This week I decided I needed more help with classroom management, so I visited Mrs. Irvine's class this week, another English teacher down the hall. I talked to my dad on the phone for about an hour and determined that I don't know if I am managing my classroom well because I haven't any other experience or classroom to compare it too and my dad agreed with me that it would be a good idea to visit some of the other teachers' classrooms to see how they do classroom management. Well, Mrs. Irvine did not disappoint! She is very strict with her students, but she is fair and most importantly, her students know that she cares about them. She is very consistent in keeping her classroom rules. If someone talked without raising their hand, she would say, "That's not how we talk in my classroom," and then she would ignore them until they did raise their hand. A few good things I want to try in my classroom:
1. She interviews every single one of her students about how they feel like they are doing in class. What they do or don't like about English. How they feel about reading. What can she do to make the class better. Etc. The interviews only lasted a minute or two, but I believe every student left the interview feeling that not only did they have a say in how the class was run, but that their teacher truly cared about them. I am doing to do this in my classroom before the end of the quarter. I have already gotten the 3x5 cards and boxes for each class.
2. She puts her kids in tribes. They stay in these same tribes for the whole year. They make a tribe flag, they help earn points for each other, and they compete against the other tribes in their class. Mrs. Irvine says that tribes are a great way to build good classroom communities. She says that I really need to get the book. She says that she uses it as her classroom bible and it has so many ideas for reaching learners of all intelligences.
3. She has a noise monitoring machine. It looks like a stoplight. It turns yellow if the noise level starts to get too loud and if it goes over the limit she set, then the light turns red and an alarm goes off. Before she put the students in their tribes to work, she set the machine and told them that if it goes off three times, that they would have homework. It went off once. It was really effective for helping the kids keep their voices down and to stay focused while Mrs. Irvine conducted interviews.
4. She has certain jobs in the classroom that kids can apply for. They have to submit a resume just like they would a job interview. She says that it gets pretty competitive. The kids who do score the jobs can earn citizenship points and money to put towards their grades. If a particular student who has a job doesn't need the money or points, then they can give it to someone in their class who does need it. I really like this idea, but I'm afraid that if I try to implement this too this year, that that will be too much. I really want to focus on the tribes and the interviews.
Mrs. Irvine is an excellent teacher. She is super positive in her classroom management, engages the students with her teaching, and she reaches out to all of her kids. I'm so glad I stopped by. Next week I am going to try to visit two more classrooms. That was such a helpful experience!
This week I also got put in charge of the school mascot, Brutus. We had tryouts for Brutus last week and four boys and two girls will be our mascot for this year. I am in charge of scheduling the kids for their turn to be Brutus and for getting a procedure down of where the heck we are supposed to put Brutus after the games are over. Those poor kids are champs! Not only is Brutus super hot, but he is super smelly inside too. I didn't smell him myself, but I took the kids' word for it, especially after the boys were spraying Fabreeze all over him. Brutus is a Spartan warrior by the way. I'm still not sure if I bit off more than I can chew with this, but it's too late to turn back now, so I'll make the most of it!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Days 12-16: September 10th-14th
This week was a little rough. We worked on the skill of retelling stories this week. The 7th graders read "Duffy's Jacket" and the 8th graders read "The Wise Old Woman" (the punctuation is probably wrong right here, but I am just giving myself an A for effort today). I read the stories to both grades in one sitting and then they had to retell the stories in their own words. You would not believe the groans I got when I told them it had to be one WHOLE page long, single spaced, NO SKIPPING SPACES, no writing big, etc. One thing I am learning with these kids: You have to spell EVERYTHING out for them because there are always at least five kids in the class who are going to ask every obvious question in the book about how an assignment is to be done. They also had to read their retelling to a partner and then they graded each other's retelling using a rubric. What I learned: a lot of kids don't know how to summarize the main points of a plot. A lot of them did not get the assignment done in one class period because they were trying to retell the ENTIRE story. Next time I will have to give them an example.
Midway through the week the 7th graders started "Rikki Tikki Tavi" and the 8th graders started "Flowers for Algernon." I printed out a packet with several activities in it for the 8th graders to do as we read the story. The 7th graders are just listening to the story right now. Both 7th and 8th graders did complete the vocabulary definitions for the words from the stories along with the word webs. I will be giving both grades a test on the 23rd on both of those stories and vocabulary will be part of that. I guess we will see how well the word webs helped students remember their vocab.
We also started DOLs in addition to their journal entries at the beginning of class. I decided to keep doing both because I figured if they learn from making corrections to a sentence, that it might encourage a better understanding of grammar and sentence structure in their own writing, which they do right after their DOL. This week we are focusing on learning what nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, and adjectives are and pointing them out in the sentences. I use my handy dandy popsicle sticks with their names on them to call on students to name corrections that need to be and to name parts of the sentence. The sticks are great because everyone has to be on their toes because nobody know who will be chosen next.
