmly to sit down (or whatever she should be doing), asking the class for the rules and generally asking if this behavior (whatever she's doing but not directly saying her name) is acceptable, calling her parents, taking away her recess, and taking away her gym. I also give her choices: "If you continue this behavior, you will lose recess. If you decide to do your work, you can keep your recess." I started a weekly behavior plan with her and I give her a sticker for every period she follows the rules. The first week, worked like a charm. The 2nd and 3rd weeks she has not met the sticker goal for the week. I would use the stickers as leverage. Sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. I give her a big prize at the end of the week: playing with our class hamster during Choice Time. But she hasn't reached the sticker goal (which is half of the possible stickers she could get). I've also tried to connect with her on a personal level. I started a weekly lunch with a student just for her. She was my first student. We had a great time and we got to know each other on a personal level. That definitely helped. She laughs more with me now and is an actual kid with happiness. Before, she was always bothered. But she STILL has bad days that she's flinging herself on the rug, hitting the people next to her and being the last one to transition to the next activity.
Yesterday she had a bad morning from the beginning. She did not want to stop her Do Now activity to move on to Morning Meeting. She did not respond to my general calls to the class to come to the rug. Today I decided to leave her. I had the class continue the morning meeting without her. I didn't even look over at her at her desk. The rest of the students were beautiful and did what they were supposed to do.
My troublesome friend at the desk decided to start "hmph"ing and "ugh"ing as she started slumping down in her chair and slid to the floor. The kids started turning around with confused faces and pointing her out to me quietly. I quickly said to them in a low voice, "We don't pay attention to students who misbehave. We ignore them." The kids accepted that answer and turned and continued the morning meeting (calendar, alphabet, sight words, weather, etc). The troublesome student started sliding under all the tables. What in the.... ???? I wanted to go over there, get in her face, and tell her (more like YELL at her), "What you are doing right now is unacceptable. Sliding all over the floor is NOT how a first grader acts. You will stand up, walk to your rug spot and say the alphabet with the class. You will also lose recess today for sliding all over the floor and not listening to me the first time I told you to put away your Do Now." But the thing is, I've done this before and she does what I tell her to do when I get mean like that, but then she's back to misbehaving 10 minutes later. So this time, I continued to ignore her. She was misbehaving for a total of 10-15 minutes and after that, seeing she got no response from neither me nor the class, she quietly came to her rug spot, picked up her alphabet chart and started chanting the alphabet with the class.
I didn't say anything to praise her just yet. After the alphabet, we read the morning message and I have blanks for the students to fill in. My troublesome's students' reward for coming to the rug was me calling on her to write the word in the blank. It told her congratulations for making the right decision and coming to the rug. I will let you participate and write the word on the board because you made the right decision. I just never explicitly told her that.
It was like a textbook response. The ignoring worked so perfectly. She came to the rug quietly and immediately joined in with the class. It was awesome. All troublesome kids have their own way to be dealt with. It took me a while to find my student's but now that I have, I hope that it continues to work as beautifully as it did the first time.
I have tried many tactics with her. I have used various forms of positive reinforcement, such as "I like how Jose is sitting criss-cross with his eyes on me. That tells me he's listening." and waiting for her to respond... that usually doesn't work. The times that I can catch her doing something right, I do the same thing for her, "Wow look at how she is sitting with her feet on the floor and using her finger to read her book. I really see her thinking about her story." 5 minutes later, she has slumped down to the ground and has started tapping the floor with her book. For this in the beginning, I praised the people around her, hoping she would straighten up and correct her behavior so she could be praised too. But this very rarely worked. So I decided to try a different approach. Call her out and demand that she sit properly and read. She would sigh deeply and make an "ugh" sound and sit correctly and look at her book. Then 2 minutes later, she would be bothering the group next to her.
I thought about all the things that could be causing her to act like this. She's frustrated. She feels like she can't read. But this doesn't only happen during reading, this happens in writing, math, morning meeting, science, and social studies! Throughout the whole day! I guess she could feel like she's not smart and she doesn't want to even try. I conference with her regularly and I see that she is capable and she reads just fine. She's a little bit below grade level, but she's where a clump of the class is. She's able to write just fine. I feel that she's just lazy. She doesn't like to do work.
So the things I've tried: praise students around her, catch her doing something right and praising her, telling her directly very firmly to sit down (or whatever she should be doing), asking the class for the rules and generally asking if this behavior (whatever she's doing but not directly saying her name) is acceptable, calling her parents, taking away her recess, and taking away her gym. I also give her choices: "If you continue this behavior, you will lose recess. If you decide to do your work, you can keep your recess." I started a weekly behavior plan with her and I give her a sticker for every period she follows the rules. The first week, worked like a charm. The 2nd and 3rd weeks she has not met the sticker goal for the week. I would use the stickers as leverage. Sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. I give her a big prize at the end of the week: playing with our class hamster during Choice Time. But she hasn't reached the sticker goal (which is half of the possible stickers she could get). I've also tried to connect with her on a personal level. I started a weekly lunch with a student just for her. She was my first student. We had a great time and we got to know each other on a personal level. That definitely helped. She laughs more with me now and is an actual kid with happiness. Before, she was always bothered. But she STILL has bad days that she's flinging herself on the rug, hitting the people next to her and being the last one to transition to the next activity.
Yesterday she had a bad morning from the beginning. She did not want to stop her Do Now activity to move on to Morning Meeting. She did not respond to my general calls to the class to come to the rug. Today I decided to leave her. I had the class continue the morning meeting without her. I didn't even look over at her at her desk. The rest of the students were beautiful and did what they were supposed to do.
My troublesome friend at the desk decided to start "hmph"ing and "ugh"ing as she started slumping down in her chair and slid to the floor. The kids started turning around with confused faces and pointing her out to me quietly. I quickly said to them in a low voice, "We don't pay attention to students who misbehave. We ignore them." The kids accepted that answer and turned and continued the morning meeting (calendar, alphabet, sight words, weather, etc). The troublesome student started sliding under all the tables. What in the.... ???? I wanted to go over there, get in her face, and tell her (more like YELL at her), "What you are doing right now is unacceptable. Sliding all over the floor is NOT how a first grader acts. You will stand up, walk to your rug spot and say the alphabet with the class. You will also lose recess today for sliding all over the floor and not listening to me the first time I told you to put away your Do Now." But the thing is, I've done this before and she does what I tell her to do when I get mean like that, but then she's back to misbehaving 10 minutes later. So this time, I continued to ignore her. She was misbehaving for a total of 10-15 minutes and after that, seeing she got no response from neither me nor the class, she quietly came to her rug spot, picked up her alphabet chart and started chanting the alphabet with the class.
