The Final Days...

Yeah, yeah, I know most teachers are out for the summer break. I've read your "beach-bound!" tweets, seen your "feet up!" photos, hid your "margaritas at 11am!" status updates. Whatever.

But some of us are still working. We still have 4 weeks to go, 18 teaching days. Last year at this time I was passing fellow teachers in the halls and wondering what these seemingly secret but special numbers they whispered 13, 12, 11.... I was stressing over finishing the Math book and panicking over my first report cards while they had a semi-delirious smile 9, 8, 7... I was wondering how in the world I could get my students ready for 6th grade/middle school/college valedictorian/Nobel acceptance speeches in just two weeks-- ah, that's what the magic numbers were: The Countdown. The Final Days. How many days left until "Julyteenth" and the freedom of summer break!   4, 3, 2...

Needless to say, I was not ready for summer break.  I did not want summer break.  I was not ready to let go of this life-altering wonderful experience called "Finally, My Own Classroom." Not only was I not ready to give up the keys to the classroom, I wasn't ready to let my first batch of students get on with their (academic) lives without me. But there was no stemming the tide of calendar pages gleefully ripped off and tossed to the ground, the end of the school year was going to happen whether I was ready or not. *sigh*

This year, however, I am looking forward to summer. Except for the part where I must update resume, search for jobs, cross fingers I get called in to sweat and stammer through an interview for a job I won't get, of course, but the rest of summer I am totally ready for.  I love, love love, being a P.E. Teacher but there are only so many days one can stand in the sun and wind on the blacktop or dirt field and not feel that one's lungs, skin, and arches will soon rebel. I need some beach time, some reading time, some hang with my sons time. Since I don't know where I'll be next year I'm sad I may be leaving these awesome students and this awesome school, but I still get a smile looking forward to a break.

But anywho... circling back to what I intended to write: Some of us are still working. School is not out, not yet. But since it's close I'm hearing those words that have bothered me: What's left to teach? I finished the text! Movie Day! Nothin' going on today. Stopping by our party? And that's just from the teachers... It killed me most years to send my sons to school the last week since it seemed all they did was watch movies and eat cupcakes. It's funny how teachers will bemoan how students do not read outside of school, they get no music or art outside of school, some would never go to the zoo or even the beach (yes, even living 10 mins away) if not for a field trip, yet do they think children don't eat pizza and waste time? I know my students rarely get outside and play games at home and very, very few play any organized sports, so why would I do anything except try to keep them moving every possible minute I can?

Similar and interesting conversation on Twitter related to report cards being completed weeks before school's end and passed out before last day (Thanks, @bloggucation) -- why send your student to school except for the free babysitting? Maybe I'm too new a teacher to understand the intricacies of dealing with a classroom 20-40 children for 9 months, but isn't the purpose of school to educate students? Yes they need a break once in awhile, we can't push.push every minute, but I think we're teaching students to "check out" too often. Every Friday play time for turning in your homework? The reward for doing your work isn't the learning, it doesn't lead to curiosity, the drive to excel or learn more, to better communication/understanding, it leads to getting to stop doing school work and have more recess! No wonder the recent news reports show 70% of Americans are not engaged in their work/careers, that's what we're teaching them in school.

Am I just on an uninformed rant here? Is there a way, or even a need, to balance free time and learning time at school? Am I just an anti-birthday party Scrooge? Hmmm...

25, 26, 27 hours in your day?!?

Time manipulation? Unholy alliance?
Alien technology? A trip to Mr. Johnson's crossroads?

How else do you do it?

C'mon, you educators that post pictures of clean, bright, fantasy-schoolhouse classrooms to go with  your time-saving and tree-saving yet engaging, all level differentiated, in line with every state's Standards lessons that you post on your professional quality and heavily "Best of" honor-bedecked website which connects to your Pintrest, Twitter, Facebook, and blog via smart phone, iPad, and probably ESP -- AND you have time for quality personal reflection while you share 702 up-to-the-second latest technology ideas for the flipped i21 space station classroom during a tweet-fest with all 13,756 of your closest friends and followers???

