Day 40: I've Caved

Well, I went in today, aches and all.  Not a good thing.

I should have known better.  I should have listened to one of my best friends and taken today off (she sent me a text as soon as I posted last night!).   Let's just say I'm glad to be back home.

I'm sitting here with the full realization that I will not be going in tomorrow.  In fact, I put in my request for a sub just after lunch today.  How is it that no matter how well planned you are, it always seems to take longer to plan for a sub to come in and cover your class?  I just don't get it.

Oh well.  I'm off to wrap up in a blanket and take a nap.  Sweet dreams to me.   

Day 39: First Cold of the School Year

Ugh.  Today I woke up with what feels like a rock in my throat and one stuffy nostril that whistled when I breathed.  I'm sure my husband thought I was sexy then.

I had a pretty good idea this was coming.

One of my colleagues fought the battle of the germs and lost about a week and a half ago.  He is still recovering from the effects.  My colleague next door to me started her day much the same as I started mine today.  She had a sub when I walked in this morning.

And me?  I believe in the power of positive thinking in regards to my health.  That is, I am rarely sick.  Even now, while my symptoms throughout the day have progressed to sneezes here and there, coughs, the feeling that I have an elephant sitting on my chest, and a voice that resembles a bullfrog, I keep thinking it could be worse.  I could be back to my first year teaching in this district when I caught every severe cold that entered the building between November and March.  The worst part of that time period was when I thought I had a bad cold and cough for a month, only to find out I had walking pneumonia and was off for a week.  This, the week before Christmas break.  I know, I know; I can hear the groans from here.

Back to the present.  I bought some snazzy reusable hot beverage cups at Target so I can put my hot tea in them to sip throughout the morning.  (The ones I bought came in a two-pack and have cool designs on them.  Couldn't find the designs on the manufacturer's site, though. Sorry!) I have my ginger ale at hand and have taken a nice little nap after dinner tonight.  My prayer is that I don't get any worse than this so I can finish out my week with my students.  You know what I mean; sometimes it's harder to be out sick than it is to stick it out and be in the building.  If I call off, then you KNOW I'm sick. 

That said, I'm going to find a comfy spot in my bed, watch a little TV, and drift back into sleep. 

See you tomorrow.

Day 38: A Trip to Africa

Today my class went to Africa.  Via a speaker who has been to the continent 28 times on goodwill missions to bring schools, safe drinking water, and other supplies to people in several countries.  He has visited Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and others, and shares his experiences with schoolchildren of all ages to help raise awareness of the issues being faced by the people who live there.

The presentation started out with a slideshow that showed the children how large Africa is (China, the U.S. and several other countries can fit inside its boundaries with room to spare), the various countries, different tribal groups, animals, and some of the challenges the children face (malnutrition, inadequate diet, poor healthcare, and very limited access to schooling and education). 

We had quite a discussion about how the lives of American children are different from most African children and the things people in more developed countries take for granted (like running water, electricity, and having more than one or two outfits to wear).

The second part of the presentation was a hands-on exploration.  Our guest brought along items from his travels, including a sleeping mat and wooden neck holder that several students tried out, musical instruments made from seed pods and shells, jewelry made of bone and wood, toys made from tin cans, grass mats, and wooden sculpture.  Some of the children modeled the things that could be worn while others made an impromptu band.  It was noisy, but fun! Once the pictures are downloaded, I'll post a few.

I think it's important for children to realize that there are others less fortunate than themselves. We read for organizations like Scholastic cares, and donate items through our school's many drives for the needy.  I'm always trying to set an example of goodwill toward others because we never know when we may be on the receiving end of someone else's goodwill.  With programs like the one we had today, we can also raise awareness of world need.

Like our visitor said today, "Someone in this room may the person who cures malaria or thinks of ways to help end hunger." 

We can only plant the seeds.

Day 37: Red Ribbon Week

Next week is Red Ribbon Week.  For those of you unaware of what this is, it is a week set aside each year to honor a fallen DEA agent in his quest to rid our country of drugs and drug violence.  Sadly, the agent was killed during this quest and the week has sprouted out of his efforts to keep our children drug-free and safe in their own neighborhoods.

In my school, we do a theme week.  Each day the students are to wear a specific color or item of clothing to signify that they will aim to live drug-free lives.  Monday is "Red"-y to Be Drug Free.  All students are to wear red.  Tuesday is picture day, so it's I "Look My Best" When I Am Drug Free.  Wednesday is crazy sock day, you know, "Sock" It to Drugs.  (Got my candy corn socks all ready!) Thursday is the day we are to wear our favorite T-shirts--I Am Drug Free and I Feel "T-riffic."  Friday is School Spirit Day and the day of Halloween parties and costume parades. 

