Wrapping it up…

Well, the front office has started a count down.  There are less than 20 days left of school.  I however have not begun counting down!  I want the students to love every minute we have left so I am not focusing on the summer break at all.  I have had a few students say they do not want to have a break and they wish they could stay in second grade for next year.  I have had a great group of students this year!!  I have been challenged, but blessed by the group I have.

I am collecting surveys from teachers and staff, and I am going to have parent input for my thesis here soon.  This week is a packed one so I have to figure out when I can interview parents and have them fill out surveys.

This is a scattered post, but my brain is scattered today, so bear with me.

This week I will be observing in Boise at a Classical School, intern seminar where I am supposed to present, and we have our daughter’s preschool graduation all on Monday.  Tuesday we have a talent show at the school, Wednesday a meet and greet with the new administrator and the new academic coach.  As if that weren’t enough I am sure other things will pop up, it should be an enjoyable week.  I am thinking of having a meet and greet night for my second grade families this week or next so I can have parents fill out surveys.

Well, this has been fun.

“You’re Reading Someone’s Blog…? That’s Rude!”

It just hit me how I use technology, but I don’t share it’s reasoning with my daughter.  I was just reading a blog about being a mother and my daughter wanted to know who the picture was of, and I told her I didn’t know who she was, I was just reading her blog.  That is when she told me it was rude.  How funny!

This can be true in the classroom too however.  I explained to students this week that the teachers were asked not to stream videos due to the limited bandwidth and the need ISATs posed on that already limited supply.  I did not think to explain that not everything a computer does has to do with using the internet.  When I got the computer ready for a power point today one of the students asked if I was going to slow things down for the test.  I was pleasantly surprised, and reminded that there are many things kids understand based on what they have seen and heard, not on what they have been taught. 

So, rather than allowing my daughter to think I am rude for reading someone’s blog, or letting students believe a computer only works when the internet is connected I am going to more consciously explain these phenomena to my children and my students so they are truly educated.

“That’s Rude!”—Ha.

Finishing out the Year

I am not sure where everyone else is with assessing students on their attainment of the standards, but I would love to hear from you and get an idea of what your lead teacher is doing in the classroom.  How are they assessing, is it a regular routine, or do they step it up this time of year?  I have been working hard with my students, but, as a first year teacher, I want to find the gaps, and fill them before these kiddos move on. 

I am excited to be finishing out the year, but it is a daunting task making sure these little guys are ready for next year.  I have learned a lot this year, things I never would have expected, and in spite of everything going on outside the classroom, I have truly grown to love what I am doing.

I already have a huge checklist for next year, and I am so excited that I get to take the same material and try it again.  I am excited to begin planning, but I want to make a strong finish this year first!

In The Scheme of Things…

A few months ago, upon returning from winter break we lost three staff members and our administrator.  This caused turmoil and conflict among the ranks at the school.  Amazingly enough so many of us have been going above and beyond the call of duty the school board apparently thought things were going well.  But the reality is that many of us have been on the cusp of collapse.  Moral was low, and before heading out of Spring break we were informed that our administrator planned on returning to finish out the year.  This would take place following the break.  This was just to boost many of us needed to re-energize and return with newly charged motivation.

Then an agenda was posted stating that there would be a special meeting help the Thursday before returning from Spring Break.  There was a eerie feeling with this development because the decisions that led to the loss of our staff members came about the same way only, it was the day before returning from winter break that time.  What would be in store for us this time?

  In an effort to sway a pending vote on whether or not the board would place our administrator on paid leave a group of teachers came together and found a way to articulate some of the concerns held among the ranks.  Sharing the heartfelt concerns did not have the results we desired on that particular vote, but may have impacted other decisions the board made. 

After hours of waiting it is official, the board has voted to place the principal on administrative leave and to pay out her contract.  I do not think that this will bring about the results desired by the board, in fact I think they have sealed their fate, and that there will be legal action taken against those involved, which is what they were trying to avoid.  The board has also authorized the hiring of a new administrative team and additional supports in the coming weeks to get us through state testing and reporting, but the teachers and staff will not be able to enjoy the return of their leader, and yet again they have taken a blow to the moral of the ranks.

I hope that all of these decisions bring about results that will allow teachers to teach, and students to learn.  This has been an intense and stressful year, and I know I was signing up for a rollercoaster ride, but this is one for the books!  I am amazed at how much has been done, and how far we have come, and even still there are so many political and emotional games in the mix that I never would have expected.

I hope that once the offers are made that the candidates accept, and that we as a staff can begin to get the structure, feedback, and support that we need in order to better do our jobs. 

So in the scheme of things sometimes the teachers collective voice may not have the desired effect, but the trickle may have more impact that the original motive.  I just hope that tonight’s trickle takes us where we need to go.

Whew!