I didn't say anything to praise her just yet. After the alphabet, we read the morning message and I have blanks for the students to fill in. My troublesome's students' reward for coming to the rug was me calling on her to write the word in the blank. It told her congratulations for making the right decision and coming to the rug. I will let you participate and write the word on the board because you made the right decision. I just never explicitly told her that.
It was like a textbook response. The ignoring worked so perfectly. She came to the rug quietly and immediately joined in with the class. It was awesome. All troublesome kids have their own way to be dealt with. It took me a while to find my student's but now that I have, I hope that it continues to work as beautifully as it did the first time.
Monday, November 17, 2008
LIGHT BULB IS ON!
Oh how great it is to see that the kids are understanding what you're teaching!!! I have my high kids that are always on top of everything and understand exactly what I teach and are able to apply it. I have my middle kids who are average and I have my low low kids who have to be taught on a different level. I guess that's usually how it is.
Now, I have this one student: Earl. He is on the low end of the average students. He is also very rambunctious and gets distracted quite easily. He doesn't get much help at home (not a great home life and his parent is illiterate). During reading time, we have our minilesson (Earl bounces up and down on the carpet- can't sit still), then they go to their reading spots with their partners and read individually, then read with their partners (Earl and his partner argue all the time and spend their time trying to get the attention of the partnerships around them rather than read). They have lost many recess times, gym, and art because of this. Lately they've gotten a little better, due to some behavior plans I've started.
So, today, we had our lesson (deviating a little from our school's reading curriculum) on word families. If you know the word, "pot" then you know the words, "lot" "not" "rot", etc. If you know the word "night" then you know the words, "fight", "light", "fright", "tight", etc.
We have also had lessons recently about chunking tricky words to figure them out.
So my Earl. I sat and had conferenced with Earl and his partner Sarah. I gave them a new book: The Forgetful Bee and had them try and read it to me using all the strategies that they knew. Earl does surprisingly well with the first page. Great job. Now it's Sarah's turn. She gets stuck on the word "forgot". Earl then jumps in and says, "Sarah, chunk the word. Watch." He then proceeds to cover up "got" and tells her to sound out the word, "for". He even tries to give her a hint and says, "If you know the word....(he thinks for a bit) "nor" then you can figure out this word. Fff....."
Sarah says, "for". Then Earl uncovers the word "got". Now read this word. Sarah still struggles.
"If you know the word "not" (which Sarah HAD read before) then you know this word." Sarah still doesn't get it and Earl can't help himself but blurt out "Got! Then you put them together. Forgot." At this point, I am in utter disbelief. This is Earl? MY EARL???? WOW!!! "Great job!!!!" I am so happy to hear him explain these strategies! He's showing me that he's internalized these strategies when he's able to teach someone else. And the way he did it. Wow. The light bulb is on! What a great feeling. He is so not the kid that I would expect this from. He made my day.
Now, I have this one student: Earl. He is on the low end of the average students. He is also very rambunctious and gets distracted quite easily. He doesn't get much help at home (not a great home life and his parent is illiterate). During reading time, we have our minilesson (Earl bounces up and down on the carpet- can't sit still), then they go to their reading spots with their partners and read individually, then read with their partners (Earl and his partner argue all the time and spend their time trying to get the attention of the partnerships around them rather than read). They have lost many recess times, gym, and art because of this. Lately they've gotten a little better, due to some behavior plans I've started.
So, today, we had our lesson (deviating a little from our school's reading curriculum) on word families. If you know the word, "pot" then you know the words, "lot" "not" "rot", etc. If you know the word "night" then you know the words, "fight", "light", "fright", "tight", etc.
We have also had lessons recently about chunking tricky words to figure them out.
So my Earl. I sat and had conferenced with Earl and his partner Sarah. I gave them a new book: The Forgetful Bee and had them try and read it to me using all the strategies that they knew. Earl does surprisingly well with the first page. Great job. Now it's Sarah's turn. She gets stuck on the word "forgot". Earl then jumps in and says, "Sarah, chunk the word. Watch." He then proceeds to cover up "got" and tells her to sound out the word, "for". He even tries to give her a hint and says, "If you know the word....(he thinks for a bit) "nor" then you can figure out this word. Fff....."
Sarah says, "for". Then Earl uncovers the word "got". Now read this word. Sarah still struggles.
"If you know the word "not" (which Sarah HAD read before) then you know this word." Sarah still doesn't get it and Earl can't help himself but blurt out "Got! Then you put them together. Forgot." At this point, I am in utter disbelief. This is Earl? MY EARL???? WOW!!! "Great job!!!!" I am so happy to hear him explain these strategies! He's showing me that he's internalized these strategies when he's able to teach someone else. And the way he did it. Wow. The light bulb is on! What a great feeling. He is so not the kid that I would expect this from. He made my day.
Friday, November 7, 2008
We're a faaaamily
I've worked really hard this year to build a strong sense of community within my classroom. Today I saw the cutest and most wonderful thing. I picked up my students from lunch. They were playing Duck Duck Goose while waiting for me to get there. As soon as they saw me they all came rushing over to me to give me hugs and tell me all about their lunch. But, then I see a few kids lagging behind. One student had started crying-he's sooo super sensitive and a bit immature- because he didn't get chosen to be the Goose. The cute part was that he had about 5 class mates, rubbing and patting him on the back and holding his hands with these solemn faces saying to him, "It's okay." "Maybe next time Jose." "Don't be sad. Sometimes I don't get picked either."
Oh gosh, it made my heart melt. I let the classmates console him the whole way up to the room. By the time he made it to the classroom, I gave him a little squeeze for a hug and asked him if he was okay. "I am now Ms. T."
Oh gosh, it made my heart melt. I let the classmates console him the whole way up to the room. By the time he made it to the classroom, I gave him a little squeeze for a hug and asked him if he was okay. "I am now Ms. T."
Cookie Monster vs. The Count
I've had many lessons on the election with my first graders. We've read Duck for President and answered the prompt: If I were running for president of the farm, I would...
They wrote down what they would do and drew a picture to match. I loved the answers I got. So cute. Here are some:
"If I were president of the farm, I would give the animals treats for all their hard work."