Classroom management is getting better. The point system seems to be working, but there is still much room for improvement. My dad says I should focus on finding positive ways to encourage good student behavior in the classroom. I pray I can find some way positive to do that because giving them extra homework for too much talking is looking more attractive each day.
One memorable experience. "A" (one of my 7th graders) walked into my class after school one day and announced that he had just found out that he has a secret admirer in my class. His comment caught me off guard for a moment as I never am sure what "A" is going to tell me. Then I had mixed emotions. I felt a little angry because "A" is a student who struggles with obesity and I was suspicious about who gave him this information and for what reason. I don't like bullying one bit and if this kid was telling "A" this to tease him or have a laugh at his expense, I WILL FIND OUT about it and that kid WILL be punished. "A" went on to tell me that he never considered looks, but that he cared about what was on the inside and that if there was a girl that could get past "this (and he motioned to his body)," then he was excited to find out who she is. Then he added, "Although, looks are DEFINITELY a plus." I hope for his sake that the kid that told him this was telling the truth.
I was bullied in the 8th grade. It was the WORST year of my school career by far. There was a group of "popular" girls who in my 8th grade mind, I wanted to emulate in every way and they knew it. Most days when I came to school, I knew that they would be there waiting for me by my locker to comment on how bad my hair looked or how my clothes were cute, but that I had an ugly body and chicken legs. They would find me in the hallways during school and make petty comments about me to their friends, just loud enough for me to hear too. I would get comments like: You wore your hair the same today? How original. Or: "You must LOVE that ugly green tank top because you wear it all the time." My favorite thing they did to me? I had a crush on a boy and in a small school like the one I went to, it seemed everyone knew it too. That same boy also happened to be "going out" with one of the popular girls. Me and this boy grew up on the same street playing together. We were childhood friends and we were in the same grade. One day in class, he gave me a note. I was so nervous and blushing and excited all at the same time. I thought that note meant that he liked me too. Then I opened the note and started reading. It went something like, "Michelle, I think you are really cute and I want to go out with you...." followed by more flattering comments. Then I got to the last paragraph and read the all caps word, "NOT!" which was followed by an explanation that he would never go out with someone as skinny and ugly as me when he had a "hot" girlfriend like (I won't mention her name, as if either of them would see this anyway). I felt my face get warm with embarrassment and I felt hot tears start rolling down my cheeks. I was completely humiliated and crushed. I heard snickering and through my tears I looked up to see two of the girls from that "popular" group laughing at me. I stood up in the middle of class (something I had never dared do before), grabbed my things, and ran out the door with the crumpled note in my hand. I later found out that the boy's girlfriend and a few others from that group had told him what to write, so he wrote it in his hand writing and then one of the girls from that group delivered it to me before class started. That incident and many others that year lead to thoughts of suicide at the age of 14. When you are young, you think friends are everything and I felt like nobody liked me at school and my self image was completely ripped apart thanks to those girls. I know what bullying looks like and I know with all my heart what it feels like and I made a promise to myself that when I got hired to teach that I would do everything I could to make sure that it doesn't happen to my students. Kids can be so so mean and I try to make it a point to talk about being careful how we treat people. I don't just want to help my students improve their test scores, I want to help them become better people.
Midway through the week the 7th graders started "Rikki Tikki Tavi" and the 8th graders started "Flowers for Algernon." I printed out a packet with several activities in it for the 8th graders to do as we read the story. The 7th graders are just listening to the story right now. Both 7th and 8th graders did complete the vocabulary definitions for the words from the stories along with the word webs. I will be giving both grades a test on the 23rd on both of those stories and vocabulary will be part of that. I guess we will see how well the word webs helped students remember their vocab.
We also started DOLs in addition to their journal entries at the beginning of class. I decided to keep doing both because I figured if they learn from making corrections to a sentence, that it might encourage a better understanding of grammar and sentence structure in their own writing, which they do right after their DOL. This week we are focusing on learning what nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, and adjectives are and pointing them out in the sentences. I use my handy dandy popsicle sticks with their names on them to call on students to name corrections that need to be and to name parts of the sentence. The sticks are great because everyone has to be on their toes because nobody know who will be chosen next.
Classroom management is getting better. The point system seems to be working, but there is still much room for improvement. My dad says I should focus on finding positive ways to encourage good student behavior in the classroom. I pray I can find some way positive to do that because giving them extra homework for too much talking is looking more attractive each day.
One memorable experience. "A" (one of my 7th graders) walked into my class after school one day and announced that he had just found out that he has a secret admirer in my class. His comment caught me off guard for a moment as I never am sure what "A" is going to tell me. Then I had mixed emotions. I felt a little angry because "A" is a student who struggles with obesity and I was suspicious about who gave him this information and for what reason. I don't like bullying one bit and if this kid was telling "A" this to tease him or have a laugh at his expense, I WILL FIND OUT about it and that kid WILL be punished. "A" went on to tell me that he never considered looks, but that he cared about what was on the inside and that if there was a girl that could get past "this (and he motioned to his body)," then he was excited to find out who she is. Then he added, "Although, looks are DEFINITELY a plus." I hope for his sake that the kid that told him this was telling the truth.