Spring Break

Wow!  It has been almost two weeks, and it has gone by in a flash.  I did not realize how fried I have been.  I have been running on fumes, and I needed some time to not do anything school related, relax with my kids and my man, and not be psycho Mom for a while.  However the down side to laying low is that now I have so much to do.  The upside is I needed it, and I am glad I took the down time.

So here I am, after 1am writing to anyone who is reading. The next post will include the latest on board decisions and what it means in the scheme of things.

Why Oh Why?

Today my class worked on a project in art, they built structures with popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, toothpicks, and marshmallows.  It was a challenge to get all 30 of them to listen to the instructions, and not be overwhelmed, and excited about working with marshmallows.

It is interesting that when I have a different activity, anything outside our usual routine, they have a difficult time focusing and enjoying the project.  So I ask myself what is the key?  In reflecting on the activities they did well I realized that I did a better job of modeling, and laying out the expectations.  I thought I did a good job today, but I guess where I thought I was giving them freedom to be creative they felt like they were lacking guidance.

Why oh why?  I am on my way to figuring it out I guess.

Conferences Again…

I have survived, and enjoyed one more round of parent teacher conferences.  I wish there were some way to guarantee that parents would always be this agreeable, supportive, and enjoyable.  I have been very fortunate this year.  The parents of my students support me fully, and it is amazing to have their feedback.  There has been so much turmoil this year that I am blessed to have it outside my classroom and not within.

I met with 28 of the 30 families in two days, I had one cancel due to illness and the other due to who knows what.  Tomorrow I will met with the one family and I need to schedule with the other, but I am well on my way to 100% attendence.

I am excited as the year winds down to be able to enjoy what is left and to help my students thrive as they move toward third grade.  It is insane that the year is 3/4 of the way over.  The last day for me is June 1, it seemed so far a way, but is now so close.

 

Testing My New Setup

I am using a new program on my computer to make my blog more accessible.  I hope this makes blogging more convenient.  I got myself a new laptop and it has some great features like Windows Live Writer.  It allows me to make quick posts without all the extras.  Maybe this will help me keep this page up to date.

Student Work

This week my students completed a short story that was written through a group effort while we worked on Ideas with the 6 + 1 traits of writing.  I have placed each of the group storied in sheet protectors as a class book.  I am excited to show it to the class on Tuesday so we can read the stories out loud and they can feel the pride of publishing something together.

I also created a book of talents, which unfortunately not all students completed, but it is still exciting to have their work on hand in the classroom.  The talents pages I have used were part of their character trait writing assignment, which I assign each week with homework.  For that reason some students did not complete theirs, I will find out Tuesday if those students are going to complete the assignment in order to be included in the book.

Another things my students did this wee is a final project on Ancient China.  They had two weeks to create a mobile, a book, or a poster about the unit we just finished on Ancient China.  100% of the class turned in their project, only three students chose not to share their work, and only one was below expectations, but made an improvement from his pattern of not completing homework.  I will post pictures after I have time to hang them up.  My students have even asked if they can do another project with the next history unit which is Japan.

It has been great watching students be able to create and share!

Mind Games

I came into this semester realizing that I had a lot on my plate, but I was not ready for the mind games that would accompany me in this journey.  I possess the drive to excel, but the body and the mind are amazing things that I have yet to fully comprehend, and mind over matter is a difficult things to dominate with so much going on in that mind of mine.

I woke up today from a dream in which I had taken another position at the school (or somewhere) and I had forgotten to get a sub, so I could attend Assessment ( for which I had yet to complete the assignment which was due).  I realized my predicament and ran to my classroom only to find it a mess, with the students in the dark, with the sub, entirely disengaged, just showing them a movie.  Do you think I am having a bit of anxiety this week?

I think I leave the impression of being well put together and capable of what I take on, which generally I am, but this semester has challenged my ability to wrap my brain around things as simple as writing a paper for Assessment.  Finding the balance between mother, wife, student, and teacher…yes TEACHER…I have had to make sacrifices with each one of these roles.  My children have needed me more than I realized that past few weeks, and the sacrifice had to stop being on their account, so I have dedicated a little more (stress free, un interrupted by my need to do homework) time to them.  Last weekend we cut our Christmas tree, this week we attended the Caldwell Night Lights Parade, and watched a movie “sitting as a family”, as my daughter said with a huge smile (we obviously have not done that much lately).

Due to the shift is sacrifices it has taken me until this week to fully consume and digest the material we have been reading the past 12 weeks.  As I sit here today, (yes, me a week late!) finishing the paper for Assessment I am realizing the intrigue and overwhelming sense of obligation that attaches me to teaching.  I want to make sure these students learn what they need to take them through life, not just through second grade.  I have expanded my resource list from “Ahead of The Curve” to six other resources that have helped me through becoming a teacher.

By the end of today I hope to have a paper pulled together that encompasses the passion behind my philosophy of assessment and education I carry with me each day when I arrive and depart from my classroom.

So in-spite of the mind games, I think I am finally climbing above the plateau, I hit this past month, into new territory.