I made it back to Portland this afternoon, but my poor husband got stuck in Phoenix all day because of a mechanical error with the plane and is now stuck in DC until tomorrow night because that is when the next flight to Munich takes off. I am really bummed out that he had to spend the whole day in the airport alone, but even more bummed out that I was waiting at my gate for an hour not knowing that he was still at the airport! His dad dropped us off this morning and his flight was supposed to take off just about an hour before mine. We waited at his terminal until it was time for him to board and then we said goodbye for another 3 months. Leaving him this time was not as bad as when I left Germany this summer, but we had such a great time together in Arizona that it's hard to go from that to being apart again. Thank goodness for my roomie and cute doggie who picked me up at the airport! When I got home I got a call from Mr. Sneaker saying that he was still in Phoenix (about 5 hours after I left him at the gate). As if his trip back to Germany wasn't long enough--that definitely makes for a LONG trip home. He will be ringing in the new year somewhere over the ocean.
My roomie and I met up with Jill for drinks tonight and then on the way home we made an impromptu trip to Trader Joes and Costco. I have a lot of stuff to get done tomorrow so it was nice to check those off the list without having to deal with the lines. I am glad I have a few days before I go back to school because there is always a lot to get done after traveling and being away from home. I definitely need to check in with my lesson plans and wrap my mind around being back in the classroom in just a few days. Hopefully tomorrow I will sit down and post about my goals for 2011 (one of which is to do more blogging!)
Bad Blogger
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I feel like I have been such an absentee blogger recently. I used to navigate through my days thinking about what I could post about and so far this school year has kept me so busy I just have not had the time for much writing--aside from my papers and assignments for class. It makes me sad that blogging has taken a back seat, but despite my lack of posting, lots has been going on. I don't think that I have mentioned on here, but I am training for a half marathon with my roommate. The race is in April and I have never run anything longer than a 10K race before, but we have been busily gearing up. We do a long run every Sunday (followed by something warm and yummy from Starbucks) and I try to get in as many workouts as I can during the week. We actually have a whole group that we train with, which is fun because it makes training a little more social than boring. It has been tough to keep a workout schedule with having class two days (or sometimes 4 days a week), but I do my best.
Once I happily reunited with my cute husband last week, we decided to go for a run together since I was missing my long run with the group. Unfortunately, we just don't make good running buddies. My group consists of awesome people who are completely fine with running slowly--we call ourselves turtles and share the goal of just wanting to finish the race rather than focusing on keeping a particular pace or achieving a certain time. We plug away at our miles slow and steady. When I ran with hubs, he kept on encouraging me to run faster and push harder, which is great, but not what I am used to with my running group. Since I am away from the pack this week while spending my break in Arizona, I decided to kick my training up a notch. Despite the beautiful, warm weather, I have been doing my runs on the treadmill which helps me with my pacing. Usually I run at 6.0 on the treadmill which is a ten minute mile because that is a very comfortable pace.
Today, I rocked it out and definitely kicked it up a notch. I ran 7 miles in 60 minutes. My 5K time was 27:10, my 10K time was 52:58 and the overall time was just a hair over an hour. The whole time I was at 6.5 mph or faster. Since we are staying in Sun City which has a minimum age requirement and is the home to lots of elderly people, the treadmills at the gym actually max out at 8.0 mph which is a bit less than an 8 minute mile and I actually felt like I could run faster than that at certain points during the run. I am glad that I found the motivation to get in such a good run and now I know that I need to push myself more!
After our trip to the gym, Mr. Sneaker and I enjoyed a nice dinner with his parents and his grandma and we are now relaxing and watching Wall Street. We skyped with my brother, his wife, and our nieces earlier today and overall it was a great Christmas. Hubs gave me an adidas miCoach and some new running gear which helped with the motivation to get moving a little faster.
He also got me Uggs (yay!), but my favorite gift of all is spending time with him!
I am going to be so sad when we leave AZ next week because we will be apart for another 3 months until spring break and it will be back to the grind. I am taking 4 courses again during Winter term and I need to get my act in gear and start writing my core paper which is the first major paper/presentation of the program. Somehow I managed to get all A's last term which is awesome but given how many times I got sick during the first few months of school, I know that busting my butt has really been taking its toll and stressing me out. It has been SO nice to just relax this past week. I finally finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest which I had to restart since it had been so long since I had picked it up and I also read The Hunger Games which I LOVED. We are actually reading it for book club this term, but I decided to read it in advance during break so that it would not be an additional part of my weekly work once my classes start. It is ridiculous how many books I brought with me, but having spare time to just read for pleasure is SO great that I wanted to take full advantage. And, being the total dork that I am, I brought one of my textbooks for next term so I can take a sneak peak and get ready for Winter Term.
Hopefully I will be better about posting because I miss it! Keep checking in!
Too cute
Yesterday I took a sick day to finish recovering from the yuck that was a second attack of strep throat that I was blessed with over the weekend. It felt really stressed to lose an entire weekend to being sick in bed this close to Christmas and my upcoming trip that I needed to take the day--enough said.
Today I was happy to be back with my kiddos although some terribly awful behaviors left me near tears and really frustrated. At one point today, the principal popped in, which she does often, in the midst of me attempting to dispel directions to a group of kids who were completely not listening to me--at all. I was really mortified and frustrated and near tears and sad and the list goes on. Thankfully she pops in often enough to know that I am a good teacher and that this incident was more due to my students completely losing all control than a lack of structure or teaching skills. I still internalize everything which resulted in me being so stressed and upset by said incident I could only stomach a piece of chocolate for lunch.