I was bullied in the 8th grade. It was the WORST year of my school career by far. There was a group of "popular" girls who in my 8th grade mind, I wanted to emulate in every way and they knew it. Most days when I came to school, I knew that they would be there waiting for me by my locker to comment on how bad my hair looked or how my clothes were cute, but that I had an ugly body and chicken legs. They would find me in the hallways during school and make petty comments about me to their friends, just loud enough for me to hear too. I would get comments like: You wore your hair the same today? How original. Or: "You must LOVE that ugly green tank top because you wear it all the time." My favorite thing they did to me? I had a crush on a boy and in a small school like the one I went to, it seemed everyone knew it too. That same boy also happened to be "going out" with one of the popular girls. Me and this boy grew up on the same street playing together. We were childhood friends and we were in the same grade. One day in class, he gave me a note. I was so nervous and blushing and excited all at the same time. I thought that note meant that he liked me too. Then I opened the note and started reading. It went something like, "Michelle, I think you are really cute and I want to go out with you...." followed by more flattering comments. Then I got to the last paragraph and read the all caps word, "NOT!" which was followed by an explanation that he would never go out with someone as skinny and ugly as me when he had a "hot" girlfriend like (I won't mention her name, as if either of them would see this anyway). I felt my face get warm with embarrassment and I felt hot tears start rolling down my cheeks. I was completely humiliated and crushed. I heard snickering and through my tears I looked up to see two of the girls from that "popular" group laughing at me. I stood up in the middle of class (something I had never dared do before), grabbed my things, and ran out the door with the crumpled note in my hand. I later found out that the boy's girlfriend and a few others from that group had told him what to write, so he wrote it in his hand writing and then one of the girls from that group delivered it to me before class started. That incident and many others that year lead to thoughts of suicide at the age of 14. When you are young, you think friends are everything and I felt like nobody liked me at school and my self image was completely ripped apart thanks to those girls. I know what bullying looks like and I know with all my heart what it feels like and I made a promise to myself that when I got hired to teach that I would do everything I could to make sure that it doesn't happen to my students. Kids can be so so mean and I try to make it a point to talk about being careful how we treat people. I don't just want to help my students improve their test scores, I want to help them become better people.
Day 9-11: September 5th-7th
I am really starting to feel those early mornings and late nights. If only my 11 month old would sleep all the way through the night! And if only my 3 year old stayed in bed until 8 am, instead of 6:30 am! I've been staying late about every day at school for the last two weeks to try to catch up on all the work. It always seems as if I had loads to do and not near enough time in the day to do it. It is really a test to be able to juggle so many balls in the air at the same time. My hat is off to single mothers. I don't know how they do it; they are AMAZING! If you were to come over to my house right now, you would find a mountain of laundry piled up in the laundry room on the floor. You would find cheerios and a dirty bib on the floor. You would find toys strewn from hell to breakfast all throughout the house and there's likely to be a ring in the bathtub from bathing two small, dirty daycare bodies every night.
So far I have escaped getting any sick germs from the kids, but I am knocking on wood as I type. I keep a big bottle of sanitizer on my desk and I pretty much use it every time I touch something a student has just given me. I am sure I will not be lucky for too much longer! My friend Kris down the hall is another first year English teacher and she got sicker than a dog the second week of school and she STILL doesn't have her voice!
You may have noticed I am lumping a few days together. I barely have time to take a bathroom break, let alone sit down and type up an entry every day, so I have resolved to do my best to post as often as I can or at least once a week.
These days the kids wrote a new ending to Tell-Tale heart and then they read their new ending in small groups in class. The assignment was to help them better understand and apply the elements of story in their own writing. I believe we did the same with the 8th graders, only they wrote their new ending for Masque of the Red Death. The majority of the kids had a lot of fun with it and I had a handful of kids from each class that wanted to share their new endings with the entire class. One student, T (who also happens to be the class clown of 7th period), had the entire class laughing so hard that I saw several students with tears streaming down their faces. T also read his new ending with the best English accent he could muster, which added to the humor. I myself was laughing and was amazed at his creativity and his talent for not only writing, but for performing before an audience. It's no wonder I am always having to tell him to pipe down. 7th period continues to be a challenge, but curiously enough, they are the class with the most A students and only two students with an F. Classroom management is still a skill that I am working on daily with all of my kids.
So far I have escaped getting any sick germs from the kids, but I am knocking on wood as I type. I keep a big bottle of sanitizer on my desk and I pretty much use it every time I touch something a student has just given me. I am sure I will not be lucky for too much longer! My friend Kris down the hall is another first year English teacher and she got sicker than a dog the second week of school and she STILL doesn't have her voice!
