I'm realizing that being departmentalized really makes the day fly right on by! I have exactly 90 minutes before specials for my reading block and exactly 55 minutes for science after specials. Then there's the switch and lunch. And repeat it all over again. I'm tired but things are going really well.
I've slowed down teaching my processes a lot. I've give both classes a couple of different learning style inventories. I'm using them to group students and plan materials and teaching delivery. I've discovered that half of both my classes are kinesthetic learners! Now more than ever, I'm convinced that Power Teaching is going to be a highly effective teaching technique for these specific kids. I'm excited about.
I am enjoying getting to know my teaching partner. We have a lot in common and it has been easy to work together so far. Above all things, as long as we're always putting the kids first...everything will work out fine.
I find that I'm very busy with launching the Environmental Science Club and School Newspaper this week. I have to get applications out, read entries, make selections. Luckily, I have enthusiastic teammates there to help at every turn. I'm so lucky to be at my school with teachers who care and are willing to go that extra step to give kids new and worthwhile experiences.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Survived the First Week
I have resolved to blog a couple times a week this year. The first week the kids are back is always hectic and exhausting and exilerating all at once. I spent the entire week doing only processes and class/team building activities. My goal for the first day of school is always to get all the names down, get them to lunch and specials on time, and get them home safetly and quickly. I was successful at all but the lunch!
This year I am teaching fifth grade reading and science. My partner teaches math, social studies, and writing. There will be a lot of cross-over and integration in order to get everything in. I'm new to departmentalizing and was nervous about the switch half way through the day and with good reason. We switch at 11:45 and then lunch is at 11:51. On the first day, though, the kids don't know what to do or how to come into my room yet. It took 10 minutes to get them settled into their seats and answer some pointed questions about seating arrangements. I looked up at the clock and asked for full attention, "Class, we are very late for lunch but we are not going to rush out of this room like starving maniacs. I will call you in ABC order to stand in line at the door. You will walk facing forward at a 0 conversation level." I was impressed with how quickly they followed these directions without questions. So we were a little over five minutes late to lunch on the first day of school. Those of you who are teachers know this really screws up the lunch ladies. They were forgiving.
After lunch, I immediately went over how to come in after the switch. Unpack, hand backpacks, grab lunch boxes, and line up for lunch. During preschool, our staff watched the Ron Clark Story. One of things we noticed was his ability to INSIST that students meet expectations. We also studied being Warm Demanders. Be straightforward, blunt, firm, but temper it with warmth. I am attempting to embody this in how I interact with the kids.
Both of my classes have done very well with the new school-wide Guidelines for Success that we've implemented. I am following them to a T and insisting they follow them. I have been more consistent this week than I ever have before. The class developed rules and I explained our behavior management plan. I conducted our first "Headquarters Meetings". The kids seem to like these because we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. They seemed excited when they realized they would have a voice in how the class operates but there was still a layer of , "Is this lady for real?" I will earn their trust and respect in time.
I have a few kids from my class last year. Four in my AM class and two in my PM class. I rely on them but have not showed favoritism in a anyway. Both classes are great and very diverse. I even have a new to our school student from Greece. He speaks very little English. He's teaching me a word a day and I'm trying to get him a Greek to English dictionary. He can read and write in his language so there will be some good transfer over time there. His dad is an out of work Professor so he has a good support system.
I'm worried about four of my boys. They are exhibiting some strong impulse issues. I will have to add some tools to my toolbox to deal with their behaviors. They are nice enough kids...just some attention problems. I think it's going to be an interesting year to say the least.
I will post pics of my room next week since I forgot my camera there with the pics I took after I had everything set up and cleaned.
This year I am teaching fifth grade reading and science. My partner teaches math, social studies, and writing. There will be a lot of cross-over and integration in order to get everything in. I'm new to departmentalizing and was nervous about the switch half way through the day and with good reason. We switch at 11:45 and then lunch is at 11:51. On the first day, though, the kids don't know what to do or how to come into my room yet. It took 10 minutes to get them settled into their seats and answer some pointed questions about seating arrangements. I looked up at the clock and asked for full attention, "Class, we are very late for lunch but we are not going to rush out of this room like starving maniacs. I will call you in ABC order to stand in line at the door. You will walk facing forward at a 0 conversation level." I was impressed with how quickly they followed these directions without questions. So we were a little over five minutes late to lunch on the first day of school. Those of you who are teachers know this really screws up the lunch ladies. They were forgiving.