In addition to the theme days, we have a Red Ribbon Packet we go through during Social Studies time.  I use the packet to show my students other things they can do, and the difference between "good" drugs (like allergy medicine or antibiotics to kill germs), and ''bad" drugs like alcohol, nicotine, and street drugs.  I'm also sure to tell them that they should never take anything without an adult, be careful of things they see lying around since so many pills look like candy, and other safety precautions.  I know my kiddos are only second graders, but I think it's important to get them thinking about things like this.  The packets we have are grade-level appropriate and the children seem to enjoy them a lot.

If you want extra activities or are interested in sharing this information with your class (if you are not participating already), check out the link above or any of the following: 
http://www.redribbonweek.com/,  http://www.imdrugfree.com/, or  http://www.drugsrdumb.com/.

Day 36: Listening

Oh my goodness. Can I just say that sometimes little children make me want to scream?  Am I allowed to admit that?  As a parent and a teacher, sometimes I wonder about the hearing ability of the children I come into contact with on a daily basis.

My own children seem to have "selective hearing" at times.  You know, like when they are in the middle of a game or playing and you want them to do something else?  I swear you can call them 50 times and you will still get no response.  Then other times, you call them and they are right where you want them to be.

The same is true for my students. By nature, I am not a loud person.  I am fairly soft spoken.  However, I am not so soft spoken that my directions cannot be heard. On at least three occasions today I gave directions to my class, only to have a handful actually follow through on what I asked them to do.  Then when I ask, "What was my direction?", they look around at each other for the answers.  This has been going on just about all week and it's driving me crazy! I swear it's getting worse the closer we get to Halloween.  It's like they all have candy on the brain.  Can it be so hard to have everyone LISTEN and follow directions?!? 

I hate repeating myself.  ABSOLUTELY. HATE. REPEATING. MYSELF. I give directions twice for things.  After that, they have to figure it out or ask a neighbor.  Simply put, I cannot repeat myself 19 times for every assignment.  We are going to have to go back to repeating the directions before moving on for the next few days.  Otherwise I might crack.  Or blow my top.  Or whatever colorful euphemism you'd like to insert.  You get my drift.

Day 35: Paperwork!

I know sometimes it may get a little frustrating when you are searching 180 Days for a new post and it's not there.  And you're bummed.  Then you look a day (or sometimes two) later and, viola!, there's news and the world is all right again.  Okay, so maybe I'm going (WAAAAYYY) overboard in my thinking, but you get my drift.  I really do appreciate the fact that you are reading about my days, my gripes, and my triumphs.  Dare I say that you understand what I'm talking about and don't think I'm some crazy loon?  All the same, thanks for reading.

That said, the truth behind my less-than-timely posts (on several occasions) is the bane of...paperwork.  Is it just me, or has the level of required paperwork grown over the last several years?  I swear I spend more time doing paperwork and administrative things than I actually spend teaching.  At least, that's how it feels. 

Like right now.  I should be finishing up some grading and the last bits of my planning for next week, but I felt like I needed to drop a quick post to let you all know I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. 

So anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I have nearly fallen to my nemesis again, but I am fighting back and sally forth to vanquish my foe!  (Or at least put up a good fight!)

Day 34: CPR and First Aid for Teachers?

I've been thinking about this since yesterday.  It's not something I experienced in my class, but something my daughter was a witness to in her class.  The whole incident got me thinking about CPR and first aid training for teachers and other school staff.

Here's the thing: My daughter was in class yesterday morning doing a review for an upcoming quiz.  A classmate began acting strangely, as if he were falling asleep (and moving as if in slow motion).  All of a sudden, he went rigid, then began to shake and convulse at his desk. (You guessed it: seizure.)  The teacher sent a student to the nurse's office because she wasn't sure of what to do.  (FYI: You don't move a person having a seizure unless you are trying to get them onto the ground to lessen the risk of injury from a fall, don't put anything in the person's mouth, move all surrounding furniture and objects away from the person, put something under the person's head to lessen injury, don't try to hold them still, and be sure to time the length of the episode.) In the meantime, before the nurse got to the room, the seizure passed and the student came out of it.  He didn't know what happened and couldn't understand why everyone was looking so worried.  The teacher put a student in charge and walked the affected student down to the nurse as a precaution; they actually met the nurse in the hallway.  When the teacher returned, she told the class what happened, as some of them hadn't figured it out.  She also told the students the child was going home and to use tact if they spoke about it.

My daughter was still quite upset about it once she got home and was retelling us (my husband and me) about what happened.  After she recounted the events and we calmed her a bit, I kept wondering to myself about the teacher's response that she didn't know what to do.  Could it have been a momentary spasm of panic?  Or did she truly not know what to do?  Which got me thinking:  Why aren't teachers trained in CPR and First Aid? 

Think about it.  We oversee many students in a day's time: in class, on the playground, on field trips, during field day.  Not to mention all of the evening events for parents.  I know most schools have a nurse; some have a nurse practitioner.  And I dare say there are a few schools that have no medical personnel.  That one nurse or other medical professional (if you have one) is on call for all students in the building. What happens if that person is tending to another crisis? Or out of the building (with no sub)?  Or your building has no such person?  Shouldn't we as other school staff be trained so we know what to do in these instances? 