You may have noticed I am lumping a few days together. I barely have time to take a bathroom break, let alone sit down and type up an entry every day, so I have resolved to do my best to post as often as I can or at least once a week.
These days the kids wrote a new ending to Tell-Tale heart and then they read their new ending in small groups in class. The assignment was to help them better understand and apply the elements of story in their own writing. I believe we did the same with the 8th graders, only they wrote their new ending for Masque of the Red Death. The majority of the kids had a lot of fun with it and I had a handful of kids from each class that wanted to share their new endings with the entire class. One student, T (who also happens to be the class clown of 7th period), had the entire class laughing so hard that I saw several students with tears streaming down their faces. T also read his new ending with the best English accent he could muster, which added to the humor. I myself was laughing and was amazed at his creativity and his talent for not only writing, but for performing before an audience. It's no wonder I am always having to tell him to pipe down. 7th period continues to be a challenge, but curiously enough, they are the class with the most A students and only two students with an F. Classroom management is still a skill that I am working on daily with all of my kids.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Day 9: September 4, 2012
Day 9:
Today I made all of my classes get up and go back out in the hallway and walk quietly back into the room and back to their seats. Then they had to quietly open up their journals and begin writing. I told them we would practice it again and again until we got it right. It really set the tone for the rest of the week. Well, at least the first 5 minutes of class is orderly and quiet!
I also introduced a point system. Each class can earn a certain amount of points for the day. They each decided as a class how many points they have to earn and what their reward would be. They earn points for coming quietly into class and getting started writing in their journals, they get a point for how they behave during class, and they can earn a point for their behavior when it is time to clean up. Each class voted to bring electronics to use/play the last 15 minutes of class on Friday. So far this week, only one class has made it halfway to the required points and tomorrow if Friday. We will see how they do next week. It has helped though with the chatter that happens when we transition from one activity to the next and now they are starting to shoosh each other because they want to earn those points!
I also stole a quite signal from another teacher. The first is I say: "Clap once if you can hear me. Clap twice if you can hear me." Usually after the double clap, I have everyone's attention. I also tell them, "Give your neighbor the finger" when they are chatty, which simply means give them the pointer finger shoosh sign. I stole that from the same teacher. Mrs. Irvine. She sure seems to be on top of it. I would like to observe her class one of these days and learn a few more tricks from her.
Another memorable 7th period event: Boy #1 came into class and found a box of Dora the Explorer fruit snacks on his desk. I was about to make my way over to investigate when I got sidetracked by a kid who was absent and wanted to know what we did the day before. Before I knew it, complete chaos had broken out and I looked up to see kids climbing over the top of each other shrieking and silvery fruit snack packages flying through the air, which were then ripped to shreds by the carnivores who caught them and consumed in a manner not unlike the way my old dog Molly would wolf down a hotdog in 2.0 seconds. I sent them all right back out into the hall asap and required absolute silence. I expressed my deep disappointment for their outlandish and animal-like behavior and made them all march silently back into the classroom and sit down. They were scared this time, I could tell. I am positive that will NEVER happen again (I hope...)
Today I made all of my classes get up and go back out in the hallway and walk quietly back into the room and back to their seats. Then they had to quietly open up their journals and begin writing. I told them we would practice it again and again until we got it right. It really set the tone for the rest of the week. Well, at least the first 5 minutes of class is orderly and quiet!
I also introduced a point system. Each class can earn a certain amount of points for the day. They each decided as a class how many points they have to earn and what their reward would be. They earn points for coming quietly into class and getting started writing in their journals, they get a point for how they behave during class, and they can earn a point for their behavior when it is time to clean up. Each class voted to bring electronics to use/play the last 15 minutes of class on Friday. So far this week, only one class has made it halfway to the required points and tomorrow if Friday. We will see how they do next week. It has helped though with the chatter that happens when we transition from one activity to the next and now they are starting to shoosh each other because they want to earn those points!
I also stole a quite signal from another teacher. The first is I say: "Clap once if you can hear me. Clap twice if you can hear me." Usually after the double clap, I have everyone's attention. I also tell them, "Give your neighbor the finger" when they are chatty, which simply means give them the pointer finger shoosh sign. I stole that from the same teacher. Mrs. Irvine. She sure seems to be on top of it. I would like to observe her class one of these days and learn a few more tricks from her.
Another memorable 7th period event: Boy #1 came into class and found a box of Dora the Explorer fruit snacks on his desk. I was about to make my way over to investigate when I got sidetracked by a kid who was absent and wanted to know what we did the day before. Before I knew it, complete chaos had broken out and I looked up to see kids climbing over the top of each other shrieking and silvery fruit snack packages flying through the air, which were then ripped to shreds by the carnivores who caught them and consumed in a manner not unlike the way my old dog Molly would wolf down a hotdog in 2.0 seconds. I sent them all right back out into the hall asap and required absolute silence. I expressed my deep disappointment for their outlandish and animal-like behavior and made them all march silently back into the classroom and sit down. They were scared this time, I could tell. I am positive that will NEVER happen again (I hope...)