After lunch, I immediately went over how to come in after the switch. Unpack, hand backpacks, grab lunch boxes, and line up for lunch. During preschool, our staff watched the Ron Clark Story. One of things we noticed was his ability to INSIST that students meet expectations. We also studied being Warm Demanders. Be straightforward, blunt, firm, but temper it with warmth. I am attempting to embody this in how I interact with the kids.
Both of my classes have done very well with the new school-wide Guidelines for Success that we've implemented. I am following them to a T and insisting they follow them. I have been more consistent this week than I ever have before. The class developed rules and I explained our behavior management plan. I conducted our first "Headquarters Meetings". The kids seem to like these because we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. They seemed excited when they realized they would have a voice in how the class operates but there was still a layer of , "Is this lady for real?" I will earn their trust and respect in time.
I have a few kids from my class last year. Four in my AM class and two in my PM class. I rely on them but have not showed favoritism in a anyway. Both classes are great and very diverse. I even have a new to our school student from Greece. He speaks very little English. He's teaching me a word a day and I'm trying to get him a Greek to English dictionary. He can read and write in his language so there will be some good transfer over time there. His dad is an out of work Professor so he has a good support system.
I'm worried about four of my boys. They are exhibiting some strong impulse issues. I will have to add some tools to my toolbox to deal with their behaviors. They are nice enough kids...just some attention problems. I think it's going to be an interesting year to say the least.
I will post pics of my room next week since I forgot my camera there with the pics I took after I had everything set up and cleaned.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
time is always an issue
As a teacher, I find it so very frustrating that I simply cannot accept my time limitations. For the past three years, I have been a self-contained fourth grade teacher. I loved it. All my teammates were departmentalized. I watched as they struggled to keep their afternoon class caught up to their a.m. counterparts. I watched as they tried to fit in a full workshop daily. I watched as they skipped over engaging thematic units in favor of more regimented lessons that they knew they could fit in their giving time allotments. I watched as they honed those lessons and became experts in their content areas. In turn, they watched as I was able to do full thematic units based on novels. They watched as I flexed my subject times to accomodate students needs. They watched as I scrambled to various planning meetings for all my content areas.
While I was at times quite envious of their ability to focus on just their content areas. I was firm in my belief that a self-contained setting was a better fit for my teaching style. I had even convinced myself that it was better for kids. That is a different debate.
Then comes the news that I will be teaching fifth grade during the next school year. I was shocked, disheartened, excited, flattered to be chosen, bummed, and fearful in turns. My fourth grade team had worked hard, especially in the areas of math and writing, to become a collaborative unit of teachers. I relied on my teammates expertise, they seemed excited about some of the ideas I brought to the table and my ability to help them with technology. We became fast friends. I think of them still as my mentors and sisters in arms. I am going to miss planning with them each week.
On the other hand, I like the fifth grade team as well. One of them is my age and we attended college together. We are both teaching science and are passionate about environmental science. Another, I taught with during math camp two summers ago. She is a gifted teacher. Her energy and attention to detail are skills I feel I need to hone. I'm still not altogether certain why I was chosen instead of the administration hiring someone new but this is my reality and I have accepted it.
I have worked hard this summer to develop new curriculum reading units. I have poured over my districts' science workshops to figure out ways to differentiate them. I would be lying if I said I was dreading teaching fifth grade. After all, it was originally the grade I pictured myself in before I fell in love with fourth grade. I'm excited to be able to really have the opportunity to hone my reading instruction. I know I will have an ESOL cluster so I'm looking forward to working with our reading coach on some phonics skills. I have no experience in the primary grades and so I have a weak understanding of building phonics for reading. It will be a challenging year to say the least.
So, as I sit and ponder this conundrum of time, I will just take a deep breath and proceed with the knowledge that as long as I'm putting kids' needs first, everything will work out just fine.
While I was at times quite envious of their ability to focus on just their content areas. I was firm in my belief that a self-contained setting was a better fit for my teaching style. I had even convinced myself that it was better for kids. That is a different debate.
Then comes the news that I will be teaching fifth grade during the next school year. I was shocked, disheartened, excited, flattered to be chosen, bummed, and fearful in turns. My fourth grade team had worked hard, especially in the areas of math and writing, to become a collaborative unit of teachers. I relied on my teammates expertise, they seemed excited about some of the ideas I brought to the table and my ability to help them with technology. We became fast friends. I think of them still as my mentors and sisters in arms. I am going to miss planning with them each week.