Most schools do give the Epipen training, as well as what to look for if you have a diabetic or asthmatic student, or a student with severe allergies.  But what about those students who are under the radar and don't know they have a particular medical condition or have a medical emergency happen to them for the first time (as in the case of the student in my daughter's class)?  As a parent of a child with asthma and a child with severe allergies, that concerns me. 

I know most districts are cash-strapped and cannot pay for their entire school staff to be trained.  But there are some facilities that offer the course over a weekend.  Check your local fire department, nursing school, hospital, or local branch of the American Heart Association. Certification lasts for two years.

I actually had my CPR and first aid training as part of the employment requirement to work in the student home for underprivileged children.  (For those of you that aren't aware, it's a part-time job I have outside of teaching.  Check the post "I'm So Ashamed" on my other blog.) Since it is a live-in position for the weekends I am there, I am the first point of emergency contact for those children, much like being the first point of contact for an injured student.

What do you think?  Should teachers and other school staff be trained in CPR and first aid?  Does your district offer any incentives for staff that have been trained?  Does your school keep a list of people on staff who have been trained?

Day 33: Project Addition

Here is the display of the projects posted in the hallway.  We do not have bulletin boards in our hallways, only those little cork board strips where the tile meets the plaster.  The space above the shape poems will be used for this week's projects that go along with the nonfiction story Exploring Parks With Ranger Dockett.  I'm going to have the children create park rules as part of our lesson on commands.  The rules are often pretty imaginative!  I'll post those after they are finished and displayed. 

As an aside, quite a few of the children expressed interest in writing letters to Ranger Dockett to ask him about his job and if he always liked nature.  I've contacted the park bureau where he worked when the story was written to see if he still works there and if my class would be permitted to send him letters.  We'll see how that goes.  Hopefully we'll be able to proceed; it would make my students' day!



Shape poems above.  Letters from story characters below, along with "photos."  The children really enjoyed this project.



***Design Alert #2***

Let me sincerely apologize to those of you who were reading over the past hour.  I've been fiddling around with a new template and I'm sure you saw some crazy changes!  I changed the blog last week sometime, but it still wasn't what I was looking for.  Took me a while, but I found a template I liked and decided to try it out.  Let me know what you think.

Day 32: Projects

I was thinking about the blog today and I realized that I haven't put up any projects that my students have worked on.  We have two that we recently finished and have displayed in the hallway, so I thought I'd share them with you (in case you want any ideas!).

The first project is a shape poem. About a week ago we finished our first reading theme.  At the end of each theme, there is a genre focus.  The focus for this particular theme was poetry.  We read poetry with rhyming patterns, without rhyming patterns, sensory poems, silly word poems, and shape poems.  The students really liked the idea of the shape poems, so we wrote some! 

I decided to combine two projects into one.  We used to write a sensory poem about our yearly fall field trip to a nearby nature center.  With budget cutbacks, we are allowed only one field trip this year, and that was the one cut.  So I had the children write sensory poems about fall.  (We used to write fall acrostics, but the acrostics are going to have to be done another time.)  Anyhoo, I had the children brainstorm some ideas about fall, keeping in mind that the shapes of the ideas would have to be recreated on the paper with words.  We came up with football, baseball, apples, leaves, Halloween candy, and pumpkins.  I had the children brainstorm sensory words for their chosen topics, then we turned those words into sentences.  After proofreading, I helped them create their shapes and we published the poems.  They really turned out pretty neat.  I took a picture of one of the more unusual ones--a football helmet.  There are also apples, taffy, a Kit Kat, several pumpkins, several jack-o-lanterns, a baseball, and a lollipop hanging.



This is the football helmet poem of one of my football fans.   Hope you can read it!

The other project goes along with the first story of our second theme, which is titled "Nature Walk."  The story we did the project on was Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night.  If you're not familiar with the story, it's about the experiences of a boy named Henry, his big drooly dog Mudge, and Henry's parents while they are on a camping trip.  I had the children pretend they were a character in the story; they could choose any one they wanted.  (A lot of them chose Mudge this year.  Go figure!)  Anyhow, they were to write a letter to a friend and tell that friend all about their camping trip as experienced through the character they chose.  After that, they were to include a "picture" of something they saw or did while camping. 

The projects came out pretty cute.  Some of the children drew the campsite, one drew a fish jumping out of the stream, several drew the log Mudge was chewing on, one drew the stars at night, and a few even drew the ham sandwich Mudge unpacked at the campsite.  I took a picture of one of the projects, but the photo was a little blurry.  I'll have to retake and post on Monday.

We have some other projects we'll be doing in the next few weeks; I'll try to post as we do them.  Until then, enjoy!