Day 8: August 31st, 2012
Day 8:
Woohoo! It's Friday once again! Bound to be a good day right?
I finished reading Red Death to my 8th graders today. We discussed the story at the end and I got quite a good response from about every student, which told me that most all of them were listening and were truly interested in the story. You wouldn't believe the groans and moans and wailing I heard when I told them what we were going to do next: Write a new ending to Masque of the Red Death. You would have thought I asked them to define 100 words out of the dictionary! Nevertheless, the majority of them were able to write down an excruciating one page alternative ending to the story. This was also their first homework assignment for those who didn't finish in class.
I honestly cannot remember what I did with my 7th graders today (I am writing these posts from memory until I am caught up!) What I do know is that the class periods were shorter for this day and I was required to perform in a skit with three other new teachers in front of the school for an 8th period assembly. That wasn't so bad because most of our skit was done behind the curtain where hundreds of eyes weren't focused on us. Two memorable comments from 7th period (7th period is proving to be a difficult class!): "M" (girl): Looks at me and says "Are you going to have a baby?" Me: No, I'm just chubby because I just had a baby this last year. My conclusion? 7th graders have not yet learned the unwritten social rule that you DO NOT EVER ask a woman if she is pregnant unless it is glaringly obvious that she is. "A": Raises his hand (and all I can think is, oh no, what is going to come out of his mouth this time?) "I am going to be completely honest. I find this journal writing boring and difficult. I don't have anything to say." Me: "Of course you have something to say. The point of this exercise is to get you writing, even if you don't know what to say, so in the mean time, write the first thing that comes into your head and go from there." "A": Talking fast "Well, right now I have a bad song going through my head and I am NOT going to write those words down!" Me: "Don't write those words down, just write, 'I have a bad song going through my head and today is not my day' Yikes! I can tell you right now that that will be the last time he does that in front of the class. I am going to let my students know that if they have a problem with what I am teaching, to talk to me after class about it and not bring it up randomly in the middle of class to make a show out of it. Wow, my 8th graders are really looking good now!
Woohoo! It's Friday once again! Bound to be a good day right?
I finished reading Red Death to my 8th graders today. We discussed the story at the end and I got quite a good response from about every student, which told me that most all of them were listening and were truly interested in the story. You wouldn't believe the groans and moans and wailing I heard when I told them what we were going to do next: Write a new ending to Masque of the Red Death. You would have thought I asked them to define 100 words out of the dictionary! Nevertheless, the majority of them were able to write down an excruciating one page alternative ending to the story. This was also their first homework assignment for those who didn't finish in class.
I honestly cannot remember what I did with my 7th graders today (I am writing these posts from memory until I am caught up!) What I do know is that the class periods were shorter for this day and I was required to perform in a skit with three other new teachers in front of the school for an 8th period assembly. That wasn't so bad because most of our skit was done behind the curtain where hundreds of eyes weren't focused on us. Two memorable comments from 7th period (7th period is proving to be a difficult class!): "M" (girl): Looks at me and says "Are you going to have a baby?" Me: No, I'm just chubby because I just had a baby this last year. My conclusion? 7th graders have not yet learned the unwritten social rule that you DO NOT EVER ask a woman if she is pregnant unless it is glaringly obvious that she is. "A": Raises his hand (and all I can think is, oh no, what is going to come out of his mouth this time?) "I am going to be completely honest. I find this journal writing boring and difficult. I don't have anything to say." Me: "Of course you have something to say. The point of this exercise is to get you writing, even if you don't know what to say, so in the mean time, write the first thing that comes into your head and go from there." "A": Talking fast "Well, right now I have a bad song going through my head and I am NOT going to write those words down!" Me: "Don't write those words down, just write, 'I have a bad song going through my head and today is not my day' Yikes! I can tell you right now that that will be the last time he does that in front of the class. I am going to let my students know that if they have a problem with what I am teaching, to talk to me after class about it and not bring it up randomly in the middle of class to make a show out of it. Wow, my 8th graders are really looking good now!
Day 7: August 30th, 2012
Day 7:
Today I started reading "The Masque of the Red Death" with my 8th graders. They were really good sports when I made them copy down 10 whole vocabulary words and their definitions on a piece of paper before we read the story. I now realize how completely useless that exercise was, but it did take some time. Next time, I will have them choose five out of the 10 vocabulary words and have them fill out word maps. They have to draw of picture of the word, define it in their own words, use it in a sentence, and a couple of other things that I can't remember off the top of my head. Word maps will be MUCH more effective and a lot less BORING. Found out that little trick from my next door neighbor Ms. Overson. She's a vet and has all the good tricks. We only made it halfway through the Red Death before class ended. They actually were pretty interested in it. I stopped several times while reading to ask questions and explain what was going on in the story. It definitely helped them to understand it a lot better. I still love my 8th graders.
