Well, we can see how it's goin for me (busy) because I am once again trying to put two weeks in one post. It works out for me because the kids are going to camp this next week so I won't see them at all. The last six days of being at Indianola has been really great. I'm finally trying to let go of a lot of stuff and really just having fun and enjoying myself with the kids and my cooperating teacher. My questions are getting better, I think, and I'm really starting to see some of the stuff that we are talking about in class. I only have four more days of teaching left, because I've officially hit 102.5 hours (I only need 100) for the quarter. I don't want to stop going quite yet, and I want to try out some more drama with the kids. Hopefully we'll get into something good very soon...I'm thinking, two weeks?
Last week, we had the coolest lesson ever on the first morning. Gift came in and we did "tactile algebra." The kids had a scale thing and some dice that had 1-6 on the first side and 5-10 on the next. There were also little pawns to represent our unknowns (or x's). It was awesome. The kdis were doing algebra! I was completely floored by the whole thing.
Dynamo had a few problems that day, but MissTeacher always gives him a choice. That's something that I really like. Today she said, "I hope you'll choose to listen but if you choose to leave you'll hear this at your recess."
Bugboy, the non-writer in the class, made some progress with his writing assignment today. He and I went out into the hallway, away from the distractions of the classroom, and worked on his story. The kids had to draw a map of a place and then create a story around the map. First thing I did was let him tell me the story, and when I said, "Hey, you know, write that down, what you just said. That's part of your story!" When I helped him write the way he talked, it seemed to get a lot easier for him. I think that he's put a huge separation between storytelling and writing, and I'm working to try and get him to see the correlation.
When the kids got up to share their stories, there was the usual amount of fidgeting and chatter. MissTeacher reminded them all that "You're an audience and an audience is always quiet and respectful." I liked that she put them in role, a little bit, made it seem more than just, you have to listen to this story. Instead, it was, "You are an audience." It made it seem more important.
The next day was pretty intense. We had a substitute, and she was.....not my favorite. I felt that she was working in direct opposition to the types of things that MissTeacher tries to emphasize in her classroom, like democracy, and community, and everyone's voice is important. Well, we just made it through the day, I taught a lot of the lessons because the kids seemed to respond to me and not to her. I felt at times that I might be overstepping my boundaries, but at the end of the day the sub said I had been very hepful and she was very grateful that I was there. I made sure to ask her if I had stepped on her toes at all, and she said no, that she was really glad I was there. That made me feel pretty good, because I certainly don't like to make anyone mad. The kids kind of went along with me even though they were quite vocal about their dislike for the sub. It was nice to know that they were kind of on my side. We only had one major problem for the day, and that was that What! decided to cover his hand with pink highlighter. The sub was furious and skipped PEAK to send him directly to the office to call home. He was pretty upset about this, but he seemed okay the next day.
Thursday was just a catching up day. Nothing really exciting stood out for the day, it was just relaxing and getting the kids back to normal. They were all very excited that MissTeacher was back, and I noticed a small upswing in behavior. It seemed as though they were realizing what a good thing they had...and what it could be like without her.
The next week started off badly. On Tuesday, Halloween, when I got to the school, I was in a great mood. Halloween's my favorite holiday and I was really excited to see everyone's costumes and play with them! Well, when I got to the school, MissTeacher said that she forgot that I was coming (this is sometimes frustrating for me because I have given her copies of my schedule, plus I come the same times every week...BUT, I am learning that not everyone works into my stage-manager plan and that some people are just not detail people). The kids were going to the Symphony! This was AWESOME! I was really excited about going. So we got all bundled up and went out to the front ot wait for the bus that would take us to the theatre, and the music teacher came over to me. The conversation went something like this:
Music Teacher: Oh! I didn't know you were coming today.
Me: That's right, isn't it exciting? I never get to go on field trips with the kids and they are always asking me if I coming. I didn't even know that we were doing this today.
Music Teacher: Oh. Mmmmm. Well, I have some bad news.
