Posts Tagged “homeroom”

Is it really all about the “class” ?

As a teacher, you know there are differences in “classes”….not just in a classroom, but the class as a whole. It’s hard to explain to those outside of education who think all students show up for the first day of Kindergarten knowing their alphabet and how to write their name. It’s hard to understand just how much that is not reality; how you can have a class with a child who has never held a crayon and a child who is already reading.

At my elementary, last year’s 5th grade class was a tough one. There were many students with some pretty serious behavior issues, many with very poor home situations and many who were receiving special education services. We knew this class was going to be challenging when they arrived in kindergarten, so many of the students were at risk. Over the 6 years that they spent with us, we tried to build them up, give them strategies and tools, and set them up for success as they moved on to Middle School.

A few years ago I was talking to the social worker at our school after a student in my daughter’s class committed suicide by hanging himself in his parent’s garage. They were juniors at the time. Mrs. K. said something that has stuck with me. She said, “That class has been edgy and intense from the beginning. They want to push the envelope and change things.” She went on to compare that class to the “over-achievers” in the Senior class that year; the “clowns” in the sophomore class and the “socialites” of the freshman class. Mrs. K. went on to say that by the time a class gets to HS, they have developed a “class” personality and it seems to stick - even after graduation. I have often thought back on that and wished she was not so prophetic.

Today my daughter got a call that a young man from her class had shot himself and died. He is the fourth to commit suicide, from her “edgy, intense” class. (This class graduated 3 years ago.) This is a small town folks….4 kids from a class of 120ish. She and her classmates will now come together again, hold one another, attempt to understand and then go on as best they can. I will hug my daughter, tell her I love her and how important she is to me and those around her. I will try to help her get through another loss - too many for one so young.

As I go through this with my child again today - my mind wanders to last year’s class of fifth graders, who are struggling through their first year of Middle School this year. I think about some of the tender hearts, insecure souls and how hard they worked to get as far as they did. Those students, “my kids” that I really didn’t want to send over to Middle School. The hard ones, seem to touch you more than the easy ones. I pray that they do not find this answer….the adolescent years are so cruel, so hard, ……I pray they will all find the strength they need. I hope against hope that Mrs. K will be wrong, and this weak challenged group of students will turn out to be the class of “survivors”.

Holiday Funnies

There are many “extra” activities that go on around the holidays. Due to this, the normal daily schedule gets massacred and that is a recipe for chaos. In this chaos are always a few humorous moments….

#1 Mrs. Mc., the Kindergarten teacher, was trying to get her students lined up in the correct order for their music program when one of her students called her over. When she got there he motioned for her to bend down, like he needed to tell her something in confidence. As she bent down, he quickly put his hands on her chest and then turned to the student beside him and said, “Yup, she’s a girl! I told you.” Mrs. Mc. is now considering new hairstyles, clothing choices and perhaps even some plastic surgery.

#2 Mr. K is now under suspicion……he was walking by a group of (yes again) Kindergarteners when one of them said, “Yeah, that’s my dad.”
Mr. K said, “Who is your dad?”
The student said, “You ARE!”
Mr. K smiled at the student and said, “No, I’m not your dad.” and walked away.
As he was walking away another teacher saw the student turn to the one he had been talking to and say, “He really is my dad, but sometimes when he’s drinkin’ he forgets.”
And we all thought Mr. K. was the proud father of only 2 children, now we are wondering how many others may be out there and whether or not we need to do an intervention.

#3 In 5th grade this time (they are really no better than Kindergarteners) I stopped in to Mr. K’s room (different Mr. K.) because he always does a big gingerbread house geometry project. As I walked around the room and talked to many of the students about their houses I was amazed at the creativity. Some students were having no problems building while others were really struggling. One girl had been attempting to get a roof piece on for quite some time when Mr. K. took pity on her and fixed it. I asked the student what she was doing and she blithely answered, “Watching Mr. K. do my work. Isn’t he doin’ a good job?”
The look on Mr. K.’s face was priceless. He then removed the piece he had just secured and handed it to the student. She then hurriedly said, “No, I meant, I was watching Mr. K. help me so I could do my work better!!!!”
Mr. K. just smiled at her and walked away.

If you had any holiday laughs….please share….