Day 31: Dads and Doughnuts

My school's PTA sponsors a program each fall called Dads and Doughnuts.  It's a day set aside where dads, grandpas, uncles, etc. can come in before school with their children and socialize with other male figures while enjoying doughnuts, juice, and coffee.  (Actually, because of our large student population, we have to split the program over two mornings, with last names beginning with A-M one day and N-Z the next.)  It's a pretty cool thing to see all of these dads and other male figures hanging out with their children.

For the children who may not have a male figure in their lives, moms, aunts, and grandmas are allowed to attend if they so choose.  It's not uncommon to see several women mixed in the crowd.  And still, there are a few families where both parents come in, and that's okay, too.

The PTA also does something in the spring called Moms and Muffins, which follows the same format.  The kids really enjoy both programs, and the parents enjoy the extra time looking at the student work hanging in the halls and informally talking with the teachers. 

Today was the first day.  Tomorrow is the other. 

I think I'll try a treat with sprinkles.

Day 30: Current Events

I'm thinking of adding in a Current Events feature to social studies each week.  With all of the news events going on in our community, state, and world, I think it would be a valuable learning tool for my students.  It always surprises me when I refer to something that I saw on the news and only a handful of children have a clue as to what I'm talking about.

I'm thinking I could break things down in a format similar to my local newspaper.  You know, with sections not only for local, state, and world news, but subcategories for sports, human interest, culture, and even comics.  I'm just trying to figure out how to assign projects (maybe on a rotating basis) AND where in the world I have the space to display the items and will have access to change them weekly.  My available board space is filled with LFS focus boards and vocabulary and things like the calendar, daily schedule, and routine posters.  I might cover a shelf and use that space.  I just need to take a look at my room.

Do any of you do current event projects?  How do you display them?  Where do you display them?  How do you manage the entire thing? 

Day 29: Bullying

Today's post is more about a program I saw over the weekend.  There isn't much to report from the classroom front, either, unless you count sluggishness.  What is it about long weekends that makes everyone slow down (adults and children alike)?  Just seems like it took a loooong time to get anything accomplished today.  Anyhow, back to the topic at hand.

Over the weekend, I watched the Anderson Cooper Town Hall special on bullying.  As a parent of a child who was bullied and as an educator, I think the topic is a very valid subject for discussion.  I think the show was a good start, but that it could have easily been broken up into a series to address the topic accurately.  The speakers seemed to be rushed along in their answers; it just felt like the writers/producers/whoever of the show tried to address everything in too short of a time frame.

One thing I had a problem with was (my perception of the implied) notion that teachers don't know how to address bullying.  Now before anyone gets offended, let me explain.  I know sometimes teachers find themselves in situations where they may seem overwhelmed and not know how to handle a particular child or situation.  I also know sometimes teachers aren't always aware of bullying going on in the classroom because students don't always speak up (as was the case for my child.  She would tell us but not her teacher.)  More on this in a second.

The second thing I had a problem with was the repeated idea that we MUST teach teachers to handle this problem.  I don't have a problem with the idea of training on bullying, building community, and handling difficult students and situations.  I had a problem with the fact that not all school districts have the resources to implement these programs for their students.  It's one thing to say it "MUST" happen, but another to have the funding to do so. 

When I worked in my previous district, which was a large urban area, schools were funded differently.  They were broken into Areas according to scores on standardized testing, with Area 1 having the highest scores.  There were 4 areas.  Schools that weren't in an Area had gotten into partnerships with businesses.  These latter schools received some extra training and funding via the business partnerships, not the district itself.  Yet no school that I'm aware of had any sort of training or curriculum for anti-bullying.  Most of the elementaries didn't have counselors. But we had students from all walks of life, different socioeconomic situations, varying levels of English-speaking ability, various situations in home life.  When these children came in, as all children do, they brought their experiences with them.

So what do you do in a situation like that? I can tell you what I did despite of a lack of an anti-bullying program or school counselor. In my room I spent (and still spend) the first two to three weeks working on building community because it's a lot harder to pick on someone if you have something in common with them.  I also set my classroom expectations.  Simply put: I don't put up with any nonsense in my room. I don't allow name calling, touching others (except to help), abuse of other's property, or disrespect.  (That last one takes some work, but it can be done.) I'm not a tyrant about it, nor do I scream and yell at my students.  I simply state the facts of the situation and go from there.  From the first day of school I call my students ladies and gentlemen and I tell them that I expect them to behave as such.  We talk about what that can look like and how we can implement that in our room.  I don't act like I am better than my students and I allow them to hold me accountable for adherence to our classroom expectations. (Don't misunderstand me; I don't make it out like I am their "friend" but I am cordial and interested in them as people.  I firmly believe you need to model the behavior you want; sometimes you're the only model some of these children get.)  Holding me accountable seems to surprise some of the students, but it works.  I really try to get them to see that our room is a team or a family, and that we will only succeed if everyone works together.  We revisit the ideas periodically and during class meetings.  I've had some really tough students, and I've had students other teachers have warned me about.  You know, "Oh, wait until you get so and so!"  I've also had those same teachers come to me later about those same students and ask what I've done with them.  Nothing.  I raised my expectation and challenged them to meet it.  I have had these same students move onto other grades and I still got visits to my room when there were challenges in their lives, or if they just wanted to work/help me at the end of the day.