Me: What's that?
MT: Well, you can't go.
Me: What?
MissTeacher: What? (She was in the conversation at this point)
MT: Well, we didn't buy you a ticket and we can't let you in without one. We didn't pay for you.
Me: Oh. Well, can't I just go and buy myself a ticket?
MT: I'm afraid not. It's a school function and they're all sold out. But I'm sure you'll have a great day off!
Me: Oh, well, yeah. Bye kids! I'll see you tomorrow.
Then I proceeded to fill 3 hours until my class started. I was bored. It was boring.
Then Wednesday came, and with it a new month. It was all about November. Something really beautiful happened in the class that morning. Mathwiz, one of the boys in the class who is VERY emotional, was in the coatroom, crying. When MissTeacher found him, she pulled him to the front of the classroom and said, "Boys and Girls, I think we have a problem here. I was just in the coatroom talking to Mathwiz, who was very sad, and he thinks that everybody in the class hates him. Now, why do you think that is?" The kids listed some different reasons, like people were jealous of how smart he was, or people didn't like that he never gave kids cubes if they didn't deserve them (he watches our transitions (he's our transition marshall) and evaluates how well the class does. if they do well, we get three cubs towards a full jar for a pizza party. if we don't do well, we only get one or zero cubes). So MissTeacher said, "We don't usually stop class for this kind of thing, but I think that we all should tell him the reasons why we like him. I'll start. I like the way he..." Then all of the hands in the class went up, and almost every single child had something wonderful to say about him. I got to say something, too. When it was over, MissTeacher said, "I think you have a lot of really good traits and we always love having you in the classroom. You should be proud of you." He looked a lot better. For the rest of the day, he had a good day. I really thought it was cool the way that even though we had a jam-packed day, she still took time out of the schedule for something that was really important, and really necessary.
Some other things that I saw during the day were these. When we took our spelling tests, I was glad to see that everyone is working on the same 7 or 8 words, and then the rest of their words are ones that they are practicing at their own levels. It's a great way to make sure that everyone in the class is working to their own ability instead of a set standard. And the kids like choosing their own words that will challenge them. MissTeacher makes the kids sit back to back on the rug, not because she's afraid they'll cheat, but as she tells them, "One they get your spelling in their head--they might accidentally copy." That's a great way to put that.
Two other things that I thought were greatly phrased today were said to some boys who were having some issues throughout the day. To Mantis, who was all over the place in terms of body movement today, she said, "You're having a hard time being a good citizen in our classroom today." To Q-man, who is rushing through his work carelessly because he wants to play at his own choice of activities, she says, "You're too smart for me to let you get away with that."
Thursday was a short day, but guess what happened? We did math review for testing, and the kids had to put fractions with different denominators in order from smallest to biggest. I of course thought of Least Common Multiple, but since they weren't there yet, we drew pictures of circles, divided them into pieces, and then shaded to find out which was biggest. BUT, one girl, who is a little ahead in math, sat with me off to the side, and we learned LCM, we learned reducing fractions, and we learned how to find percent, like 4 out of 20 equals x out of 100 and you can cross mutiply and divide to find the answer. It was AWESOME. She really enjoyed learning and it made me feel great to be able to teach her. A girl who's good in math and hwo likes it too. This is what the world is getting to. It makes me hopeful for the future.
Here are the kids I wrote about this week, and my rating of how well I think I know them. I have about 5 kids left to do this for, and so you will hear the rest next time.
Pinky (1) is the quietest student in the class. She never speaks up for any reason, even to ask for help. However, her work is always carefully done and exemplary. I'd like to know more about her.
Continental (3) has a great, upbeat personality. Sometime I notice her being a little clique-y and not allowing outsiders in to play.
A-Town (7) is the teacher's helper. She always rushes to the side of MissTeacher whenever something needs to be done. I like this quality, and she is a very happy girl, but I wish that she would try and socialize with the people in the class once in a while.