"... I would give them a beautiful and warm place to live" (and the drawing looked like the inside of a house with beds and pillows and blankets :)
"... I would pay them for all their work." (smart kid. already thinking about capitalism)
We related Duck for President to real life. We looked at pictures of the presidential candidates and their running mates. We also looked at the picture of George Bush. I was surprised to hear them yell Obama's name as soon as I pulled out his picture. They also knew McCain's picture. Good for them. I don't think I knew anything about politics or the elections and presidential candidates when I was in first grade.
We read Scholastic News about the presidency and learned fun facts about each presidential candidate. I love this magazine.
The kids were so into the election, I decided to keep going with it. I found this great lesson online about Cookie Monster vs. The Count. We're having an election to vote for our (imaginary) Helper of the Class. Every time two kids are in an argument, Cookie Monster promises to give everyone cookies. The Count promises to bring the two kids together and talk about the problem to fix it.
Of course everyone wants Cookie Monster. But I was surprised with the students who voted for The Count. Kids never cease to surprise you. One of them, I figured would get it- this student's one of my brightest. The other though... She is an English Learner. She cannot verbalize complete thoughts in English and won't try in Spanish either (I'd accept either). She seems so lost sometimes when we have our discussions that I'm not sure she really understands what's going on even with all the visual cues I use. Yet here she comes with her paper, "I well vote the count because tak pepol fix." *I will vote for The Count because he talks to people to fix their problems.* Good for you ELL! :) Way to have a deeper understanding and think for yourself!
Anyway, so over the course of a few days, when student disputes come up, we talk about what would happen if we had either Helper and which one would help the situation more. Then we will have our own election. I will make a "voting booth" for students to vote in and a ballot box to drop their ballots in. This teaches them the process of an election and that they have the power to decide! It teaches them the importance of voting and engages them to learn about politics!
All I have to say is that I'm going to have a kick ass bulletin board. :)
They wrote down what they would do and drew a picture to match. I loved the answers I got. So cute. Here are some:
"If I were president of the farm, I would give the animals treats for all their hard work."
"... I would give them a beautiful and warm place to live" (and the drawing looked like the inside of a house with beds and pillows and blankets :)
"... I would pay them for all their work." (smart kid. already thinking about capitalism)
We related Duck for President to real life. We looked at pictures of the presidential candidates and their running mates. We also looked at the picture of George Bush. I was surprised to hear them yell Obama's name as soon as I pulled out his picture. They also knew McCain's picture. Good for them. I don't think I knew anything about politics or the elections and presidential candidates when I was in first grade.
We read Scholastic News about the presidency and learned fun facts about each presidential candidate. I love this magazine.
The kids were so into the election, I decided to keep going with it. I found this great lesson online about Cookie Monster vs. The Count. We're having an election to vote for our (imaginary) Helper of the Class. Every time two kids are in an argument, Cookie Monster promises to give everyone cookies. The Count promises to bring the two kids together and talk about the problem to fix it.
Of course everyone wants Cookie Monster. But I was surprised with the students who voted for The Count. Kids never cease to surprise you. One of them, I figured would get it- this student's one of my brightest. The other though... She is an English Learner. She cannot verbalize complete thoughts in English and won't try in Spanish either (I'd accept either). She seems so lost sometimes when we have our discussions that I'm not sure she really understands what's going on even with all the visual cues I use. Yet here she comes with her paper, "I well vote the count because tak pepol fix." *I will vote for The Count because he talks to people to fix their problems.* Good for you ELL! :) Way to have a deeper understanding and think for yourself!
Anyway, so over the course of a few days, when student disputes come up, we talk about what would happen if we had either Helper and which one would help the situation more. Then we will have our own election. I will make a "voting booth" for students to vote in and a ballot box to drop their ballots in. This teaches them the process of an election and that they have the power to decide! It teaches them the importance of voting and engages them to learn about politics!
All I have to say is that I'm going to have a kick ass bulletin board. :)
Report Cards (1st year story)
Ahhh report cards take quite long to do. I thought I'd do a little a day and leave the comments for the last day. The comments take forever!
Anyway...which leads me to remember my first year teaching when I had to do report cards for a gifted and talented class. Well, somehow my gifted and talented class wasn't so gifted and talented. How they passed that test, I do not know. But they did and expected special treatment. A good chunk of them were below grade level! In a G & T class!!! So, based on the way that the whole grade decided to grade the kids, I graded my students. Many of them got 1's (the lowest grade you can get- Far Below Grade Level). Their reading scores were lower (sometimes about 2 levels lower) than the teacher had noted on their report cards in June of the previous year. So I take forever to do these report cards for the first time ever and turn them in.
Now, if you didn't know this before, I'm going to enlighten you. Gifted and Talented parents hold a lot of weight. They know how to get what they want. They know where to go to complain. And believe me, they'll complain about anything and everything. They have an email chain and phone list. Every night they talk to each other about what was sent for homework and how good it was. --This is what my kid said happened today. Well, this is what my kid said. Teacher's so inexperienced. She doesn't know what she's doing. I don't like how she talked to my Patty. I didn't like her tone of voice when she talked to me today.......
So my principal calls me into her office the day after I turn in the report cards. "Ah, you know Ms. T, I was looking over your report cards and noticed that many kids are promotion in doubt. How is that?"
"Well, Ms. Principal, I tested them and that's where they are. Far Below Grade Level."
"Okay....well, let me just show you their report cards from last June. Do you see here how this student who you're giving a '1' got a '4' (the best grade you can get) in June? And they are supposedly reading at a level K and you put their level as an E?"
"This student is definitely not at a K."
"Okay, well, I actually didn't check these grades last June. And the teacher is not at this school anymore. Nevertheless, we can't give the students the grades you gave them. The parents won't accept it."
"So, are you telling me I have to change the grades I gave?"
"I mean, you just need to look at your notes on the children and give them the grades that you feel based on your observations. You don't have to focus so much on how you tested them. For example, this student- the mom is.... well, you have to be very careful with her. I'd follow the previous teacher's example with the grades." (which meant that I should give this student 3's and 4s which mean he's at grade level or far above grade level. psh.)
This is my first year- I can't argue with the principal.
"Okaay..."
"Turn them in again tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions." OF COURSE I have questions! You're telling me to NOT grade the students based on what they can do. I have to paint a pretty picture just for the parents to be happy. Aghhhh what have I gotten myself into?