In the Spirit

This time of year, students have a difficult time concentrating on academics, to say the least. Music programs, special events, secret projects for their parents, and parties fill their minds….well it fills the holes around the big event – SANTA! I am normally a big holiday spirit person….big on finding the little things that make people happy, baking, wrapping, and decorating. One year though, the whole school was lacking the spirit – that was the last year we knew we would be in our building. The following year we would all be consolidated into one building. This was not a move anyone was particularly looking forward to because we enjoyed our small building, close working relationships and collaborative freedom. The Polar Express saved that year for me (and a few others too I think).
That was the year that the movie for The Polar Express came out. Our local movie theater made it possible for all the students to attend a showing of it. So we did lots of preteaching and extending activities to get ready for it. On the day we were scheduled to go, the students were just vibrating. I was assigned to go with a first grade class. This particular class had a high number of at risk and special education students. Some of these students had behavioral issues. I was seated between two of these students.

“Molly” was normally unable to stay in her seat. She had no impulse control, sensory issues, and few social skills. She sat on my right and “Tristan” sat on my left. He too lacked social skills and struggled with impulse control, but he also dealt with a home life that was chaotic and impoverished. In fact, so much so that attendance was often and issue. I envisioned spending much of the movie in the lobby.

As we waited for the movie to start, we talked about the book and their favorite parts. We talked about trains, snow and bells. Then the lights went dark and the magic began. Both sat mesmerized by the screen. Halfway through the movie, “Molly” snuggled into my arm, sighed, smiled up at me and settled in for the remainder of the film. Complete satisfaction, contentment and happiness very evident on her face.

“Tristan” pulled up his legs, and chewed on his cuffs. Every once in awhile he would lean over and say something to me. Most of the time I could not understand him, however, on one occasion, he was very clear. When the little “poor” boy was frantically looking for his present after he fell into Santa’s sack, “Tristan” leaned over and clearly said, “I bet I could find a present in there for me, too.” I assured him, he could.

When the movie ended, the theater was silent for a few minutes….the spell lifting……for my little charges, but not for me. I walked out of there under their spell…..the spell of their innocence, their hope, and their wonderment carried me through that season. Each year since then, I carefully re-open that gift.

Merry Christmas – Happy Holidays – and a wonderful, hopeful New Year!

SNOW DAY!!

Since I live in the Midwest, snow days come with the change of season. As a teacher, snow days are a double-edged sword. There are times when you pray for that morning call telling you that you can stay in bed and not fight your way through drifts, slick roads and bone-chilling temperatures. But even as you roll over to go back to sleep, you realize it just means the end of the year is another day away. It also plays havoc with lesson plans, and schedules. Time has changed your perspective, because as a child, snow days were only one thing……GREAT!

As a child I remember lying quietly in bed listening intently to the radio for the words, “Ottumwa Public Schools are closed.” Once those words were heard, the day opened up to endless possibilities. I lay there a bit longer, planning the ways I could use an entire EXTRA day free from the classroom. Of course, layering on all the warm clothes we could handle and still move, so we could head out into that pristine glistening snow, was first on the list. We lived on a block full of children; so snowmen, snow angels, snow forts and snowball fights were everywhere. We stayed out until the call of hot cocoa was too strong to ignore.

Frosty and covered in snow we traipsed into the house. “Straight to the basement! Hang everything wet up on the line!” my mother would yell from some unseen corner of the house. Down we went, struggling to be free of the layers of now soaking wet, cold clothes. Most of them did get hung up…most. Racing back up the stairs we knew we would find steaming cups of extra chocolate hot cocoa with as many miniature marshmallows as we could cram in the mug. Scalded lips and burnt tongues were all part of the magic as we sat and regaled my mom with our snow adventures.

The remainder of the day was spent with a book in a warm cozy corner of the den. Or maybe, we could coax my mom into a game of Monopoly, and waste the afternoon trying to become millionaires. But at 4:30, the race was on to find enough try pieces of dry clothing to go back out with my dad when he arrived home from work. We knew if we could get the driveway and sidewalk shoveled quickly with him, we might get a sled ride around the block.

That was magic, a sled ride around our neighborhood in the dark. There would be no traffic; the world seemed so silent, so peaceful. The snow glittering under the streetlights, our breath hot and moist under the scarves we wore. My mom pulled my brother, my dad me, through the streets of our neighborhood. I felt safe, loved and content.

Last week, after two snow days, I listened as my students told their snow day stories, shared their snow adventures and magic moments. There are many things that have changed since I was young, but snow days….they are same.

Grandparents Day!

Students LOVE it when their parents come to school to spend time with them. If a mom or dad decides to be a “room-helper” for the day you can see their child puff up with pride and confidence, because they can show mom or dad the ropes. But that’s nothing compared to Grandparents Day!