Blondie (2) is pretty sweet-natured, and a very good student. I wish she would speak out more sometimes though.
BB (4) is a very creative and artistic soul, and sensitive to other's needs. She, however, does not seem to care about her schoolwork and always just carelessly rushes through it.
Foxy (3) is a gentle, friendly kid. He doesn't disrupt class outwardly, but he's very sneaky about his misbehavior. He always seem to act up when the teacher's back is turned, and he forgets that I can see him too.
Sharebear (6) is a very generous kid. She is a great sharer. I feel that sometimes she could step outside of her comfort z0ne a little though. She'll probably do that later in life, I'm guessing.
Cita (6) is extraordinarily bright an a great student. Sometimes she's a little sassy, and she seems bossy to the other girls. They don't seem to mind, yet, but I can see where it might be going from my own experience as a bossy girl.
Sparky (5) is a helpful, happy child. I can't think of anything, not one thing, that she could stand to work on. She's a little soft-spoken, but I don't see it standing in the way of her learning.
Speakeasy (7) is always accepting of others and trying to make friends. He has probelms with frustration though, and tends to give up on school work easily.
Starbright (5) has a very bubbly, positive personality. I'd like her to have more confidence in herself and her intelligence.
Mathwiz (4) is another very bright child. He has serious emotional problems though. I don't want to judge, because I'm not an expert, but he seem extremely sensitive and gets depressed and sulky very easily.
DramaQueen (6) is a very upbeat, zany girl. She never asks for help on her schoolwork when she doesn't understand though. I wish she would
Bugboy (5) is a sensitve, creative thinker. He should have more motivation for his schoolwork. He tends to wait for answers to be given, rather than formulate answers on his own.
Wired (2) is a very well-behaved, polite child. I wish he spoke up more in class.
Qman (8) is a lot of things. He is a very talented writer, much above his level, and he is very good at his schoolwork when he actually puts an effort into it. He tries to be well-behaved, and I can tell he really wants to, but he seems to take pleasure out of trying to get some of the other boys in trouble. The story always goes that he's not doing anything wrong, it's the other boys. I worry about him sometimes, but for the most part, I think he'll do fine in MissTeacher's class.
More in two weeks, when the kids come back from camp and I see them again.
Last week, we had the coolest lesson ever on the first morning. Gift came in and we did "tactile algebra." The kids had a scale thing and some dice that had 1-6 on the first side and 5-10 on the next. There were also little pawns to represent our unknowns (or x's). It was awesome. The kdis were doing algebra! I was completely floored by the whole thing.
Dynamo had a few problems that day, but MissTeacher always gives him a choice. That's something that I really like. Today she said, "I hope you'll choose to listen but if you choose to leave you'll hear this at your recess."
Bugboy, the non-writer in the class, made some progress with his writing assignment today. He and I went out into the hallway, away from the distractions of the classroom, and worked on his story. The kids had to draw a map of a place and then create a story around the map. First thing I did was let him tell me the story, and when I said, "Hey, you know, write that down, what you just said. That's part of your story!" When I helped him write the way he talked, it seemed to get a lot easier for him. I think that he's put a huge separation between storytelling and writing, and I'm working to try and get him to see the correlation.
When the kids got up to share their stories, there was the usual amount of fidgeting and chatter. MissTeacher reminded them all that "You're an audience and an audience is always quiet and respectful." I liked that she put them in role, a little bit, made it seem more than just, you have to listen to this story. Instead, it was, "You are an audience." It made it seem more important.