"Alright... I'll have them in by tomorrow."
I had to change ALL the grades. From 1's and 2's to 3's and 4's. I put in some 3- (three minus) and 2+ for the students who really had no business being in G&T- but I for the most part changed everything. How unethical is that? And I was forced to do it. Why? Because the principal was scared of the parents. Of their power. They all act so high and mighty because their kids are labeled and "G&T". Please. Get over yourself and accept your dumb child for who they really are and for the help they really need.
Anyway...which leads me to remember my first year teaching when I had to do report cards for a gifted and talented class. Well, somehow my gifted and talented class wasn't so gifted and talented. How they passed that test, I do not know. But they did and expected special treatment. A good chunk of them were below grade level! In a G & T class!!! So, based on the way that the whole grade decided to grade the kids, I graded my students. Many of them got 1's (the lowest grade you can get- Far Below Grade Level). Their reading scores were lower (sometimes about 2 levels lower) than the teacher had noted on their report cards in June of the previous year. So I take forever to do these report cards for the first time ever and turn them in.
Now, if you didn't know this before, I'm going to enlighten you. Gifted and Talented parents hold a lot of weight. They know how to get what they want. They know where to go to complain. And believe me, they'll complain about anything and everything. They have an email chain and phone list. Every night they talk to each other about what was sent for homework and how good it was. --This is what my kid said happened today. Well, this is what my kid said. Teacher's so inexperienced. She doesn't know what she's doing. I don't like how she talked to my Patty. I didn't like her tone of voice when she talked to me today.......
So my principal calls me into her office the day after I turn in the report cards. "Ah, you know Ms. T, I was looking over your report cards and noticed that many kids are promotion in doubt. How is that?"
"Well, Ms. Principal, I tested them and that's where they are. Far Below Grade Level."
"Okay....well, let me just show you their report cards from last June. Do you see here how this student who you're giving a '1' got a '4' (the best grade you can get) in June? And they are supposedly reading at a level K and you put their level as an E?"
"This student is definitely not at a K."
"Okay, well, I actually didn't check these grades last June. And the teacher is not at this school anymore. Nevertheless, we can't give the students the grades you gave them. The parents won't accept it."
"So, are you telling me I have to change the grades I gave?"
"I mean, you just need to look at your notes on the children and give them the grades that you feel based on your observations. You don't have to focus so much on how you tested them. For example, this student- the mom is.... well, you have to be very careful with her. I'd follow the previous teacher's example with the grades." (which meant that I should give this student 3's and 4s which mean he's at grade level or far above grade level. psh.)
This is my first year- I can't argue with the principal.
"Okaay..."
"Turn them in again tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions." OF COURSE I have questions! You're telling me to NOT grade the students based on what they can do. I have to paint a pretty picture just for the parents to be happy. Aghhhh what have I gotten myself into?
"Alright... I'll have them in by tomorrow."
I had to change ALL the grades. From 1's and 2's to 3's and 4's. I put in some 3- (three minus) and 2+ for the students who really had no business being in G&T- but I for the most part changed everything. How unethical is that? And I was forced to do it. Why? Because the principal was scared of the parents. Of their power. They all act so high and mighty because their kids are labeled and "G&T". Please. Get over yourself and accept your dumb child for who they really are and for the help they really need.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Subbing Adventure
I wanted to post something I retrieved from my "computer journal" from back when I was a substitute teacher. Interesting tidbit:
I subbed today for a 5th grade class. Ms. D's class. Ms. D has such a powerful demeanor. She has a low booming voice that makes her students freeze. I see her class in line going to lunch completely quiet and in a straight line. Ms. D leads her class on the basis of respect. She does not use fear to get them to listen. I always hear her refer to respect. Respect for each other. Respect for authority figures. She has built such a community in her class. Any outsider would think that Ms. D’s class is such a good class. But take away Ms. D- and they go WILD.
So I had them for the whole day. I had subbed for them before- 2 periods. They gave me a hard time. But I talked to them about respect and that if they respected me they would earn another letter of the word RESPECT on the board and if they got the whole word up there- I would teach them some hip hop. I ended up teaching them a little bit and they were so excited. I felt like I gained their respect by the end of the period. They saw that I could relate to them on a different level. I felt a little nervous but also kind of confident taking that class today since I knew they knew about my hip hop background.
I went to pick them up in the auditorium. There were about 8 of them there. I said hi and that I would be their sub today. Some of them cheered. That’s not a good sign. That tells me that they’re happy because they’re looking forward to a day of freedom and playing games with the sub. I did not smile. I asked them to stand up and get in line. As soon as we left the auditorium, I told them, “I expect a straight and quiet line.” They got in line and were pretty quiet. A few whispers here and there, but for the most part good. By the time we got up to the classroom, I had gained about another 9 students who had come late. I had them line up outside the classroom and told them again my expectations. “You will enter the classroom quietly, unpack, and get out a reading book to read for about 15 minutes.” I waited a minute until the chatting ceased and then allowed them to enter. Ms. D had left a schedule on the board. Language Arts pages for the first half hour. I asked the kids to refer to the board for the schedule and to note that they had a Language Arts assignment first. I told them that they had to be in their seats and quietly working. I already saw that "Notorious" could be a huge problem and wise ass. He is actually notorious in the school for being extremely disrespectful to all authority figures (principal and vice principals included) and for fighting. But I spoke to him privately about respecting each other and he began to behave for me. The class for the most part was behaving really well. I was excited and thought, “This is going to be a good day.” Unfortunately, I spoke too soon.
At around 9:10am, two more students (boys) entered the classroom. JJ and B. “Heeeeyyyy!!! Was up my brothuuuuusss!” The class’ tone immediately changed. They laughed and started talking. Many of them responded to the two newcomers by getting up from their seats and greeting them with a high five. I should have immediately sent them outside, spoken to them, and asked them to come in again correctly. But I didn’t. First, I focused on calming the class down. Whenever I get really firm and strict, I am still always respectful as well. “Sit down please.” “I need you quiet please.” “Thank you.” That is the basis that I try to gain their respect. I am the authority figure in the room. You need to listen to me, but in return I will always be respectful in what I ask of you.
JJ and B entered the room loud and obnoxious. They went to put their lunches away in a bin in the corner and on their way, turned on the stereo. Again, they received laughs. They were obviously “too cool for school” and wanted to rile up their class and give me a hard time. Notorious, who had actually been behaving, stood up and joined them. It was a show. In a matter of seconds, I had lost the class and I had no idea what to do.