Today my 7th graders watched the same flocabulary video that my 8th graders did and you will not believe the amount of complaining I got from my 5th period 7th graders. Two memorable comments: "M": "I wish you would just teach us this instead of making us watch this video." "A": "I am going to give my honest opinion. That was the WORST rap song I have ever heard." My reply to 5th period? "Well if you'd rather not learn things the fun way, we can always learn out of our textbooks and do lots and lots of worksheets if that's what you'd prefer????" I got a lot of "No's" from the majority of the class and felt satisfied the naysayers had learned their lesson. 7th period was a riot. They memorized the song and were singing or rapping along with it by the end of the song. I have about 5 class clowns in 7th period. I already know they are going to be a handful! Both classes did like reading Rainbow Fish though and I again was surprised at how good of a response I got from the kids on this. Still don't know what to think about my 7th graders.
Today I started reading "The Masque of the Red Death" with my 8th graders. They were really good sports when I made them copy down 10 whole vocabulary words and their definitions on a piece of paper before we read the story. I now realize how completely useless that exercise was, but it did take some time. Next time, I will have them choose five out of the 10 vocabulary words and have them fill out word maps. They have to draw of picture of the word, define it in their own words, use it in a sentence, and a couple of other things that I can't remember off the top of my head. Word maps will be MUCH more effective and a lot less BORING. Found out that little trick from my next door neighbor Ms. Overson. She's a vet and has all the good tricks. We only made it halfway through the Red Death before class ended. They actually were pretty interested in it. I stopped several times while reading to ask questions and explain what was going on in the story. It definitely helped them to understand it a lot better. I still love my 8th graders.
Today my 7th graders watched the same flocabulary video that my 8th graders did and you will not believe the amount of complaining I got from my 5th period 7th graders. Two memorable comments: "M": "I wish you would just teach us this instead of making us watch this video." "A": "I am going to give my honest opinion. That was the WORST rap song I have ever heard." My reply to 5th period? "Well if you'd rather not learn things the fun way, we can always learn out of our textbooks and do lots and lots of worksheets if that's what you'd prefer????" I got a lot of "No's" from the majority of the class and felt satisfied the naysayers had learned their lesson. 7th period was a riot. They memorized the song and were singing or rapping along with it by the end of the song. I have about 5 class clowns in 7th period. I already know they are going to be a handful! Both classes did like reading Rainbow Fish though and I again was surprised at how good of a response I got from the kids on this. Still don't know what to think about my 7th graders.
Day 6: August 29th, 2012
Day 6:
Today I started my first "real" lesson plans with my 8th graders. We learned about the elements of a story by watching a flippin cool music video on flocabulary.com called Five Things. The 8th graders were not entirely impressed with the educational rap song, but they were amused nonetheless, even if they won't admit it, I KNOW they liked it! After that we analyzed Rainbow Fish story elements to prep them for the reading of "The Masque of the Red Death," by Edgar Allan Poe. I was truly surprised at how much my "mature" 8th graders loved Rainbow Fish. I didn't hear a peep while I was reading it. I count Day 6 a success with my 8th graders.
Today we finished the introductory assignment with the 7th graders, FINALLY!!! Next time, they will choose only 5 things to present about their partner and that way we won't spend two extra days on an assignment that should have taken one or two class periods at the most! I believe my 7th graders were as relieved as I was to get that over with.
The grading is really starting to pile up. Just barely got hooked up to the system and am stressed out because I have papers coming out the wahzoo! It always seems like I have so little time to accomplish so much! Wow this is getting stressful!
Today I started my first "real" lesson plans with my 8th graders. We learned about the elements of a story by watching a flippin cool music video on flocabulary.com called Five Things. The 8th graders were not entirely impressed with the educational rap song, but they were amused nonetheless, even if they won't admit it, I KNOW they liked it! After that we analyzed Rainbow Fish story elements to prep them for the reading of "The Masque of the Red Death," by Edgar Allan Poe. I was truly surprised at how much my "mature" 8th graders loved Rainbow Fish. I didn't hear a peep while I was reading it. I count Day 6 a success with my 8th graders.
Today we finished the introductory assignment with the 7th graders, FINALLY!!! Next time, they will choose only 5 things to present about their partner and that way we won't spend two extra days on an assignment that should have taken one or two class periods at the most! I believe my 7th graders were as relieved as I was to get that over with.
The grading is really starting to pile up. Just barely got hooked up to the system and am stressed out because I have papers coming out the wahzoo! It always seems like I have so little time to accomplish so much! Wow this is getting stressful!
Day 5: August 28th, 2012
Day 5:
Still feeling okay about this whole teaching gig. Today was a pretty easy day. Spent the majority of 5th and 7th period in the library with my 7th graders. We finished up doing the introduction assignment with the 8th graders and made some headway with the 7th graders after our trip to the library. Going to have to work on our manners in the hallway. Sounded like I had a pack of hyenas following me to the library with their squeaky tennis shoes, their laughs and snorts, and their utter lack of understanding for what is polite behavior. My 8th graders are proving to be quite a good class. We shall see if that remains the same next week.