The next day was pretty intense. We had a substitute, and she was.....not my favorite. I felt that she was working in direct opposition to the types of things that MissTeacher tries to emphasize in her classroom, like democracy, and community, and everyone's voice is important. Well, we just made it through the day, I taught a lot of the lessons because the kids seemed to respond to me and not to her. I felt at times that I might be overstepping my boundaries, but at the end of the day the sub said I had been very hepful and she was very grateful that I was there. I made sure to ask her if I had stepped on her toes at all, and she said no, that she was really glad I was there. That made me feel pretty good, because I certainly don't like to make anyone mad. The kids kind of went along with me even though they were quite vocal about their dislike for the sub. It was nice to know that they were kind of on my side. We only had one major problem for the day, and that was that What! decided to cover his hand with pink highlighter. The sub was furious and skipped PEAK to send him directly to the office to call home. He was pretty upset about this, but he seemed okay the next day.
Thursday was just a catching up day. Nothing really exciting stood out for the day, it was just relaxing and getting the kids back to normal. They were all very excited that MissTeacher was back, and I noticed a small upswing in behavior. It seemed as though they were realizing what a good thing they had...and what it could be like without her.
The next week started off badly. On Tuesday, Halloween, when I got to the school, I was in a great mood. Halloween's my favorite holiday and I was really excited to see everyone's costumes and play with them! Well, when I got to the school, MissTeacher said that she forgot that I was coming (this is sometimes frustrating for me because I have given her copies of my schedule, plus I come the same times every week...BUT, I am learning that not everyone works into my stage-manager plan and that some people are just not detail people). The kids were going to the Symphony! This was AWESOME! I was really excited about going. So we got all bundled up and went out to the front ot wait for the bus that would take us to the theatre, and the music teacher came over to me. The conversation went something like this:
Music Teacher: Oh! I didn't know you were coming today.
Me: That's right, isn't it exciting? I never get to go on field trips with the kids and they are always asking me if I coming. I didn't even know that we were doing this today.
Music Teacher: Oh. Mmmmm. Well, I have some bad news.
Me: What's that?
MT: Well, you can't go.
Me: What?
MissTeacher: What? (She was in the conversation at this point)
MT: Well, we didn't buy you a ticket and we can't let you in without one. We didn't pay for you.
Me: Oh. Well, can't I just go and buy myself a ticket?
MT: I'm afraid not. It's a school function and they're all sold out. But I'm sure you'll have a great day off!
Me: Oh, well, yeah. Bye kids! I'll see you tomorrow.
Then I proceeded to fill 3 hours until my class started. I was bored. It was boring.
Then Wednesday came, and with it a new month. It was all about November. Something really beautiful happened in the class that morning. Mathwiz, one of the boys in the class who is VERY emotional, was in the coatroom, crying. When MissTeacher found him, she pulled him to the front of the classroom and said, "Boys and Girls, I think we have a problem here. I was just in the coatroom talking to Mathwiz, who was very sad, and he thinks that everybody in the class hates him. Now, why do you think that is?" The kids listed some different reasons, like people were jealous of how smart he was, or people didn't like that he never gave kids cubes if they didn't deserve them (he watches our transitions (he's our transition marshall) and evaluates how well the class does. if they do well, we get three cubs towards a full jar for a pizza party. if we don't do well, we only get one or zero cubes). So MissTeacher said, "We don't usually stop class for this kind of thing, but I think that we all should tell him the reasons why we like him. I'll start. I like the way he..." Then all of the hands in the class went up, and almost every single child had something wonderful to say about him. I got to say something, too. When it was over, MissTeacher said, "I think you have a lot of really good traits and we always love having you in the classroom. You should be proud of you." He looked a lot better. For the rest of the day, he had a good day. I really thought it was cool the way that even though we had a jam-packed day, she still took time out of the schedule for something that was really important, and really necessary.
Some other things that I saw during the day were these. When we took our spelling tests, I was glad to see that everyone is working on the same 7 or 8 words, and then the rest of their words are ones that they are practicing at their own levels. It's a great way to make sure that everyone in the class is working to their own ability instead of a set standard. And the kids like choosing their own words that will challenge them. MissTeacher makes the kids sit back to back on the rug, not because she's afraid they'll cheat, but as she tells them, "One they get your spelling in their head--they might accidentally copy." That's a great way to put that.