I went straight to the three musketeers of trouble and again gave them a talk about respect. They gave me a distant “okay” and then went to their seats (which of course were not their real seats but I didn’t know). I then addressed the class and told them that they had a great start to the day and that they needed to return to that. The class quieted down a little- but I knew I was in for a loooong, tough day.
I subbed today for a 5th grade class. Ms. D's class. Ms. D has such a powerful demeanor. She has a low booming voice that makes her students freeze. I see her class in line going to lunch completely quiet and in a straight line. Ms. D leads her class on the basis of respect. She does not use fear to get them to listen. I always hear her refer to respect. Respect for each other. Respect for authority figures. She has built such a community in her class. Any outsider would think that Ms. D’s class is such a good class. But take away Ms. D- and they go WILD.
So I had them for the whole day. I had subbed for them before- 2 periods. They gave me a hard time. But I talked to them about respect and that if they respected me they would earn another letter of the word RESPECT on the board and if they got the whole word up there- I would teach them some hip hop. I ended up teaching them a little bit and they were so excited. I felt like I gained their respect by the end of the period. They saw that I could relate to them on a different level. I felt a little nervous but also kind of confident taking that class today since I knew they knew about my hip hop background.
I went to pick them up in the auditorium. There were about 8 of them there. I said hi and that I would be their sub today. Some of them cheered. That’s not a good sign. That tells me that they’re happy because they’re looking forward to a day of freedom and playing games with the sub. I did not smile. I asked them to stand up and get in line. As soon as we left the auditorium, I told them, “I expect a straight and quiet line.” They got in line and were pretty quiet. A few whispers here and there, but for the most part good. By the time we got up to the classroom, I had gained about another 9 students who had come late. I had them line up outside the classroom and told them again my expectations. “You will enter the classroom quietly, unpack, and get out a reading book to read for about 15 minutes.” I waited a minute until the chatting ceased and then allowed them to enter. Ms. D had left a schedule on the board. Language Arts pages for the first half hour. I asked the kids to refer to the board for the schedule and to note that they had a Language Arts assignment first. I told them that they had to be in their seats and quietly working. I already saw that "Notorious" could be a huge problem and wise ass. He is actually notorious in the school for being extremely disrespectful to all authority figures (principal and vice principals included) and for fighting. But I spoke to him privately about respecting each other and he began to behave for me. The class for the most part was behaving really well. I was excited and thought, “This is going to be a good day.” Unfortunately, I spoke too soon.
At around 9:10am, two more students (boys) entered the classroom. JJ and B. “Heeeeyyyy!!! Was up my brothuuuuusss!” The class’ tone immediately changed. They laughed and started talking. Many of them responded to the two newcomers by getting up from their seats and greeting them with a high five. I should have immediately sent them outside, spoken to them, and asked them to come in again correctly. But I didn’t. First, I focused on calming the class down. Whenever I get really firm and strict, I am still always respectful as well. “Sit down please.” “I need you quiet please.” “Thank you.” That is the basis that I try to gain their respect. I am the authority figure in the room. You need to listen to me, but in return I will always be respectful in what I ask of you.
JJ and B entered the room loud and obnoxious. They went to put their lunches away in a bin in the corner and on their way, turned on the stereo. Again, they received laughs. They were obviously “too cool for school” and wanted to rile up their class and give me a hard time. Notorious, who had actually been behaving, stood up and joined them. It was a show. In a matter of seconds, I had lost the class and I had no idea what to do.
I went straight to the three musketeers of trouble and again gave them a talk about respect. They gave me a distant “okay” and then went to their seats (which of course were not their real seats but I didn’t know). I then addressed the class and told them that they had a great start to the day and that they needed to return to that. The class quieted down a little- but I knew I was in for a loooong, tough day.
My hellish first year: the first day
My first year was one of the most difficult things I have had to endure in my entire life. People don't give teachers enough credit.
I think I've managed to block the majority of it out of my mind; I'll try to remember as much as I can.
My first day. I had no idea what to expect. I had spent so many hours in the classroom setting it up, cleaning it, and organizing it. Setting up my classroom library took about 10 hours alone. I remember walking into that classroom and being so overwhelmed and scared. How the heck am I going to get all this done by myself!?! There were boxes stacked high and they took up half of the classroom. The classroom had such a thick layer of dust. I had two tables, maybe 4 chairs, one shelf for books and a rug. The boxes were huge and had English and Spanish books all mixed up. The levels were all mixed and the genres were all mixed as well. And did I mention the boxes with the books were huge? They were up on this shelf and impossible to move. It was my first year. I had no idea how to set up my classroom, what bins I needed, what labels I needed. I had NO CLUE.
On the last day of setting up my classroom, this lady walks by (I didn't know who she was) and tells me, "Oh no, your word wall is not in the right spot. It's too small. You should move it over there. When I was a teacher, I had MY word wall..." Thanks lady for telling me this on the last day of set up and after I've labored so many hours on this classroom.
So finally, we come to my first day.
I go down to the auditorium to pick them up. The auditorium is chaotic. Kids yelling, out of their seats, throwing crumbled up papers, teachers sitting at the front of the auditorium talking. Hmmm, I guess this is what they're used to. It was out of a movie scene. I scan the walls looking for my name and then I look at the rows that are supposed to hold my kids. They're huge! They're about as big as I am! And only in 2nd grade...
I go to them and smile (mistake #1). "Hello, I am your new teacher. Please stand up and get in line."
(mistake #2: I assumed they knew how to line up. I was very wrong) The students stood up, grabbed their backpacks and pushed each other to get out of their rows. Then they became a clump in the front of the auditorium talking and laughing and pushing. I had to yell to make myself heard. "Two lines!" Maybe 5 out of the 23 kids got in two lines in front of me. The rest, kept on yelling and laughing. A teacher with a blow horn in the front of the auditorium yelled "Ms. T's class! Line up! Go to class!" (I have changed names and other things to maintain anonymity)
I dont know how to calm the class down- I just turn around and walk and hope that they follow. They did, but in a clump and still talking and pushing and yelling (Mistake #3: allow them to walk in line talking, pushing, and yelling as my first impression). We got out of the auditorium and into the gymnasium. I remember thinking, "My gosh, they can't walk like this. But I can't make myself heard in here either. I'll wait until we get into the classroom." So we went all the way up the stairs to the third floor, loud as ever.
