Author Archive

Grown-Ups Need a Kindergarten Refresher!

Over spring break I was lucky enough to get to go to Las Vegas with my mom and daughter. A “just the girls” having a good time trip. We did have a spectacular time. The shows we saw were wonderful, we got to meet a couple of the guys from Pawn Stars, and the weather was super. None of us were big winners, but then none of us were big losers either. It was the perfect escape from “teacher” mode, or at least I thought it would be.

Try as I might, I still slipped back into teacher mode though. Tourists are rude! We used the bus system to get up and down the strip, and to go see the light show downtown one night. Did you realize there are adults who do not know how a line works?

Standing in a line, which had a number of people in it, we saw a couple come up to sit on a bench past the front of the line. The bus pulled up, the people at the front of the line get on and this couple shoves in front of us and enters the bus.

“Excuse me sir, did all the neon blind you? There is a line; you need to take your turn at the end of it. Shoving people out of the way is disrespectful and RUDE!” He pretended not to hear me, but I knew he was listening and his “lady friend” was blushing. My daughter as well as a couple of other people also piped in to comment on his rudeness, and when he finally finished paying their fares he flipped his little receipt at us.

“REALLY??!!! Flip your little receipt at adults calling you out on common courtesy and manners??!! How old are you sir, 4??” I am sure he will do this again, as he obviously felt we were in the wrong to bring his etiquette faux pax to the forefront, but I for one have gotten very tired of being pushed, bumped into, crowded over, cut off etc. without so much as a quietly mumbled “excuse me”. Yet, adults will complain about how “kids these days” act in public. Are you a good role model, Mr. Cut In Line, Flip Your Receipt?

Any kindergartener can tell you the rules of a line. “No budging” is the first one for pity sake. Along with, if you get out of line you go to the end; you can’t save a place for your friend; and the leader is always first! These students will often argue to hold the door for others coming in or out, instead of pushing past them and then letting slam in their face. My first graders offer to carry my “tub” for me, they tell me thank you when I do something for them, and say excuse me when they need to. Why? Because I, as a teacher, consistently model this behavior and reward it with all the students I see during the day, it’s really not rocket science.

But, I will place a bet that at least one parent will be completely surprised when at conferences I tell them their child is polite and helpful. “My child? Are you sure you are talking about the right kid? It’s sure a different story at home.” It’s a different story in Las Vegas too.

The Creation of New Vocabulary

Earlier this week during a 2nd grade Title I group, a new word was created. It is one I feel could easily be used in today’s politically spun world. Jaedon was reading a trade book of her choice. She came to the word “pollution”. She attempted to “sound it out”, she went back and reread the passage, and she could not decode the word. This is her struggle.

Denyse, the student sitting next to her was trying very hard NOT to jump in, even though it appeared she knew the correct pronunciation of the word. Finally she could hold back no longer and said, “I know what that word is!”

Jaedon looked at her and said, “You do? What is it?!”

Denyse proudly announced, “Pollutician!”

Jaedon responded, “Well, I never would have gotten that ‘cuz I never heard that word before.”

I then explained that no-one had because that wasn’t the word. We then decoded pollution together, and discussed what it was.

As they were leaving, it occurred to me that “POLLUTICIAN” is a cross between pollution and politician – “pollutician”.

I told Denyse, she may have just created a new word, though the definition was lost on her, I rather like the descriptive properties of this new word.

Pollutician: A dirty elected government official.
Bet you can name a few, I know I can………

**An interesting article that was pulled from the Los Angeles Times and written by Kristen A. Graham.

Tony Danza goes back to school.
The actor teaches a 10th-grade English class while cameras roll, and he learns a lot as he goes along.

“Hope they actually air this reality show…would be interesting to see!!”

It takes a community

I know there are some who feel that idea was made popular and also coined by the wrong people, however, the truth the words themselves hold is strong for me. In the face of mass school closings, teacher lay-offs, whole staff firings and the current negative aura that surrounds education, I was brightened by our community this week when the PTO and local businesses paid to have an author come to our school and spend the day. School budgets are tight, there is no doubt about that, and our district would not have been able to have Shelley Gill inspire and teach our students about reading and writing without the support of our local community.

But it was not just the financial support that was evident; parents came to see and hear her speak as well. Like us, the teachers and students, they were enchanted by Shelley as she told tales of how her books came into being. It became immediately clear that these stories were not only entertaining, but connected all of us to the world community as well. Her unique experiences in the world at large are amazing to hear, but they also reflected on the smaller world of our rural Midwest town. This author said things in her speech that I say daily to my students. Using “juicy details”, reading to expand your word selection, that a book is like an onion, use your senses when you read and write……Shelley said all of those things as she spoke, just from a different perspective. Hearing this from a “real” person (one who writes really good books even), not just your teacher….well that’s powerful! Just as compelling were her messages about environmental responsibility, respect for other cultures and independent thinking.