How in the holy name of Angela Watson* do you find the time to do it all?

Help a brother out!

Don't know what I'm doing wrong. I get in early, make sure I have all supplies and notes ready for each lesson, sharpen a few pencils and away we go... 6.5 hours later I kick 'em all out. Homework Club on Tuesday but none of my students ever come so it's right to planning the next day(s): Gotta... man, I can't even write down what I gotta do cause I getta more tired and need to go to bed.

Actually, I feel better already. Just the thought of bed led me to the thought of that first cup of coffee in the morning, then the anticipation-filled drive to work, then the heartbeat of joy that always thumps when I pull out the keys to my classroom door. AND I get paid for this!

*sigh*

 I guess I'll be okay...







*Arne Duncan? Michelle Rhee? Do teachers have a patron saint?

Making It Up As I Go Along

I love History, enjoy the Founding Fathers/Birth of Our Nation period, and was looking forward to Social Studies with my new 5th graders. Except I was told S.S. is not on the State test, 5th grade has a Science benchmark, and besides, the students don't like it anyway...

My little red. white, and blue heart was crushed, from the jump.

So we did a lot of Science, took the test, and will keep doing Science cuz it's on the State test too, but I must get in some George Washington or I will feel like a failure as an American and a teacher.  Especially since we're studying archetypes in LangArts and there would be great connections to heroes, rebels, etc.

Then I looked at the textbook. Oy, several chapters still to go before 1776, and they don't look like the kind of chapters that keep 11 year old eyelids open. I suppose I could skip stuff, but they do need some background, right?  Then I started getting ideas, whether from the ghost of Ben Franklin or what I learned Education was really supposed to be like in my Credential classes I'm not sure, but I'm gonna go with it....

I'd love ideas, suggestions, warnings, project-based, um, projects, places to check out and things to do online, whatever ya got to help make this work. Call me naive and foolhardy, but I really do want my students to learn something AND not hate Social Studies!

So here's my Lesson "Plan":

Notes from a work in progress. The only part we've done in class so far is assign the groups and discuss where on the map we are (my Native American group wanted to be Hopi).

1. Gave each table group their assignment: Middle, Southern, New England Colonies, Great Britain, Native Americans, African Americans. Spent several minutes convincing them Great Britain, Britain, and England were one and the same. They didn't like this choice until I mentioned one of them could be King! The African American group probably has the least info in the text, so I gave it to a group of good researchers.
2. Each group of 4/5 students also will assume characters -- 1 or 2 children and a reporter, a politician/leader, and a farmer or businessperson.  They can find out how their characters would work, play, dress, live, etc and compare with same character in the other groups.We're voting on a class Postman (need to work Franklin in here somehow) and students will be able to write letters/questions to other characters, hopefully more or less in character. I'm also hoping we can use their blogs to post a diary/journal for each character so others can read and ask questions. Through all of that will each student learn about the other groups w/out having to read the entire text and do all worksheets?
3. Need some good historical fiction...
4. Students can build houses (Popsicle sticks?) to show the various ways people lived.
5. Each group's Reporter will create a newsletter to publish info and events from their area -- maybe discussing famous people from their area? Op ed and letters to editor as we get closer to shot heard 'round the world?
6. Art: pose as artwork from the period? Work up a script, what are these people doing, saying, and why?
7. Hmmm, King vs Colonist tax policy debate? Family Feud  game show?
8. Each group has a political figure, gov official, tribe leader. What power/responsibility does each have? How were they chosen? Why did they want position? Interesting to compare the various styles of gov. For AfrAmer need to find a Northern figure, or could they be represent a slave?
9. If there are 5 students in a group, do their characters all need to be connected? Same tribe, same town, etc? Will students have ability to research needed if all separate?
10. Time lines (or is it timelines?) -- I love timelines, and the kids love folding papers into cool shapes and gluing them into their journals, so we'll make a time line that expands out of their books and they can add events/dates as we go through unit. I'll start with them making a personal timeline and checking out something cool online, hopefully interactive -- any suggestions?
11. Maps. You know I love maps. Students can research cartography (right, like we have time for that) and create maps showing their groups area(s) and how connected to other groups areas -- follow that mail carrier! How would a letter get from one person/place to another? 
12. They also need help with paraphrasing, too much to use the Dec of Independence and have them reword it a little?
13. I need music! Need to start playing them colonial/British/spiritual music while they read and work... now what section if the record store will that be in?
14. Thanks to this awesome LiveBinder and a cool "foldable" I saved from my son's class got an idea for them to collect their key info (and anything involving folding and gluing they really get into).
15. I need to make a big puzzle where each group's puzzle piece fits together to make the map we've been looking at, Great Britain to the Adirondacks. On each piece they can illustrate key elements. I suppose each group's big piece could be broken into smaller pieces of puzzle, 1 for each group member to work on.  Now the question: How do I make a giant puzzle? Working out details of puzzle on google doc (link below)
16. The Domino Book! Liked this idea since Son #3 brought one home a few years ago, and now I know it's called a "Foldable" -- the tricky part will be getting the less hand-eye coordinated students to not end up with a big ball of paper. The facts for each category will be across the folded page from an example and/or illustration, when booklet is completely unfolded one side shows all facts and other side all examples.