Outside in the hallway, I introduced myself again to the kids and told them, "Go inside, unpack, and sit at your desks. I will tell you what to do next." (Mistake #4: not going over the routine of unpacking) I planned on talking about the rules with them as soon as they were ready. But what I got was kids running into the room and a mob of students heading straight for the closets. This is where the kids started getting hurt. Kids were pushed down and stepped on to get to the closets. What a mess! I didn't know how to stop it. I tried to tell them all to stop and go to their seats (I had put nametags on their seats) but I couldn't be heard. The kids were too loud. I started picking up the poor kids who had been trampled on and making sure they were okay. Then I went and turned off the lights. Most of the kids stopped and looked to see who had done it. I told them all to go to their desks. They went. The closet was a mess. Jackets strewn everywhere, backpacks torn open with notebooks and pencils spilling out. But I left it. (Mistake #6: Not correcting the unpacking behavior) I asked everyone if they were okay and told them briefly, we can't push and shove. Be careful with your classmates.
I don't remember what happened during the rest of that day, but what I do remember is that I didn't teach anything. I broke up fights between the kids, I yelled to be heard, I tried to teach.
I am so passionate about teaching and to go into that type of first day was horrific for me. THIS is what it's like? All of the behavior management strategies that I had learned in class weren't working! Positive reinforcement wasn't working! What do I do? I was exhausted after that first day. The kids were bad the entire day. Fighting, yelling, pushing, being rude. I couldn't be heard.
As my reflection after that first day: I didn't realize all that I needed to plan for the first day- the first weeks. I didn't realize that I had to plan a routine for everything and teach it to them. I didn't realize I had to have something for them to do every second or else they'd try to kill each other. I didn't have the transition mintues planned. I planned for things that were way above their heads. I thought they were supposed to be at a certain level and they weren't. I also wasn't prepared to handle such outstanding behavior issues. Punching and kicking? I didn't know that was what I was getting myself into. And it was ONLY THE BEGINNING.....
I think I've managed to block the majority of it out of my mind; I'll try to remember as much as I can.
My first day. I had no idea what to expect. I had spent so many hours in the classroom setting it up, cleaning it, and organizing it. Setting up my classroom library took about 10 hours alone. I remember walking into that classroom and being so overwhelmed and scared. How the heck am I going to get all this done by myself!?! There were boxes stacked high and they took up half of the classroom. The classroom had such a thick layer of dust. I had two tables, maybe 4 chairs, one shelf for books and a rug. The boxes were huge and had English and Spanish books all mixed up. The levels were all mixed and the genres were all mixed as well. And did I mention the boxes with the books were huge? They were up on this shelf and impossible to move. It was my first year. I had no idea how to set up my classroom, what bins I needed, what labels I needed. I had NO CLUE.
On the last day of setting up my classroom, this lady walks by (I didn't know who she was) and tells me, "Oh no, your word wall is not in the right spot. It's too small. You should move it over there. When I was a teacher, I had MY word wall..." Thanks lady for telling me this on the last day of set up and after I've labored so many hours on this classroom.
So finally, we come to my first day.
I go down to the auditorium to pick them up. The auditorium is chaotic. Kids yelling, out of their seats, throwing crumbled up papers, teachers sitting at the front of the auditorium talking. Hmmm, I guess this is what they're used to. It was out of a movie scene. I scan the walls looking for my name and then I look at the rows that are supposed to hold my kids. They're huge! They're about as big as I am! And only in 2nd grade...
I go to them and smile (mistake #1). "Hello, I am your new teacher. Please stand up and get in line."
(mistake #2: I assumed they knew how to line up. I was very wrong) The students stood up, grabbed their backpacks and pushed each other to get out of their rows. Then they became a clump in the front of the auditorium talking and laughing and pushing. I had to yell to make myself heard. "Two lines!" Maybe 5 out of the 23 kids got in two lines in front of me. The rest, kept on yelling and laughing. A teacher with a blow horn in the front of the auditorium yelled "Ms. T's class! Line up! Go to class!" (I have changed names and other things to maintain anonymity)
I dont know how to calm the class down- I just turn around and walk and hope that they follow. They did, but in a clump and still talking and pushing and yelling (Mistake #3: allow them to walk in line talking, pushing, and yelling as my first impression). We got out of the auditorium and into the gymnasium. I remember thinking, "My gosh, they can't walk like this. But I can't make myself heard in here either. I'll wait until we get into the classroom." So we went all the way up the stairs to the third floor, loud as ever.
Outside in the hallway, I introduced myself again to the kids and told them, "Go inside, unpack, and sit at your desks. I will tell you what to do next." (Mistake #4: not going over the routine of unpacking) I planned on talking about the rules with them as soon as they were ready. But what I got was kids running into the room and a mob of students heading straight for the closets. This is where the kids started getting hurt. Kids were pushed down and stepped on to get to the closets. What a mess! I didn't know how to stop it. I tried to tell them all to stop and go to their seats (I had put nametags on their seats) but I couldn't be heard. The kids were too loud. I started picking up the poor kids who had been trampled on and making sure they were okay. Then I went and turned off the lights. Most of the kids stopped and looked to see who had done it. I told them all to go to their desks. They went. The closet was a mess. Jackets strewn everywhere, backpacks torn open with notebooks and pencils spilling out. But I left it. (Mistake #6: Not correcting the unpacking behavior) I asked everyone if they were okay and told them briefly, we can't push and shove. Be careful with your classmates.
I don't remember what happened during the rest of that day, but what I do remember is that I didn't teach anything. I broke up fights between the kids, I yelled to be heard, I tried to teach.
I am so passionate about teaching and to go into that type of first day was horrific for me. THIS is what it's like? All of the behavior management strategies that I had learned in class weren't working! Positive reinforcement wasn't working! What do I do? I was exhausted after that first day. The kids were bad the entire day. Fighting, yelling, pushing, being rude. I couldn't be heard.
As my reflection after that first day: I didn't realize all that I needed to plan for the first day- the first weeks. I didn't realize that I had to plan a routine for everything and teach it to them. I didn't realize I had to have something for them to do every second or else they'd try to kill each other. I didn't have the transition mintues planned. I planned for things that were way above their heads. I thought they were supposed to be at a certain level and they weren't. I also wasn't prepared to handle such outstanding behavior issues. Punching and kicking? I didn't know that was what I was getting myself into. And it was ONLY THE BEGINNING.....