Still feeling okay about this whole teaching gig. Today was a pretty easy day. Spent the majority of 5th and 7th period in the library with my 7th graders. We finished up doing the introduction assignment with the 8th graders and made some headway with the 7th graders after our trip to the library. Going to have to work on our manners in the hallway. Sounded like I had a pack of hyenas following me to the library with their squeaky tennis shoes, their laughs and snorts, and their utter lack of understanding for what is polite behavior. My 8th graders are proving to be quite a good class. We shall see if that remains the same next week.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Day 4: August 27th
Day 4:
Getting kids to daycare in the morning is taking its toll on me and the kids, especially Haiven. She cries when I leave and I cry when I drive away. I feel guilty for leaving her. Taj doesn't care that I leave anymore. He is excited to play with the toys. I say a prayer and then I turn on the radio to distract myself on my commute. My computer is still not hooked up to a printer, my projector doesn't work, and I can't access the gradebook or attendance system. I do everything by hand. I get super behind with grading. Today we start class presentations of students and their partners. This takes much longer than expected because they have to look on the board and slowly read the question out loud before they understand what the answer means on their paper. Next time, I will have students only introduce five things about their partner instead of 15. We spend the last 20 minutes of each class at the computer lab signing user agreement policy. About 15 kids total are not able to log in to computers. Big mess-does not get resolved until Friday. Kids are still chatty, especially 7th period. I threaten to change the seating chart and dock participation points. Computer still not hooked up to printer, very frustrating. Still can't access gradebook or attendance programs and projector still not hooked up.
Day 4: I survived.
Getting kids to daycare in the morning is taking its toll on me and the kids, especially Haiven. She cries when I leave and I cry when I drive away. I feel guilty for leaving her. Taj doesn't care that I leave anymore. He is excited to play with the toys. I say a prayer and then I turn on the radio to distract myself on my commute. My computer is still not hooked up to a printer, my projector doesn't work, and I can't access the gradebook or attendance system. I do everything by hand. I get super behind with grading. Today we start class presentations of students and their partners. This takes much longer than expected because they have to look on the board and slowly read the question out loud before they understand what the answer means on their paper. Next time, I will have students only introduce five things about their partner instead of 15. We spend the last 20 minutes of each class at the computer lab signing user agreement policy. About 15 kids total are not able to log in to computers. Big mess-does not get resolved until Friday. Kids are still chatty, especially 7th period. I threaten to change the seating chart and dock participation points. Computer still not hooked up to printer, very frustrating. Still can't access gradebook or attendance programs and projector still not hooked up.
Day 4: I survived.
Day 3: August 24th
Day 3:
Class starts out great, but the students are VERY chatty today. I chalk it up to it being Friday and cut them some slack. I make them interview a partner in class. I make them ask each other 15 questions and record their answers on a piece of paper. They will present their partner to the class the next class period. To make the assignment easier, I tell them they don't have to write down the question, they just have to write down the answers. Bad idea. Next time I will require them to write down the question too. Mistake not found until they presented their partner in class the following week.
Day 3: It's Friday, how can it be bad?
Class starts out great, but the students are VERY chatty today. I chalk it up to it being Friday and cut them some slack. I make them interview a partner in class. I make them ask each other 15 questions and record their answers on a piece of paper. They will present their partner to the class the next class period. To make the assignment easier, I tell them they don't have to write down the question, they just have to write down the answers. Bad idea. Next time I will require them to write down the question too. Mistake not found until they presented their partner in class the following week.
Day 3: It's Friday, how can it be bad?
Day 2: August 23rd
Day 2:
I am woken up at 12:30 a.m. to the sound of my 10 month old girl vomiting in her crib. She proceeded to vomit every 15-20 minutes until 6:00 a.m. I called the school at 7:20 a.m. I would have to miss my second day of school.
Day 2: Not Ideal
I am woken up at 12:30 a.m. to the sound of my 10 month old girl vomiting in her crib. She proceeded to vomit every 15-20 minutes until 6:00 a.m. I called the school at 7:20 a.m. I would have to miss my second day of school.
Day 2: Not Ideal
Day 1
Day 1:
I got this. I don't know why they say that it will take me YEARS to master classroom management. None of my three classes were chatty and every student did what I asked them to and listened when I spoke. Today I handed out open disclosure statements about classroom policies and procedures. I felt I was really effective in setting the bar. I was determined to let students know that I meant business about their learning and that I expected every student in my class to do their best and that it was NOT possible for them to fail IF they do their best. Day 1: Success!
I got this. I don't know why they say that it will take me YEARS to master classroom management. None of my three classes were chatty and every student did what I asked them to and listened when I spoke. Today I handed out open disclosure statements about classroom policies and procedures. I felt I was really effective in setting the bar. I was determined to let students know that I meant business about their learning and that I expected every student in my class to do their best and that it was NOT possible for them to fail IF they do their best. Day 1: Success!