Does a link to google docs work here? "Soc Studies Colonial..."

I Can't Drive 55

..but they sure can average a 55 on the test!

Ug. First big test of my career: Social Studies, 2 review sessions before the test, test questions taken from quiz and tests they had already taken, open book with students sharing page numbers as they found answers...

*sigh* I had such high hopes.  What can I learn from this? What do I take away from it? (Besides taking away the trash can I dumped the tests in, pee-yew it stinks!)

Taking Notes is Boooor-ing

I've always planned on note-taking as part of my classroom, and my new school follows the AVID ideas and that's a big part so I thought cool, they will all know how to take notes! Then I did a notebook check. Oy vey. Let's just say that if my first paycheck (still to come) was based on the quality of these notebooks, I'd have to eat them for every meal for the next month. How do blank pages taste with ketchup? Which wine goes with scribbling and doodles?

What to do instead of listening and taking notes: Draw a Stickman!

I encourage drawings, arrows, the liberal use of color and highlighters, but with most of my students there is nothing on the page to draw an arrow to or highlight over.  The teacher's Math notes before me looked copied straight out of the book, a habit I wasn't going to continue, but if I don't write it they don't write it?  How do I get them to process the info into own words, own connections? I do need to remember they need TIME for notes, time to process the info and make some sense of it. I'm going to make a sign for myself: Time to Think, Time to Write. brb

(Four hours later...)*

How about this:
 ...um... well, nevermind, couldn't get the image here. It's a giant hourglass with the words
"Time to Think, Time to Write" big and bold so I don't forget to let them contemplate, ponder, put thoughts to paper...

I also heard mention at the AVID class something called foldables -- no, not a fruit snack or pre-packaged lunch treat, but things you do with paper so kids will get creative with their notes and reports. Here are a few sites with examples:

http://foldables.wikispaces.com/    and   http://getinthefold.blogspot.com/   and





*no, it didn't take me 4 hours to make that. There were the inevitable distractions, i.e. my children, facebook, the Chris Van Ellsberg websites, and a huge carne asada burrito.

Should I Unpack?

I do feel like a temporary lodger -- don't bother filling up the dresser drawers, just live out of the suitcase.  I, and everyone else, know I am low, low, loooooow man on The List and will be the first casualty come staff reductions. Pink slips are a way of life here in California Education and I will actually consider it a promotion when I get one; last year I had to tell every concerned parent that "No, I did not get a pink slip, I'm just a lowly sub working a full teacher's position for sub pay and no benefits."  Well, that's what I would have said if they stayed around to listen, but the sympathy dried up instantly after "did not get--" and the concerned parents quickly moved to on to the Real Teachers who were suffering greatly in their martyrdom. 