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Nanny 911
I'm watching a marathon of Nanny 911. It's crazy to see how clueless some parents are! I feel so lucky to have a job that prepares me to be a successful parent. Nanny 911 shows some pretty extreme behavior management scenarios. The kids on that show range from not sitting in time out to spitting in their mother's face. How do these parents put up with that disrespect? Probably because they don't know what to do. Most parents' anger and frustration takes over. They scream, their faces get red, they lose it. Yet, dont' they know that THAT is what the misbehaving kids are looking for? They're waiting for the furious response. With those kids, there need to be clear consequences set out and the parent needs to calmly give the consequence, whether it be time out, no tv, etc. And there also needs to be positive consequences when the rules are followed.
I strongly believe in positive reinforcement in my classroom. I've learned how to create various behavior plans for different behavior issues, for different classes, and different kids. I feel like being a teacher is like being the mom of 20+ kids all at once (although I do get to send them home :)). Yet, for the time that they're with me, I'm their mom. I'm their caregiver, their authority figure. This career gives me years of practice so that when I raise my own kids, I'll know how. I'll know what to do when they fight with each other. I'll know what to do when they don't share or throw things. I can teach them to read at home too. It's the same thing I do with my kids in the classroom.
In my classroom, I'm all about building a sense of community. We're a family in the classroom. My kids always remind each other (which I love)- when one of them misbehaves, another tells them, "Hey. We're a family. We don't pinch each other. We love each other." Can you believe that!?! 5 and 6 year olds after only one month together understand what I've been repeating for a month now. I also like to reward them for positive behavior. Now everything is not prizes (material things). Rewards range from a high five to getting to go to Choice Time first. Stickers are every once in a while. Those are huge when kids get them.
I still feel like I have so much to learn, but I feel like I will have a step up in raising children when I'm ready to do that.
Now my first year of teaching, I feel like I was one of the parents on Nanny 911. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My first year of teaching was a stressful one to say the least. The kids were already notorious because of their behavior before I even got them in my class. It being my first year, I was not equipped to handle that kind of chaos. I was a screaming red-faced mess! And those kids loved it and fed on it. I will write about that year later, but I think that year was so important for me to experience so that I know what NOT to do :).
I am loving my current year. I see that it takes years to be a good teacher. MANY years. Not just anyone can be a teacher. Your heart has to really be in it and you have to be able to endure those tough years and know how to grow from that.
I don't think that those parents on Nanny 911 really know that they're making bad choices. I guess you can only grow from experience. And my experience can come from teaching so that when I have my own kids I'll be more ready to tackle the craziness that comes with parenting :).
I strongly believe in positive reinforcement in my classroom. I've learned how to create various behavior plans for different behavior issues, for different classes, and different kids. I feel like being a teacher is like being the mom of 20+ kids all at once (although I do get to send them home :)). Yet, for the time that they're with me, I'm their mom. I'm their caregiver, their authority figure. This career gives me years of practice so that when I raise my own kids, I'll know how. I'll know what to do when they fight with each other. I'll know what to do when they don't share or throw things. I can teach them to read at home too. It's the same thing I do with my kids in the classroom.
In my classroom, I'm all about building a sense of community. We're a family in the classroom. My kids always remind each other (which I love)- when one of them misbehaves, another tells them, "Hey. We're a family. We don't pinch each other. We love each other." Can you believe that!?! 5 and 6 year olds after only one month together understand what I've been repeating for a month now. I also like to reward them for positive behavior. Now everything is not prizes (material things). Rewards range from a high five to getting to go to Choice Time first. Stickers are every once in a while. Those are huge when kids get them.
I still feel like I have so much to learn, but I feel like I will have a step up in raising children when I'm ready to do that.
Now my first year of teaching, I feel like I was one of the parents on Nanny 911. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My first year of teaching was a stressful one to say the least. The kids were already notorious because of their behavior before I even got them in my class. It being my first year, I was not equipped to handle that kind of chaos. I was a screaming red-faced mess! And those kids loved it and fed on it. I will write about that year later, but I think that year was so important for me to experience so that I know what NOT to do :).
I am loving my current year. I see that it takes years to be a good teacher. MANY years. Not just anyone can be a teacher. Your heart has to really be in it and you have to be able to endure those tough years and know how to grow from that.
I don't think that those parents on Nanny 911 really know that they're making bad choices. I guess you can only grow from experience. And my experience can come from teaching so that when I have my own kids I'll be more ready to tackle the craziness that comes with parenting :).
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bathroom
Bathroom times are hard to regulate with young children. In Kindergarten, they were required to bring in an extra set of clothes just in case there was an accident. And there were many accidents. Then in their next year of schooling, they should all be able to hold it until they reach the bathroom. But the problem now in first grade is that they feel a tiny impulse to pee and they have to go. As a teacher, you have to know when kids just want to get out of class and when they really can't hold it anymore.
It's difficult to teach when one student raises their hand and says they need to use the restroom and then 20 other hands immediately jet up because they also need to use the restroom. So, in my classroom, I have designated times that I send children to the bathroom. Once in the morning and then once in the afternoon. Other than that, they must use their lunch/recess time to go.
I have one student who always needs to use the restroom during reading and writing time. Speaking to the parents, they tell me she does not have a bladder problem. Yet, I am always scared that a student will have an accident in the classroom after I tell them they can't use the restroom. Then the parent will definitely have it in for me. But I dont' want the students to miss instruction either. Now, in our school, the girls' bathroom is far from my classroom. It takes about 5 minutes to get there, which equals in about 13-15 minutes the girls being gone from my classroom. If the girls decide to stroll there and look at every bulletin board on the way, that's about half an hour gone by.
So back to the girl. Everytime she goes to the bathroom she strolls and take a long time. Whoever is her partner also says she plays in the bathroom. Her teacher from last year says she always did the same thing but she's actually peed her pants in the classroom. Uuughhhh. I can't not let her go.
So one day, I let her go in the morning. I let her go after lunch. Then, one hour before dismissal, one hour after I let her go to the bathroom, she needs to go again. We are in the middle of a test and she needs to go. The worst part is that everytime she asks, she says it's an EMERGENCY. And after I give her permission to go, she strolls over to the bathroom pass and strolls out the door- definitely NOT acting like it's an emergency. It's like the boy who cried wolf.