This was a super presentation to have on a Friday. Instead of feeling wiped out from the long week, I left feeling at least mentally re-energized. Not because I was completely entertained all day by this engaging author, but because of the connections I made to myself, my curriculum, my students and the world in general. In order to produce wonderful, active learners it does take a community, small, medium and worldwide to share their generosity, their support, and their experiences. If one of those goes missing, the lesson is diminished in some way, and we have shortchanged not only our students, but all of us.

I want to thank Shelley Gill for her energy, enthusiasm, compassion and time. This is a great lady who could easily be spending her time on another adventure, instead of spending it in an elementary school. If you would like more information on Shelley Gill, her books and adventures you can check her out at http://shelleygill.com . You can find out about author visits, her books as well as teacher resources.

Welcoming Spring with a Few Funnies

Spring Fever has hit the students in a large way. They have become bouncy and loud and though we attempted to corral them in the classroom, their minds are really outside in the sunshine. I have to admit, I’m kind of out there myself, it’s pretty contagious. So, just in case the fever hasn’t hit you, here are a few funnies to help lighten your mood.

In 4th grade, Mrs. K’s student “Jeanette”, who receives special ed services, had been helping to sort papers after she finished her assignment. She was still diligently working away when the Guidance Counselor, Mr. E., entered the room for his class lesson. Mrs. K remarked to “Jeanette” that she could put that work down for now, so she could pay attention to Mr. E. Jeanette turned and with a huge smile on her face said, “It’s ok Mrs. K, I can still do it cuz I’m MULTITASKIC! You know, that means I can do more than one thing at a time!” And she continued to sort, occasionally glancing up at Mr. E. (I do believe Multitaskic needs to be entered into the next edition of Webster’s. )

Also in 4th grade, Mrs. S had been working individually with “Maya”, reteaching a math concept that “Maya” was really struggling to understand. It was just about time for lunch, so Mrs. S invited “Maya” to get her lunch and bring it back to the room, so they could continue to work while they ate. Since eating in the room with the teacher is a pretty cool thing to do in a 4th grader’s mind, “Maya” was all for it. As she left, Mrs. S told her to think about any questions she might have that they could work on when she returned. A few minutes later, “Maya” returned with her lunch, sat down and looked at Mrs. S. Mrs. S. had the math work ready to begin where they had left off, and before she returned to it, she looked at “Maya” and said, “Did you think of any questions we can start with?” “Maya” looked at her very seriously and said, “Yes, Mrs. S. I have a question.” Mrs. S asked what that question might be. “Maya” looked at her very intently and asked, “How does the bus driver get on the bus?” Mrs. S has determined that next time, she’ll clarify that questions should be about the subject at hand!

And from my own Title group of second grade girls, “Denise” looks at me one day and says, “Mrs. R you look like my aunt “Sandy”. “ I smiled and jokingly said, “Oh, is she old too?” “Denise” said, “No, she’s not old, she’s DRUNK!” Really, I promise…..it’s just SPRING FEVER!

Professional Development

It’s part of every teacher’s life, professional development. In the past, in our district you had two kinds, the piece the district chose for everyone to follow and your own goals, that you chose(you know the one that really pertained to your teaching). Recently, in our district this has changed. The personal goals are now tied to the district wide goals (in other words, they are choosing both).

Since this change, we have embarked on a few new “next best thing that will increase student performance and test scores” adventures. First the focus was on vocabulary. All grade levels developed a list of pertinent vocabulary word and determined their importance to the curriculum. These lists were compiled, dispersed and I am sure filed. It was a bunch of busy work that is now on a shelf or in a drawer. Strategies for teaching vocabulary were also taught. That piece of the instruction was relevant and teachers are continuing to use it. Personal goal for this district wide goal – put an example of a vocabulary lesson you use in your portfolio. (Um, ……I already had one actually)

There was supposed to be more to the vocabulary adventure, but it was cut short. For some reason it was imperative we move on to Reading Comprehension. Again we were told it was the next most wonderful thing to improve student achievement and test scores. Seemed logical to us, so we shelved the vocabulary materials, and willingly grabbed the new reading materials. The trainer informed us that we would be learning a series of strategies that can be utilized with all students, no matter their reading level to improve their comprehension and lead them to using print. Let’s see…..we learned a total of……you guessed it…..ONE. The read aloud, is the only strategy we learned before the next switch was made. Personal goal for this district wide goal – put and an example of a read aloud lesson plan in your portfolio. (Ok, so I didn’t have that one.)

There was supposed to be much more to the reading comprehension adventure, in fact at the beginning we were told that it would take a few years to complete. BUT….the next year, we were on to the gold seal lessons of CORR. It was also touted as the next most wonderful thing, something that would be part of our professional development for more than a year. (is anyone else no longer hearing “RAH RAH RAH”…..but instead “BLAH BLAH BLAH”) Of course the personal goal was to create a lesson and get it gold sealed (and guess what…..you could put it in your portfolio!) I wrote up and submitted a lesson I do every year with my students, without any changes. It was gold sealed and my world was happy. (and yes, it was already in my portfolio) BUT WAIT – everyone did that….and now we are moving on again.