I got the job, now what!?
I was hired to teach English part-time to 7th and 8th graders on August 20th, 2012, about a week and a half before school started. I went to my interview in my Calvin Klein black business skirt, a blue top with snap buttons and pockets, a black belt, and black kitten heels (Since having two kids I switched from the 5 inch stilettos and traded them in for some good ol' 3 inchers). I had a portfolio in hand, a nervous smile on my face, and hope in my eyes when I walked into the main office for my interview. I was even 15 minutes early and I was first on the list, which I thought was perfect because that way I wouldn't have to see the other candidates and do the whole sizing up bit. Well much to my dismay, not only did interview start late, BUT the other two candidates showed up while I was sitting nervously waiting to be called back and to top that off, they made a mistake and called in the candidate that was scheduled to interview AFTER me, BEFORE me. Great! That interview took FOREVER with the candidate who rudely went ahead of me. By the time she came out 25 minutes later, I was sweating bullets and my heart rate was so rapid that I was sure I was either going to pass out or throw up.
Lucky for us, the office staff gave us the interview questions before we even headed back for the interview. So while Candidate Rude was hogging interview time, I was sitting next to Candidate Dressed for Success and was sure I didn't have a chance against her until she asked me what question #1 meant. That gave me a sliver of hope, but I still didn't trust Candidate Rude and her veteran teacher's briefcase and the pencil tucked behind her ear and her matronly dress slacks. Candidate rude spelled out experience. When they finally called me back, I offered a sweaty handshake to my interviewers and did my best to answer each question with confidence. (I am very lucky my dad works in a school district and was even more lucky to have him coach me on current topics, interview processes, and possible questions I might be asked. I honestly believe I was able to interview well because of my dad.) Towards the end of the interview, I got really nervous and started talking too much and then I just laughed and told them I was really nervous and that I was glad we were done with the tough questions. Much to my relief, they laughed too and I left them all with a smile. I wished the third candidate good luck on my way out of the office and then I went home to wait.
The next night after two nervous, gut-wrenching days, I got a phone call from the principal. I don't remember much of the conversation except, "We'd like to offer you the job." Me: "What?! Are you serious?! OH. MY. GOSH!" Him: "You're our newest Spartan, gal, congratulations." Me: "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
I spent the next few days stressing out MAJOR and then I cried and then I called my dad and begged him to tell me what to do because I told him I had no idea how to teach or WHAT to teach or how I'm going to manage a classroom full of kids who might be mean. He calmed my fears, but in the end I realized no one was going to tell me exactly what to do. There is no exact formula for teaching and now I understand that only experience is going to teach me how to be a good teacher.
I started work that following Monday and school started Wednesday. I will do my best to document each teaching day on this blog. Expect posts to be much shorter because I likely will be very much stressed out, too much short on time, and most frightening, under-slept. My hope is that this blog might be of use to other first time teachers as well as a window into a public school classroom. Welcome to my life and my experiences in room 208.
Lucky for us, the office staff gave us the interview questions before we even headed back for the interview. So while Candidate Rude was hogging interview time, I was sitting next to Candidate Dressed for Success and was sure I didn't have a chance against her until she asked me what question #1 meant. That gave me a sliver of hope, but I still didn't trust Candidate Rude and her veteran teacher's briefcase and the pencil tucked behind her ear and her matronly dress slacks. Candidate rude spelled out experience. When they finally called me back, I offered a sweaty handshake to my interviewers and did my best to answer each question with confidence. (I am very lucky my dad works in a school district and was even more lucky to have him coach me on current topics, interview processes, and possible questions I might be asked. I honestly believe I was able to interview well because of my dad.) Towards the end of the interview, I got really nervous and started talking too much and then I just laughed and told them I was really nervous and that I was glad we were done with the tough questions. Much to my relief, they laughed too and I left them all with a smile. I wished the third candidate good luck on my way out of the office and then I went home to wait.
The next night after two nervous, gut-wrenching days, I got a phone call from the principal. I don't remember much of the conversation except, "We'd like to offer you the job." Me: "What?! Are you serious?! OH. MY. GOSH!" Him: "You're our newest Spartan, gal, congratulations." Me: "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
I spent the next few days stressing out MAJOR and then I cried and then I called my dad and begged him to tell me what to do because I told him I had no idea how to teach or WHAT to teach or how I'm going to manage a classroom full of kids who might be mean. He calmed my fears, but in the end I realized no one was going to tell me exactly what to do. There is no exact formula for teaching and now I understand that only experience is going to teach me how to be a good teacher.
I started work that following Monday and school started Wednesday. I will do my best to document each teaching day on this blog. Expect posts to be much shorter because I likely will be very much stressed out, too much short on time, and most frightening, under-slept. My hope is that this blog might be of use to other first time teachers as well as a window into a public school classroom. Welcome to my life and my experiences in room 208.
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