Every year Kindergarten and First grades hold Grandparents Day in conjunction with the holiday music program. They work hard to make special invitations to give to their grandparents, prepare a special poem and clean up their desk so it’s neat and tidy to show off. As I move through the classrooms I will hear about which Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Poppa, Grammy and Grampy are going to be attending. For those students whose grandparents are unable to attend there is a photo wall where they can share pictures and write a little paragraph or two about their grandparents. It is so much fun to hear their stories.

Last year I helped out in a First Grade classroom on the actual day. As Grandparents arrived, each child excitedly introduced their grandparents to the class; “This is my Grampy. He likes to fish with me.” “This is my Nana Peters, she’s my Grandma, but we don’t call her that, we just call her Nana.” “This is my Grandma and Grandpa, they live on a farm.” My favorite introduction of the day was; “This is my Gramma. But she’s not like an old kind of Grandma, she’s still fun.”

I don’t remember having a Grandparents Day when I was growing up. I do remember that my Grandparents often came to my programs and school activities. I was lucky enough to have Grandparents who lived close enough for me to spend time with them regularly. I would have LOVED to show them off at school. My introductions would probably have gone something like this: “This is my Grandma Brown, we create new recipes for ice cream drinks in her kitchen.” “These are my Great-Granparents, Gramma & Grampa Stump. They live on a farm, let me milk cows, gather eggs and ride a big horse.” “And this is Grandma and Grandpa Loomis. Grandma lets us make bread with her and Grandpa built us a go-cart out of a lawn-mower engine.” Of all the special days we have at school, I think this has to be the best one!

AND have a great Thanksgiving holiday……

That’s how the superintendent ended his meeting with the staff of my elementary school the day before our Thanksgiving break. Sounds like a great sentiment, however he had just come to explain to us how much financial trouble is ahead, not only for our district, but for all the districts in the state as budget cuts are coming for the rest of this year and next. The probability of a 10% across the board cut for every state agency is looming as the state attempts to balance their budget.

Every year, we get a doom and gloom speech about 3 weeks before they start contract negotiations. The superintendent and the financial guru come and tell us about all the money the district is losing and how we shouldn’t expect raises etc. Then we battle, get a small raise (usually less than the increase of the cost of living) and a month later, the administration settles on a raise that is more than any other group – teachers, maintenance, food service. This is typical for my district, and as you can imagine, it does nothing to develop trust/credibility for the administration.

Somehow, we are supposed to see this year as being worse. We are supposed to be prepared for staff cuts, supply monitoring, increase in class size and perhaps even curriculum cuts (music, art and PE are not mandated parts of the curriculum so they are on the chopping block.). Because of this, the discussion of going to a 4 day school week is now under discussion. The first response to this suggestion was “Parents won’t like it because they will have to come up with and pay for child care.” I hate to say it, but my thought to that was, “School is NOT free daycare!”

But it got me to wondering, in the numerous districts that have gone to a 4 day school week, how have teachers, students and parents adapted? What changes have occurred, both positive and negative? Would you recommend it for another district? What tweaking would you do if you could make changes to your 4 day program? There is a lot of research out there about 4 day weeks, but I would like to hear from those who are living it. So if there is anyone out there reading this blog in this situation, PLEASE share. Anyone else not in this situation – what are your opinions? I would love to start a dialog about this topic.

**pulled from the New York Times and written by Winnie Hu**

Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions

Between Craigslist and eBay, the Internet is well established as a marketplace where one person’s trash is transformed into another’s treasure. Now, thousands of teachers are cashing in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as sophisticated as Shakespeare.

While some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies in a time of tight budgets, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacation travel and even home renovation, leading some school officials to raise questions over who owns material developed for public school classrooms.

“To the extent that school district resources are used, then I think it’s fair to ask whether the district should share in the proceeds,” said Robert N. Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

The marketplace for educational tips and tricks is too new to have generated policies or guidelines in most places. In Fairfax County, Va., officials had been studying the issue when they discovered this fall that a former football coach was selling his playbook and instructional DVDs online for $197; they investigated but let him keep selling.

A high school English teacher in upstate New York said her bosses barred her from selling plans used in her classroom; she spoke on the condition that she not be named.

Beyond the unresolved legal questions, there are philosophical ones. Joseph McDonald, a professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University, said the online selling cheapens what teachers do and undermines efforts to build sites where educators freely exchange ideas and lesson plans.

“Teachers swapping ideas with one another, that’s a great thing,” he said. “But somebody asking 75 cents for a word puzzle reduces the power of the learning community and is ultimately destructive to the profession.”

Teachers like Erica Bohrer, though, see the new demand for lessons as long-awaited recognition of their worth.

“Teaching can be a thankless job,” said Ms. Bohrer, 30, who has used the $650 she earned in the past year to add books to a reading nook in her first-grade classroom at Daniel Street Elementary School on Long Island and to help with mortgage payments. “I put my hard-earned time and effort into creating these things, and I just would like credit.”