This time the professional development is “differentiated instruction”. We are just getting started; the first meeting was the prerequisite pep rally. “It’s not a strategy, it’s a philosophy! You won’t complete an assignment and put it on your shelf (or in your portfolio), you will integrate it into your teaching. This isn’t something we can cover in a year, this will be a long term journey, lasting 3 to 4 years. It will benefit students, improve their performance and in turn, improve test scores.” Wait, I have heard this before, and not just once or twice, but EVERY TIME WE START! I am afraid, now, my enthusiasm is not what it should be.

As a teacher, I really do want to learn whatever strategy or philosophy I can to help my students be as successful as they can be. I think every teacher does. There has to be a better way. If your professional development has been spectacular, please share! Those of us in mediocre land would love to hear about it.

*pulled from the Los Angeles Times and written by By David Kelly

Dictionary definition raises ruckus at Menifee school

The school district pulls the Merriam Webster 10th Collegiate editions off classroom shelves for study by a newly formed committee after a parent complains about explicit definitions of sexual terms.

It may be the last word in spelling bees and Scrabble, but Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary now faces a new if unlikely notoriety: being too sexy for its own good.

That was the verdict from at least one parent in Menifee last week who called the principal of Oak Meadows Elementary School to say that entries describing oral sex in the dictionary were too explicit. The books were immediately pulled off the shelves and “temporarily housed off location” until a committee could determine their suitability for children.

NASA to fly high school experiments.

-Pulled from UPI.com

NASA is inviting U.S. high school students to design and build an experiment or technology demonstration to be flown into the stratosphere.

The space agency says it will send the experiments into the near space environment of the stratosphere — an altitude of 100,000 feet. The Balloonsat High Altitude Flight Competition will be launched on a NASA weather balloon May 25-27 in Cleveland.

“To participate, student teams in grades nine through 12 must submit a research or flight demonstration proposal to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland by Friday, Feb. 19,” the space agency said in a statement. “Teams of four or more may pursue a wide variety of topics in this competition, including science and weather observations, remote sensing and image processing. A panel of engineers and scientists at Glenn will evaluate and select four top-ranked proposals by Friday, March 5.”

The top four teams will be awarded travel expenses and up to $1,000 to develop their flight experiment or technology demonstration. Teams will participate in three flight days to release, track and recover their experiments.

NASA will host an informational webcast about the competition Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST. A link to the webcast and additional information about Balloonsat High Altitude Flight is available at http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/balloonsat.

Girls’ math fears may start with female teachers.

Teachers who are worried about their own skills may pass it on, study says.

**To see this complete msnbc news article, click here**
 

No H1N1 this time!

It’s been a long strange school year. Earlier in the fall my district had about with the respiratory type of flu, and we did see some H1N1. There were times when over 20% of the student population was absent. In fact there were classrooms with as few as 6 students in them for days at a time.

Well, this week the “pukin’ flu” (as one student put it) hit my building, with a vengeance. It started with just a few, but just a couple of days in there were students lined up in the office sharing garbage cans as they waited for their parents. In every classroom the upchuck has hit the floor/desks/rugs, causing all teachers to have the “if you are going to be sick, just GO! - You don’t have to ask permission” speech. Students are being made aware of the location of every garbage can, and every bathroom. Again, hand washing is being stressed and the use of hand sanitizer is on the rise. However, I have come to the conclusion this is to no avail – those “pukin’ flu” germs are going to infect us all, they are on a mission.

This is why I feel that way. On Wednesday a guest teacher in a first grade classroom was trying to get students ready to go home about 2:45, so they would all be ready to board their buses at 2:55. During this time it’s really just managed chaos as snow pants, hats, mittens, scarves, boots, and coats get layered on and backpacks get loaded. In the midst of all of this, one little girl tells the teacher she doesn’t feel very good, then she immediately punctuates her sentence by vomiting all over her shoes and the floor. The rest of the children immediately start reacting with “EEEEEWWWW!”, “That’s GROSS”, “Why’d ya do THAT?”. The guest teacher holds her composure, and calmly stops a teacher in the hall to take the ill child to the office, and send a janitor back to the room. As the regular teacher is taking the ill child from the room, another student (yep, in the same room) vomits all over the floor and another student’s backpack. At this point, in desperation, the guest teacher asks the remaining students if anyone else is feeling ill. The second ill student is shipped off with another teacher as the janitor makes his way into the room to try to clean up the damage. (There is not enough money to get me to do that job.) While this clean up is going on, the guest teacher manages to get the rest of the students in line and starts down the hallway to the buses. On the way this class has to dodge 2 more “puddles” of vomit, deposited by students headed home. I don’t know if this guest teacher will ever return, perhaps in the spring after the “pukin’ flu” is gone!

Seriously, some days, I feel like I work in an ongoing Monty Python movie…….. “There’s always room for a thin mint.”