So this time, she says it's an emergency and I tell her no. She cannot go because we are taking a test and she went an hour ago. She keeps asking me for the next 15 minutes. I have another teacher in the room at this point. I am quite annoyed because I completely believe that she just wants to get out of the test. I do not believe that she needs to really go. 5 minutes later, she is still asking me and this time, I see her desperate face. Ahhhh that's the face of an emergency. I see tears that are filling in her eyes. I finally say okay, but I want to make sure she's telling the truth. I have the other teacher stay with the class and I take the girl to the bathroom. I tell her that she needs to walk very fast. This is how she needs to go to the bathroom all the time. We get to the bathroom. She does no more than shut the door of the stall that I hear the stream of urine jetting into the toilet. Oops. I guess I was wrong this time. Poor thing. She really needed to go.
Ahhhh the trials and tribulations of a teacher.
It's difficult to teach when one student raises their hand and says they need to use the restroom and then 20 other hands immediately jet up because they also need to use the restroom. So, in my classroom, I have designated times that I send children to the bathroom. Once in the morning and then once in the afternoon. Other than that, they must use their lunch/recess time to go.
I have one student who always needs to use the restroom during reading and writing time. Speaking to the parents, they tell me she does not have a bladder problem. Yet, I am always scared that a student will have an accident in the classroom after I tell them they can't use the restroom. Then the parent will definitely have it in for me. But I dont' want the students to miss instruction either. Now, in our school, the girls' bathroom is far from my classroom. It takes about 5 minutes to get there, which equals in about 13-15 minutes the girls being gone from my classroom. If the girls decide to stroll there and look at every bulletin board on the way, that's about half an hour gone by.
So back to the girl. Everytime she goes to the bathroom she strolls and take a long time. Whoever is her partner also says she plays in the bathroom. Her teacher from last year says she always did the same thing but she's actually peed her pants in the classroom. Uuughhhh. I can't not let her go.
So one day, I let her go in the morning. I let her go after lunch. Then, one hour before dismissal, one hour after I let her go to the bathroom, she needs to go again. We are in the middle of a test and she needs to go. The worst part is that everytime she asks, she says it's an EMERGENCY. And after I give her permission to go, she strolls over to the bathroom pass and strolls out the door- definitely NOT acting like it's an emergency. It's like the boy who cried wolf.
So this time, she says it's an emergency and I tell her no. She cannot go because we are taking a test and she went an hour ago. She keeps asking me for the next 15 minutes. I have another teacher in the room at this point. I am quite annoyed because I completely believe that she just wants to get out of the test. I do not believe that she needs to really go. 5 minutes later, she is still asking me and this time, I see her desperate face. Ahhhh that's the face of an emergency. I see tears that are filling in her eyes. I finally say okay, but I want to make sure she's telling the truth. I have the other teacher stay with the class and I take the girl to the bathroom. I tell her that she needs to walk very fast. This is how she needs to go to the bathroom all the time. We get to the bathroom. She does no more than shut the door of the stall that I hear the stream of urine jetting into the toilet. Oops. I guess I was wrong this time. Poor thing. She really needed to go.
Ahhhh the trials and tribulations of a teacher.
Really???
So I'm starting to blog because being a teacher brings about such awesome stories that really need to be shared.
I teach first grade. As a teacher, you always need to be on alert. Is that child chewing gum? Not allowed. Put it in the trash. Did he just pinch her? Is that chapstick they're passing around? Uh, the label says, Vagisil!?! (True story. It's a goodie but from another teacher) Are you actually writing? How long has she been in the bathroom? As a teacher, you're not just teaching. While you're teaching, there are a million other things going on in your mind and you need to look like the only thing you're thinking about is the lesson at hand.
During a read aloud last week, all students are at attention. In between pages, I scan the class to make sure they ARE all in attention. I see one kid chewing. Gum? "Johnny, gum in the trash please." Johnny scrunches up his face and shakes his head.
"I'm not chewing gum." As he speaks I see something blue inside his mouth.
"Johnny, open your mouth please." He takes a bit of time to shuffle some things around in his mouth. He opens his mouth. His tongue is a deep shade of blue. "Johnny what were you eating?"
Johnny furiously shakes his head with his mouth clamped shut, "Nothing."
"Johnny, your tongue is blue. You have something underneath your tongue. What is it?"
Johnny looks down at the rug. Slowly, he again shifts things around in his mouth. Then one by one, a small blue piece of a crayon is spit out of his mouth onto the rug. Really??? A crayon? We just got back from lunch. They give you lunch if you don't have it. A crayon????
Melissa then blurts out, "I saw him chewing on a colored pencil!"
Dillan says, "I saw him bite a crayon!"
"Okay Johnny, eating a crayon is not okay. That can hurt your stomach. Are we going to eat crayons or colored pencils anymore?"
Johnny and the class say in unison, "Nooooo."
I teach first grade. As a teacher, you always need to be on alert. Is that child chewing gum? Not allowed. Put it in the trash. Did he just pinch her? Is that chapstick they're passing around? Uh, the label says, Vagisil!?! (True story. It's a goodie but from another teacher) Are you actually writing? How long has she been in the bathroom? As a teacher, you're not just teaching. While you're teaching, there are a million other things going on in your mind and you need to look like the only thing you're thinking about is the lesson at hand.
During a read aloud last week, all students are at attention. In between pages, I scan the class to make sure they ARE all in attention. I see one kid chewing. Gum? "Johnny, gum in the trash please." Johnny scrunches up his face and shakes his head.
"I'm not chewing gum." As he speaks I see something blue inside his mouth.
"Johnny, open your mouth please." He takes a bit of time to shuffle some things around in his mouth. He opens his mouth. His tongue is a deep shade of blue. "Johnny what were you eating?"
Johnny furiously shakes his head with his mouth clamped shut, "Nothing."
"Johnny, your tongue is blue. You have something underneath your tongue. What is it?"
Johnny looks down at the rug. Slowly, he again shifts things around in his mouth. Then one by one, a small blue piece of a crayon is spit out of his mouth onto the rug. Really??? A crayon? We just got back from lunch. They give you lunch if you don't have it. A crayon????
Melissa then blurts out, "I saw him chewing on a colored pencil!"
Dillan says, "I saw him bite a crayon!"
"Okay Johnny, eating a crayon is not okay. That can hurt your stomach. Are we going to eat crayons or colored pencils anymore?"
Johnny and the class say in unison, "Nooooo."
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