The humble lesson plan has gained value as focus on testing and individualized instruction has increased. At the same time, the Internet has diminished the isolation of classroom teachers. Just about every imaginable lesson for preschool through college is now up for sale — on individual teachers’ blogs as well as commercial sites where buyers can review and grade the material.

Teachers Pay Teachers, one of the largest such sites, with more than 200,000 registered users, has recorded $600,000 in sales since it was started in 2006 — $450,000 of that in the past year, said its founder, Paul Edelman, a former New York City teacher. The top seller, a high school English teacher in California, has made $36,000 in sales.

Another site, We Are Teachers, went online last year with a “knowledge marketplace” that includes lesson plans and online tutoring.

Kelly Gionti, a teacher at the High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice in Manhattan, has sold $2,544 worth of unit plans for “The Catcher in the Rye” and “The Great Gatsby,” among others, helping finance trips to Rome and Ireland, as well as class supplies.

Margaret Whisnant, a retired teacher in North Carolina, earns an average of $750 a month from lessons based on her three decades of teaching middle school classics like “The Outsiders,” enough to pay for new kitchen counters and appliances.

“I have wanted to redo my kitchen for 20 years, and I just could not get the funds together,” she said. “Well, now I’m going to have to learn to cook.”

Lisa Michalek, 40, who taught for six years in Rochester and now works for Aventa Learning, a for-profit online education company, said she spent about five hours a week tweaking old lesson plans and creating new ones, like an earth science curriculum that sells for $59.95.

“I knew I had good lessons, so I thought, ‘Why not see what other people think of it?’ ” Ms. Michalek said.

After $31,000 in sales, she has her answer. Alice Coburn, 56, a vocational education teacher in Goshen, N.Y., said she saved two to three hours each time she downloaded Ms. Michalek’s PowerPoint presentations instead of starting from scratch. “I hate reinventing the wheel,” Ms. Coburn said.

Others find comfort in having a class-tested lesson by a more experienced teacher. Lauren Perreca, 24, used a $10 lesson on the Vietnam War novel “Fallen Angels” as a reference last year while creating her own lesson for her classes at Weston High School in Connecticut. She also revised her reading questions about “Lord of the Flies” after comparing them with two other lesson plans.

“At first I was self-conscious I had bought something, because what did that say about me?” she said. “But I realized I wasn’t just taking it and using it, I was adapting it to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.”

Now Ms. Perreca has started selling her own lesson plans, like a 54-page “Macbeth” unit with quizzes and homework assignments ($10) that she wrote in graduate school. She said she spent $140 of her $523 in earnings on cookies and books for her students, and used the rest to splurge on dinners out that she could not otherwise afford.

Her students are incredulous. “They’re like, ‘Who would want to buy those? They’re so boring,’ ” Ms. Perreca said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m making money.’ ”

In Ms. Bohrer’s class the other day in Lindenhurst, N.Y., five children were counting M&Ms while she made sure they digested the lesson before the candy. The exercise, which comes with directions, sorting mats and work sheets, has sold 31 times for $3 a pop. A variation with Lucky Charms is popular around St. Patrick’s Day, she said.

“M&M sorting is not a new concept,” said Ms. Bohrer, who has been teaching since 2001. “I made it easier for teachers to do. They just have to click and print.”

Daniel Street’s principal, Frank Picozzi, said he supported Ms. Bohrer’s online business because his students reaped the benefits of her initiative and creativity.

Ms. Bohrer recalled that when she used to share her lesson plans at no charge, a poster of her reading strategies was passed around so many times that it ended up with a teacher in another school who had no idea where it came from.

“I’ll share with friends,” Ms. Bohrer said, “and if anyone else likes it, I’ll tell them where to buy it.”

Spooky Stories

Halloween two weeks ago – I think it must be the most dreaded holiday of the year for teachers. Students high on anticipation, sugar and showing off their costumes make actual learning that day a real challenge.

A first grader asked me “What are you gonna be for Halloween?” Before I could open my mouth to answer another in the group said, “She can’t dress-up; she’s too old to go trick-or-treating!” I had to chuckle and agree. One of my reading teacher colleagues related a conversation she had with another first grader. Mrs. S said her first grade guided reading students were chatting about their costumes as she got out the day’s supplies. One of them casually looked over at her and said, “Mrs. S. you should be Frankenstein, cuz you already look like him.” (I think he may flunk guided reading this year). I am always amazed at how few homemade costumes there are during the “costume parade”. My own children and I had more fun creating the costumes they wore.