One of my tough students took until nearly Christmas to get on board.  I didn't lower my expectations and stayed on him about being accountable.  He came from a home where he was being raised by his mom and aunt; mom and dad had divorced.  No one held him accountable for his actions prior to my room; there were always excuses as to why he behaved the way he did.  I don't accept excuses.  When you enter the room, there are basic human courtesies that I expect you to follow.  Be honest.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  Do your own work.  Be accountable.  Admit if you are wrong.  Accept the consequences.  I held him accountable for these through the tantrums, the kicking, the throwing of objects, the destruction of other people's property, and the yelling.  I spent many hours explaining to my class how to avoid behavior like that.  I moved seats, I kept notes, I called home--often, I praised when I could, I used reward charts...anything I could think of to help bring this child around.  It took a while, but I did it.  After I left the district I followed up with him the following year and he was doing a great job.

My toughest student came to me when a colleague went out on maternity leave.  He was moved to my room after he threatened to wrap a chair around the substitute's face.  A real charmer.  (He actually could be very charming if he wanted something, but he was also cocky and smart-mouthed.  Conversely, he was SO CAPABLE and was good in math and science, but he didn't always apply himself. ) He started with his array of tactics and I stayed on top of his behavior, too, even calling his mother at work in the middle of class so she could talk to him about his behavior.  He behaved fairly well in my room after a while and worked hard, especially if he was working toward a good behavior reward, but recess was a different story.  Come to find out through the recess monitors that he was bothering people at recess and threatening them with "snitches get stitches." He ended up in a fistfight with another student because the other student stood up to his bullying.  This fight began a larger fight that was brought to the principal's--and my team's--attention.  We had a grade-wide meeting, class by class, and determined that he had been covertly bullying about three people, boys from the other classroom.  We arranged a meeting with his mother and stepfather, the principal, and my team.  Mom basically blew us off, told us there was nothing wrong with her son (despite the anecdotal notes from the teachers and the recess monitors, despite the numerous calls to her from myself and the office, and despite his admission to the behaviors), and transferred him to another school within two weeks.  I'm not sure what message that sends to the child.  I just pray he straightened himself out.

In my current district we follow the Olweus Anti-Bullying program.  I think it has it's good points, especially the emphasis on class meetings.  Our counselor is good at giving lessons and being available to talk to, but I think those two pieces are only part of the overall method of preventing bullying.  I truly believe that you have to have specific expectations for your class, you should be open with your students, and you should build a structured community within your room.  I also think you should be aware; get to know your students and their habits.  Also, encourage them to speak up, either to their parents, guardians, you, or in anonymously in a comment box.

So how did this last notion apply to my daughter?  She was new to the school that year and had a hard time fitting in with the others.  She made a friend or two but wasn't was easily accepted as some of the other students because she can be a bit shy.  We had her meet with the counselor, met with her teacher, and she came out of her shell. By the end of the year, she was being invited to parties, joined Girl Scouts, and was on her way.  The bullying came two years later in to the form of a former classmate.  The two hadn't gotten along during her first year and weren't in class that following year.  But then things changed.  The bullying of my daughter took the form of nasty looks, comments about her clothes, rumors, exclusion, etc.  We knew there was something going on at school, but she never said anything because she didn't want to get anyone into trouble. (We later had a discussion about the difference of tattling and standing up for yourself.)  I finally cornered her after I saw her walking through the school hallway crying.  She told me this particular girl had been picking with her despite all of the things we taught her to do at home and what she learned through the anti-bullying program.  (She had tried to remove herself from the situation, asked to be moved to a new seat, requested that she and this girl not be partners on projects, avoided the other as best she could, and tried to surround herself with other people and friends.  All to no avail.  The bully isolated people from her and the teacher told her she would have to work it out.)

Trying to allow my child the space to be the then fourth grader that she was, we suggested she have a meeting with her teacher and the counselor to try and work things out.  We also told her to write down what happened as well as any witnesses.  In the meantime, my husband and I told her not to stoop to the bully's level, but to show the person she had more important things to worry about...even if what the bully did bothered her (but don't let it show!).  It got to the point that when the bully saw she wasn't getting a rise out of my daughter anymore, she stopped.  If the girl said she didn't like my daughter's outfit, the response was something like a nonchalant, "I'm sorry you feel that way."  or "That's okay, you're not wearing it." or "So? I like my clothes."  Sort of like the Bill Cosby book The Meanest Thing to Say.  Once there was no reaction, there was no more bullying.  The girl did get reprimanded for her behavior; she had been bullying other girls as well.  I haven't heard of any situations with her for nearly a year and a half.

I'm saying all this to say that while anti-bullying training for teachers has its merits, setting high behavior expectations and modeling community cohesiveness in your classroom also has merit.  Being a good role model for children is also a vital piece of this puzzle. I truly believe you need all four pieces for success.