Two other things that I thought were greatly phrased today were said to some boys who were having some issues throughout the day. To Mantis, who was all over the place in terms of body movement today, she said, "You're having a hard time being a good citizen in our classroom today." To Q-man, who is rushing through his work carelessly because he wants to play at his own choice of activities, she says, "You're too smart for me to let you get away with that."
Thursday was a short day, but guess what happened? We did math review for testing, and the kids had to put fractions with different denominators in order from smallest to biggest. I of course thought of Least Common Multiple, but since they weren't there yet, we drew pictures of circles, divided them into pieces, and then shaded to find out which was biggest. BUT, one girl, who is a little ahead in math, sat with me off to the side, and we learned LCM, we learned reducing fractions, and we learned how to find percent, like 4 out of 20 equals x out of 100 and you can cross mutiply and divide to find the answer. It was AWESOME. She really enjoyed learning and it made me feel great to be able to teach her. A girl who's good in math and hwo likes it too. This is what the world is getting to. It makes me hopeful for the future.
Here are the kids I wrote about this week, and my rating of how well I think I know them. I have about 5 kids left to do this for, and so you will hear the rest next time.
Pinky (1) is the quietest student in the class. She never speaks up for any reason, even to ask for help. However, her work is always carefully done and exemplary. I'd like to know more about her.
Continental (3) has a great, upbeat personality. Sometime I notice her being a little clique-y and not allowing outsiders in to play.
A-Town (7) is the teacher's helper. She always rushes to the side of MissTeacher whenever something needs to be done. I like this quality, and she is a very happy girl, but I wish that she would try and socialize with the people in the class once in a while.
Blondie (2) is pretty sweet-natured, and a very good student. I wish she would speak out more sometimes though.
BB (4) is a very creative and artistic soul, and sensitive to other's needs. She, however, does not seem to care about her schoolwork and always just carelessly rushes through it.
Foxy (3) is a gentle, friendly kid. He doesn't disrupt class outwardly, but he's very sneaky about his misbehavior. He always seem to act up when the teacher's back is turned, and he forgets that I can see him too.
Sharebear (6) is a very generous kid. She is a great sharer. I feel that sometimes she could step outside of her comfort z0ne a little though. She'll probably do that later in life, I'm guessing.
Cita (6) is extraordinarily bright an a great student. Sometimes she's a little sassy, and she seems bossy to the other girls. They don't seem to mind, yet, but I can see where it might be going from my own experience as a bossy girl.
Sparky (5) is a helpful, happy child. I can't think of anything, not one thing, that she could stand to work on. She's a little soft-spoken, but I don't see it standing in the way of her learning.
Speakeasy (7) is always accepting of others and trying to make friends. He has probelms with frustration though, and tends to give up on school work easily.
Starbright (5) has a very bubbly, positive personality. I'd like her to have more confidence in herself and her intelligence.
Mathwiz (4) is another very bright child. He has serious emotional problems though. I don't want to judge, because I'm not an expert, but he seem extremely sensitive and gets depressed and sulky very easily.
DramaQueen (6) is a very upbeat, zany girl. She never asks for help on her schoolwork when she doesn't understand though. I wish she would
Bugboy (5) is a sensitve, creative thinker. He should have more motivation for his schoolwork. He tends to wait for answers to be given, rather than formulate answers on his own.
Wired (2) is a very well-behaved, polite child. I wish he spoke up more in class.
Qman (8) is a lot of things. He is a very talented writer, much above his level, and he is very good at his schoolwork when he actually puts an effort into it. He tries to be well-behaved, and I can tell he really wants to, but he seems to take pleasure out of trying to get some of the other boys in trouble. The story always goes that he's not doing anything wrong, it's the other boys. I worry about him sometimes, but for the most part, I think he'll do fine in MissTeacher's class.
More in two weeks, when the kids come back from camp and I see them again.
posted by Jennifer Martin at 11:21 AM
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