On the other hand, I like the fifth grade team as well. One of them is my age and we attended college together. We are both teaching science and are passionate about environmental science. Another, I taught with during math camp two summers ago. She is a gifted teacher. Her energy and attention to detail are skills I feel I need to hone. I'm still not altogether certain why I was chosen instead of the administration hiring someone new but this is my reality and I have accepted it.
I have worked hard this summer to develop new curriculum reading units. I have poured over my districts' science workshops to figure out ways to differentiate them. I would be lying if I said I was dreading teaching fifth grade. After all, it was originally the grade I pictured myself in before I fell in love with fourth grade. I'm excited to be able to really have the opportunity to hone my reading instruction. I know I will have an ESOL cluster so I'm looking forward to working with our reading coach on some phonics skills. I have no experience in the primary grades and so I have a weak understanding of building phonics for reading. It will be a challenging year to say the least.
So, as I sit and ponder this conundrum of time, I will just take a deep breath and proceed with the knowledge that as long as I'm putting kids' needs first, everything will work out just fine.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A year....really?
It's been almost a year since my last post! I really want to journal about my year this year because there are big changes happening as usual.
First of all, I had a pretty good school year for 09-10! My class was challenging to say the least but we built a pretty good community once I started holding almost daily class meetings. They began listening to one another and more importantly, I began listening to them. I learned what they were worrying over, what scared them, what they were excited about. It changed how I looked at them. And the fact that I listening, and allowed them to care for one another, it changed how they looked at me and I liked it!
My coursework began Janury '09. I am enrolled at the Univerity of Florid's College of Education, Lastinger Center. I am working towards my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction for School Leadership and Improvement with a specialization in Educational Technology. It's a mouthful for sure. I have enjoyed each of my classes. Because it is a job embedded program, I am able to almost immediately apply concepts to my practice and reflect, share, and get feedback.
Over the summer, I had two classes at the same time, and even not working this summer...it was difficult! But I know how one whole reading unit planned out and one science workshop planned out.
Onto the changes! At the end of the 09-10 school year, I was told that I would be moving up to fifth grade. I was sad and shocked at first! I love my fourth grade teammates. We'd worked really hard over the past two years together! Why would our principal decide to change what seemed to work so well? I never really got a great answer for that but it is what it is. I can't say I'm completely unhappy with it either. The teachers on the fifth grade team seem really nice. I'm even working with one of them on an afterschool environmental sciences club.
This change also comes with departmentalization. I have always been self-contained. Now I will only teach reading and science. I am sad that I wont teach writing explicitly anymore but I'm sure I will find ways. I don't know my teaching partner very well and I'm hoping that we will be a good team. Team work is very important to me.
I will attempt to keep this updated this year!
First of all, I had a pretty good school year for 09-10! My class was challenging to say the least but we built a pretty good community once I started holding almost daily class meetings. They began listening to one another and more importantly, I began listening to them. I learned what they were worrying over, what scared them, what they were excited about. It changed how I looked at them. And the fact that I listening, and allowed them to care for one another, it changed how they looked at me and I liked it!
My coursework began Janury '09. I am enrolled at the Univerity of Florid's College of Education, Lastinger Center. I am working towards my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction for School Leadership and Improvement with a specialization in Educational Technology. It's a mouthful for sure. I have enjoyed each of my classes. Because it is a job embedded program, I am able to almost immediately apply concepts to my practice and reflect, share, and get feedback.
Over the summer, I had two classes at the same time, and even not working this summer...it was difficult! But I know how one whole reading unit planned out and one science workshop planned out.
Onto the changes! At the end of the 09-10 school year, I was told that I would be moving up to fifth grade. I was sad and shocked at first! I love my fourth grade teammates. We'd worked really hard over the past two years together! Why would our principal decide to change what seemed to work so well? I never really got a great answer for that but it is what it is. I can't say I'm completely unhappy with it either. The teachers on the fifth grade team seem really nice. I'm even working with one of them on an afterschool environmental sciences club.
This change also comes with departmentalization. I have always been self-contained. Now I will only teach reading and science. I am sad that I wont teach writing explicitly anymore but I'm sure I will find ways. I don't know my teaching partner very well and I'm hoping that we will be a good team. Team work is very important to me.
I will attempt to keep this updated this year!
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