My favorite costume of the year came from the “lunch ladies”. They have a long history of great costumes. One year they were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They decorated the “bar” ( a rolling bar where the condiments are usually kept) up like Snow White’s coffin, with Mrs. J, the kitchen manager dressed up as Snow White laying in it. The Seven Dwarfs pushed her through the hallway crying. It was classic. This year though they went all out. The janitors have a “ride-on floor washing machine”. It looks a little like a shrunken Zamboni for linoleum. Mrs. J had added varying lengths of tubing all around with white gloves at the ends and rode it dressed as the Cat-in-the-Hat, leading a parade of Things 1 through 6. The Things, all had marshmallow guns, and were shooting the teachers as they paraded down the hallway. The students were laughing hysterically and cheering them on. I wonder how they are going to top that one next year!

The best part of Halloween though…..is that……it’s over.

WHAM! And you feel so old…….

Every now and again from out of nowhere, a student will very innocently ask you something, or say something that will make you immediately and acutely aware of your age. Completely blindsiding you with nothing more than a quick remark, putting an entirely new perspective on your whole day.

Case in point, during a discussion this week with my 4th grade guided reading group about the book, The Kid In The Red Jacket by Barbara Park (who has a wonderful sense of humor that manages to get the theme across when you least expect it), we came upon a reference to “Rambo”. As we were talking, “Katie”, a sweet, pretty, blond, raises her hand and says, “What’s a Rambo?” Before I could answer, two other students said, “yea, I want to know that too.” WHAM!!! Blindsided again, because I have failed to realize the age of that movie. Weren’t kids still dressing up as Rambo for Halloween??? I would investigate this during the Halloween parade, but I quickly explained WHO Rambo was, and the discussion went on. (By the way, the answer is no….not one Rambo costume in the bunch. Vampires and Zombies were the winners this year, followed closely by princesses.) Feeling officially old, I shared this story with my colleagues, who gave me some comfort because they too were surprised.

This realization of aging is only compounded by the fact that students make daily references to movies and TV shows I have never HEARD of, let alone watched! How does this happen? It is such a slow process that you do not feel it happening, but it is, and it’s going to bite you when you least expect it. Well, I for one am not going down without a fight! This weekend, I am going to look up those TV shows and watch a couple….who knows….maybe I will even enjoy them! Now, all I have to do is remember the names of those shows………I am so old……..

Armed with hand-sanitizer………

I made it through the week. The flu outbreak, whether it’s H1N1 or just the normal seasonal flu, has begun to hit our district in a big way. Over 20% of the students in our building were absent for 2 days last week. Teachers have also been ill; so many that they are unable to find substitute teachers for them all. Reading teachers get the call in this case, and I enjoyed a day in a fifth grade classroom.

The major weapon in our fight against the germs, is hand sanitizer. As students come into the room – “Please sanitize your hands.” As students enter the computer lab – “Please sanitize your hands”. As students leave the computer lab – “Please sanitize your hands”. As students leave for art…..well….you get the picture. Hand sanitizer is everywhere! As I spent the day with the fifth graders, it occurred to me, perhaps we need a better weapon – these kids are sanitizing every time they turn around and they are still dropping like flies.

Wednesday morning I was headed to the office to get some supplies. I passed one of my few well colleagues on my way. “Don’t go in the office”, she said in a low growl. HHHHmmmmmm. I had to go into the office, I needed these supplies. As I rounded the little hallway from the teacher work room to the office area I almost stepped on a student! Upon further observation, the principal’s office is full of students, the little hall is full of students, the guidance counselors office more students. The nurses’ office, FULL of students with pans and the office, well, it looked like a triage scene from MASH. As I gathered my supplies, I held my breath, then got out of there as quickly as I could. On my way out I passed another colleague…..yup, I too growled, “DON’T go in there.”

There is hope on the horizon however. Friday they held a flu shot clinic for students and about half of the parents sent permission for their children to get shots. Although the shots were given quickly and few students actually cried, the effects of the trauma were seen throughout the day. One teacher asked a student to hold the door for the rest of the class to go by and got an overly dramatic, “But……I got the flu shot…..I can’t do it”. I overheard two 4th grade girls talking on their way out the door at the end of the day. One must have gotten the shot and the other not. The one who received the shot was reliving the trauma. “First they poke in this long needle, and you don’t feel it right away but then…….this whole thing of PAIN shoots all over your whole body…..and you think you might DIE!” It just makes me wonder how many kids who got the shots will use that as an excuse to get out of their weekend chores.

Excuse me, I need to go disinfect my table, pencils, chairs……..well……my world.