Anyway, the teacher that vacated this classroom left a bunch of stuff, most of it covered in thick layers of dust.  I was hesitant to touch anything, or move the furniture around, especially after the Principal popped in and mentioned he hadn't moved any of his predecessor's stuff for a year... But then I figured a few things:

1. I'm going to be here until July, so I might as well look at my own kids, books, and pencil holders...
2. I can't find a darn thing I'm looking for anyway, so might as well shove it all in the closets...
3. It's all about the students, not about worrying about stepping on other teachers' toes...
4. Whadda they gonna do, fire me?!?*

So yeah, I'm moving the desks and shelves and changing the wall stuff and marking my territory. Not literally, of course.



*not as funny as I thought it was going to be ten minutes ago. I don't want to get fired. I don't like pink. I love this school. Maybe I can just hide in there all summer and simply be there in September. Squatter's rights and all...

So Far, So Good?

Well, I haven't made anyone cry yet.  I was always told the "Don't smile until Christmas" axiom but seeing as I started in January I waffled on which was the appropriate Holiday Target -- St. Patrick's? Cinco de Mayo? -- and then inadvertently grinned in front of several students. Caught. Damn.

And I have not been scolded/questioned/brow beaten by any parents yet.  In fact, I have not met a single parent from my class's students.  Maybe they're as shy as their children are, 'cause no one has come up to the door and said hello.  Do they even know what I look like?  Do they even know their kids have a new teacher?  I was so hoping for a welcome basket full of lumpia...

No rebukes either from Administration or Veteran Colleagues, yet.  A lot of the things I thought I was probably not doing right turns out eh, that'll work, that's just fine, keep doing what you think is working and needs to be done.  Which leads me to believe either they have complete confidence in my education, training, and experience, or...

Oh my God I could be painting the children purple in here, people!! No, that would leave visible evidence -- I could be teaching them Communism, Fascism, Environmentalism! Endless debates on the Hall of Fame merits of Fred McGriff! Plagiarized power points on the sexual appetites of polar bears, retired autoworkers, or country music stars! We could be watching "Sanford & Son" in there and no one would ever poke a head in the door to find out!  No wonder our kids are all screwed up, no one cares what or how the teachers teach 'em!!!

Unless of course, they know I'm doing a good job. Because of the hidden cameras...

Day Eight

All I can say is, daaaang I'm tahred.
In fact, I am writing this with drooping eyelids and would usually at this time (8:30 -- my self from 2 weeks ago would scoff derisively at my new self's bedtime) be curling up under the covers to read my nightly 1/2 a sentence of Stephen King's 11/22/63 (and at 849 pages I'll finish it the evening of April 3, 2076. Unless I have papers to grade.) but tonight I am desperately trying to think of my Book Club's 5th out of 4 books -- I can't do a cool bulletin board set up for 4 groups and leave out the 5th, can I?

I need a robot in the classroom with remote control so I can have him/her/it roll around the classroom at night and look at things I forget to shove into the 85 lb backpack I bring home every night.

Not really.  I like doing things at home. Take off the tie, pet the cat, wife brings me dinner, think about lessons and look up stuff and wake up disconcerted hollering "5x! Magna Carta! i before e! Isosceles!" then wipe off the drool on my keyboard...

Man, I love my job.

Day One

My First Day with My First Class of My Own

appropriately, in classroom #1... 28 politely smiling faces, a huge Promethean Board, netbooks for everyone, a working drinking fountain.  Who could ask for anything more?

Now What?!?!?

How quickly things can change -- within 4 hours I went from substitute PE Coach to interviewee to being shown my new classroom! Thursday I'm playing lego flag tag, Friday I'm being hugged goodbye by hundreds of little students, today I'm trying to figure out what's the first thing I say to a room full of 5th graders... any suggestions?