Professional Development Day

***Disclaimer:  Some of the opinions expressed in the following post may have some of you disagreeing with my ramblings.  That's okay with me.  And still, others of you may agree with what I'm saying or may be facing similar circumstances. If you are, I feel for you. Regardless of who you are, please read on and feel free to leave a comment if you are so inclined.  With that said, have at it!***

Today was a teacher inservice, or professional development, as my district sometimes calls it. While my husband and children were outside enjoying the 70-plus degree weather, I was inside going over 1) DATA to help create reading skills groups and how the new DIBELS-NEXT program has impacted reading levels, 2) training on Senteo, 3) an introduction to Skills Tutor, and 4) learning that our district is adopting not only an entire reading program, but new state testing guidelines for AYP. 

1) DATA.  As I've stated before, I don't like DATA.  Not that I don't think data can be helpful, but sometimes it's just overkill.  My district is big on data-driven instruction, but sometimes that same data can be a hindrance to the very children it is supposed to benefit.  Think about it.  Our teachers back in the day had data on us via classwork, quizzes, tests, etc.  Do you think they had to keep track of data points to be reviewed every six weeks? Or multiple checklists for every student for every math lesson and skill?  Or behavior tracking logs for every student? It's crazy! I spend more time recording data for this, that, and the other in order to "tell me how to teach" my students. 

Case in point: Today we were talking about reading skills groups.  My district follows the RTII model for reading skills groups.  The reading specialists use the (now) DIBELS-NEXT scores and Guided Reading packet scores to determine what child goes into which skills group.  We were given a crate of folders with each student's name in order to keep track of the reading progress made in skills group (along with other behavior or learning concerns in general).  The idea is that all of the data can be available in one place if there is ever a question for special education or gifted referrals.  The data is also supposed to be reviewed every six weeks to determine if a particular skills group is working for a particular student.  If not, then adjustments can be made.

My argument is this: Before we began using (what was then RTI), we did our guided reading/skills groups in our own rooms, with our own students.  Now we switch among the grade level according to what level we've been assigned to teach.  So instead of having three or four students below grade level to teach and catch up, I now have a room of 15 or so.  I understand the thinking behind the idea.  However, 15 in a group, while they may all be on the same reading level, are not going to benefit as much as those three or four working directly with me in a smaller group. 

Thing is, our data is showing this.  Since we took the guided reading/skills groups out of our own rooms three years ago, our reading scores have fallen each year.  The kids did better with the smaller groups, the teachers could address the needs and move children between groups if needed (without having to wait six weeks to do so), and the children showed growth.  Our incoming second graders are showing the impact of this change.  Out of 100+ second graders about one-third of the grade is below benchmark! The number gets slightly larger every year. (And it's not anything that first grade is doing in their teaching; they work their butts off!)  Yet, when we asked if we could go back to the old method as a grade level because the data is showing this decline (and has shown this decline for the past few years), we were told we couldn't because the directive came from the top.  Although, we were told we could have a meeting with some of those folks if we chose.  
My other gripe is AYP benchmarks.  If you are a member of a public school system, I'm sure you have heard of AYP in relation to your state educational testing guidelines.  You know, the one tied into good old No Child Left Behind.  Right.  My district (or state?) has decided to increase the benchmark levels beginning with this coming spring's testing.  And the benchmarks are to increase incrementally for the next few years.  I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but one figure stands out like a neon light in the black of night.  Yup, you guessed it: 100%.  100%! My district/state wants us to meet a 100% benchmark in reading and math in the next few years.  WHAT?  WHAT?  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I don't know how this is possible, considering: lack of funding, lack of programs, loss of resources, DATA, and the simple fact that it's a near impossibility unless you spend your entire day drilling your students on skills.  How in the world are we as educators supposed to get all of our students to reach the 100% benchmark when those in charge keep giving us things to do without the resources to do those very things?  Whatever happened to letting the teacher teach?

I forgot.  We can do everything.  We're teachers, parents, nurses, confidantes, writers, readers, mathematicians, scientists, organizers, peacemakers, and artists.  Why not add "miracle workers" to the list too?

And speaking of miracle workers, I mentioned that our district is buying a new reading program, something called "Journeys."  I checked it out online and I think it will be a good resource for the students.  I am not looking forward to changing everything for LFS.  In case your are unaware of what LFS is, it stands for the Learning Focused Schools model, which is a combination of best practices.  Lesson planning and gathering the accompanying materials takes so long because you are doing materials for each subject.  Every lesson is to have an essential question (objective question), whole group activity, partner or small group work, and a distributed summarization (closing activity; my principal prefers one in writing for tracking purposes.).  Each lesson also needs to contain some sort of graphic organizer for the information.  To supplement the lessons, a student learning map should be available, along with vocabulary picture cards and a focus wall for display in the room.  It's a lot of work on the front end, which is why we phased it in over the past few years.  This will be my school's third year of the LFS model.  Of all the subjects, language arts takes the longest because of the units, stories, vocab skills, etc.  We just got all the materials together and the district is changing the program for some of the grades. So now those grades have to start all over. Ugh. 

I think we all need a miracle.

Day 28: Math Night

Day 28, which was Thursday, was Math Night at my school.  Math Night is a big deal because the children have the opportunity to come to school with their parents or guardians and show off their math skills through math games and other activities in a nonthreatening environment.  Because our school is so large, we have to alternate by grade levels.  Last night was K-2.  Grades 3-5 will have another night.

Each grade level is given a specific area of the building to host their activities.  Kindergarten hosted in their classrooms and had an open rotation of games.  First grade hosted in the cafeteria, and second grade hosted in the gym.  The games and activities varied, but our grade level had quite a few: tangrams, pattern blocks, attribute blocks, dominoes, flashcards, geoboards, countdown, Top-It, the Number Grid game, Three Addends, Basketball Addition, 3-2-1, and clock games. The kids loved showing their parents all of the games they've learned in class and the skills they have learned. (I think it also helped that most of the kids were winning the games they challenged their parents to play!)

While the kids and parents were playing for the hour, the PTA supplied refreshments and door prizes.  There were games, smiles, laughter, and snacks.  What else could you need?

Day 27: Daily Edits and Other Work

I know I've said I would share the topic of Daily Edit with you.  I figured now is as good a time as ever to explain what they are since I just gave a stack to my new student to work through at home.

Our daily edit is actually a group of four pages that the students complete as the first part of their morning work each day.  The first two cover proofreading, sentences, parts of speech, analogies, and vocabulary.  There is always a short passage the students are required to read through and correct for errors.  (This passage we do together until the students are able to do it on their own.) The last two cover basic math skills, and logic/problem solving problems where the students are required to draw a diagram or model of some sort in order to figure out the answers to the math problems below.  A former teacher used materials from several different books to create a daily edit that supplemented the regular curriculum.
  
With our reading program, Houghton Mifflin 'Reading,' we come back and visit topics again.  The nice thing about our daily edits is that they cover a lot of the skills we are doing in our reading series.  When the binder work was put together, the teacher who created them put the skills in the order we would come across them in the curriculum.  She even laid it out so that there was some preview of work to come and review of work we did.  So already my second graders have been exposed to and reviewed homophones, homonyms (multiple-meaning words), synonyms, antonyms, compound words, punctuation, capitalization, word families, sentence structure, analogies, nouns, verbs, adjectives, genre, proofreading, and singular and plural nouns.  

I have chosen to give my new student the daily edits she has missed as sort of a foundation for the writing, grammar, and math skills she has missed.  We are beginning a new unit in Language Arts on Tuesday.  During this unit, there will be several writing projects, a revisiting of comprehension skills that were learned in first grade as well as some new skills for this year, and vocabulary exercises. 

In math, we are still working through different strategies to add (13 in all according to our Everyday Math curriculum), and strategies for subtraction in order to help the children recognize and retain their basic facts.  Math is a universal language, and she has been doing well so far.  I have decided to pick out the pages in her math book that are related to the skills we are working on now.  Since Everyday Math is a spiraling curriculum, she will be exposed to those skills over and over throughout the quarter.

In social studies we finished our first unit, which was on communities, and the second unit is more of a continuation of that idea.  I have decided that I am going to take a break from social studies and teach science in its place since, a) our daily schedule does not permit both being taught at the same time (We have one block of time during the day to teach either science or social studies.), and, b) I already did a unit in social studies.  So this week we are going to start our Foss science curriculum. That way, when we go back to social studies, the review of communities will be a review for everyone and my new student will benefit from that review.  (Besides, trying to teach science one day or week at a time and then social studies the alternating week or day has shown to be too confusing for the students.  So now I alternate by unit.)

It's a fine balancing act, trying to get her caught up without overwhelming her and her parents.  On one hand, she needs those most vital skills for her foundation.  On the other hand, she would be buried under work if I gave her every single assignment she missed for those 25 days. 

Bit by bit, I'll get her there. 

**Design Alert!**

I added a few changes to the blog.  Check 'em out!

Day 26: "New" Student

Today I welcomed a "new" student to my class.  I say "new" because she is not new to the school, just to my class.  Let me explain.

My school has a group of students who travel to their countries of origin over the summer.  Sometimes they do not return until after the school year begins.  This particular student was on my roster for the beginning of the year, but she could not be dropped from my class roll until she missed so many days.  At that point, she was withdrawn with the understanding that when she returned she would be registered as a re-entry and added back to my roll.  She was added yesterday and joined my class today.

So where to begin?  The parents would like me to send home all of the missed work (for a month's time).  A family friend was supposed to pick up the work on a weekly basis to send, but never came.  This child has missed 25 days of school work.  In those 25 days, she has missed 25 daily edits, 40-plus pages of the math workbook, 30-plus pages of the reading workbook, six weeks of spelling activities and tests, four comprehension quizzes, one reading unit test, four writing projects, one math unit test, half of unit two in math, one unit of social studies, 10-plus writing journals, and numerous hands-on activities.  Now I need to figure out what the most vital pieces of information are so she can be somewhat caught up with the rest of the class.  I started with the daily edits today.  The rest will just have to trickle through in the next few weeks.

Even though she is not new to the school, she is new to my class, which means the routines have to start all over again.  My class was really helpful today in trying to get her acclimated to everything, but you know how little kids are.  They don't quite understand the term "overkill."  I tried to warn them yesterday before dismissal by telling them to remember that today was her first day and she will already be overwhelmed with all of the things that come with a typical first day of school.  Some of them got it.  Some of them didn't in their eagerness to help.

Tomorrow's another day.  Hopefully we didn't scare her off!

Day 25: Comments, Questions, Suggestions?

My dear husband gave me an idea this evening for a post.  I keep track of my stats, just to see how many folks are reading, how often you're reading, etc.  It's nice to know that someone cares about my off-the-wall ramblings, even a little bit.  So for that, I thank you!

Yeah, yeah you say.  Get on with it already!  What's the idea?  Well, the idea was that I open up a comment/question/suggestion dialogue with you.  So if you would be so inclined, send in some comments on my blog (either blog is up for discussion).  Or questions you may have for me.  Or suggestions of topics.  Or sharing of ideas. I'm interested in what you're thinking.

And awa-eey we go!

Day 24: Test Folders

There are a few schools of thought regarding school work being sent home.  I have colleagues who show student work like tests, quizzes, and projects to parents twice a year (at conference times).  I personally think this is wrong.  As a parent, I want to know how my children are doing.  I want to see their quizzes, test, classwork, etc. so I can see what areas need to be practiced more.

The reasoning some of my colleagues give is that they want to have work samples and data* for meetings and referrals for Special Education or Gifted Education available and waiting.  They feel that they will not get work back if it is sent home.  I get that.  However, I think parents have a right to know how their children are doing in school.
(*Data is another post for another day.  Let's just say it is a four-letter word to me.)

How do I get around the problem?  I explain to parents at Back to School Night that test folders will come home every two to three weeks (depending on the number of assignments and how quickly I get things graded).  I also explain why it is important to review and sign off on the materials before sending them back.
This way, parents see the work and can keep certain assignments while I keep the more important pieces for data purposes.  I've done this for several years now and have not had a problem arise yet.

So what do the folders look like?  I take plain manila folders and label them with the child's name and classroom number (makes organization easier).  On the front of the folder, I have a list of things that parents are to keep (drawings, spelling quizzes, workbook pages,etc.).  There is also a list of things they are to return (unit tests, reading theme tests, science and social studies quizzes).  Inside the folder I staple a chart with four columns (date, parent signature, comments for me, and questions for me regarding the work viewed).  If there are any questions, I respond via e-mail or note in student planner that same day.  The system has worked for me.

When I send folders home (usually on a Friday), they are to be returned no later than Wednesday of the following week.  I do this because I know kids have weekend activities and such, so I don't want to cut into that time.  I also give the extra few days for the students whose parents are separated or divorced; that time is allotted so that both parents can view the work (if both parties are interested).   I tell the children that unsigned folders will be sent back home for signature so I know parents saw the work, and that any folder not returned on time will be followed up by a phone call, e-mail, or note home to be sure parents did see the work and that the folder isn't hiding in someone's backpack.  After Wednesday, any student who has not returned the folder owes me recess.  Seems harsh, but folders are back 99% of the time so I can begin filing again.  That 1% of students usually does not forget after owing the first time.

I sent home my first test folder last week; it took that long to get some quality work in since the first two weeks were filled with routines, beginning-of-the-year testing, and actually getting into the work.  I had nearly three-quarters of the students return their folders today...with signatures!  I reminded the remaining few; hopefully they will have their folders tomorrow.

Time will tell.

Day 23: We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

Sorry for the delay; I was out of town over the weekend and didn't have time to catch up on my blog.

Thursday was Spirit Day.  It's celebrated the last school day of each month. The students wear our school colors (blue and white) as a show of pride in our school.  They come in decked out in shirts, bottoms (skirts, pants, or shorts), bracelets, hairbows and headbands, socks, etc.  Some of them really go all out!

The teachers wear school colors or our school T-shirts (we ordered them last year as a staff).  We also get to wear blue jeans and sneakers on those days.  (Yes!)

There is a monthly competition between classrooms for the class with the most spirit.  The office determines this by sending a little sheet in our attendance folders for us to write the percentage of students in school spirit gear.  The prize is a banner to be posted outside of the winning classroom's door, sort of like bragging rights for a month.  To make it fair because we have so many classrooms, the winners are announced by grade level at the end of the day.  It's funny because you can hear the groans and cheers resonating through the hallways throughout the announcements.

My class didn't win this month, but maybe next time...