Anyway, enter my afternoon kiddos. They are the feelers, the artistic ones, the ones with personality...I heart my afternoon class. They asked me how my throat was and if I was feeling better...then my little friend Danny boy says to a student who was talking during morning work--"You have to listen to Mrs. Sneaker because she is really sick right here (and points to his neck). He didn't really know the exact specific location of where strep throat occurs, but he was very concerned about my throat.
Their behavior today was not stellar but if it wasn't for that class, I don't know how I would survive....I know for sure that the first day back after Winter break will be reminiscent of the first day of school for the morning class. I plan to reteach every routine and have those kiddos practice until they prove they actually do remember that there are rules in the classroom. This group can either be stellar or really awful and unfortunately, I missed their awesome behavior yesterday because they were great for Jill. Friday was not good and neither was today. I have been in really good contact with the parents of the three friends in particular who are really acting up and have had good conversations where I felt like we are on the same page and they are supporting my rules at home, yet the behavior in school still gets really bad. And when three are acting up at once, it makes it really hard to get much accomplished.
Winter break will be both much needed and appreciated! 3 more days until hubs!
Today I was happy to be back with my kiddos although some terribly awful behaviors left me near tears and really frustrated. At one point today, the principal popped in, which she does often, in the midst of me attempting to dispel directions to a group of kids who were completely not listening to me--at all. I was really mortified and frustrated and near tears and sad and the list goes on. Thankfully she pops in often enough to know that I am a good teacher and that this incident was more due to my students completely losing all control than a lack of structure or teaching skills. I still internalize everything which resulted in me being so stressed and upset by said incident I could only stomach a piece of chocolate for lunch.
Anyway, enter my afternoon kiddos. They are the feelers, the artistic ones, the ones with personality...I heart my afternoon class. They asked me how my throat was and if I was feeling better...then my little friend Danny boy says to a student who was talking during morning work--"You have to listen to Mrs. Sneaker because she is really sick right here (and points to his neck). He didn't really know the exact specific location of where strep throat occurs, but he was very concerned about my throat.
Their behavior today was not stellar but if it wasn't for that class, I don't know how I would survive....I know for sure that the first day back after Winter break will be reminiscent of the first day of school for the morning class. I plan to reteach every routine and have those kiddos practice until they prove they actually do remember that there are rules in the classroom. This group can either be stellar or really awful and unfortunately, I missed their awesome behavior yesterday because they were great for Jill. Friday was not good and neither was today. I have been in really good contact with the parents of the three friends in particular who are really acting up and have had good conversations where I felt like we are on the same page and they are supporting my rules at home, yet the behavior in school still gets really bad. And when three are acting up at once, it makes it really hard to get much accomplished.
Winter break will be both much needed and appreciated! 3 more days until hubs!
Christmas Fun
Since I am still sick in bed, of course I started my morning my reading blogs. I saw this on According to Ashley and wanted to borrow it. I love everything Christmas, so I really had fun answering these questions.....
Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper. One of my favorite things about the holiday is wrapping gifts.
Real tree or artificial? Our tree was always real when I was growing up. Ever since I married a Californian, we have had a fake tree.
When do you put up the tree? Usually right after Thanksgiving!
When do you take the tree down? Before New Year's
Do you like eggnog? Sometimes, but mostly no. I think just eggnog ice cream.
Favorite gift received as a child? Well let's see, I am pretty sure that my first Cabbage Patch doll was a Christmas gift and she is still in my bedroom at my parents' house. Florrie was one of those gifts that was very special and considering I still have her, I would say she was definitely a favorite.
Hardest person to buy for? My husband!
Do you have a nativity scene? Always did growing up. I have a small one of my own, but this year my holiday stuff is split between storage in Germany and storage in Portland so I don't have it up.
Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually I mail although this year I didn't send any out. I love to send a photo card, but since hubs and I have not gotten any good photos recently as a result of being apart, I may wait and send a New Year's Card after we see each other over Christmas.
Favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually, The Santa Clause Series
When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually the day after Thanksgiving or sometimes sooner. This year I knew I wouldn't be going back East for Christmas so I did my holiday shopping for my family back in July when I was visiting and left the gifts there!
Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes.
Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Honey Baked Ham
Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear
Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells, especially the version from the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Awesome! Also a big fan of All I Want for Christmas is You (especially this year!)
Travel at Christmas or stay home? We always travel. Usually it's from Oregon to Connecticut where my family is. Last year it was from Germany to CT, and this year we are going to Arizona to be with my in-laws, so I will enjoy a very short flight for once, and hubs is flying out from Germany on Wednesday. Cross your fingers he gets out okay because they have a lot of snow!
Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course I can! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donnor, Blitzen, and Rudolph!
Angel, star, or ribbon at the top of the tree? Star
Open present Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? My family tradition growing up was always to open on Christmas Day. Now that my brother and I are older and he has kids, we sometimes open each others' presents on Christmas Eve. My husband's family tradition is to open presents on Christmas Eve, so this year I will have a new experience!
Favorite children's Christmas song? I think all Christmas songs are for grownups too!
Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowded stores or buying something and then seeing it on sale for less but not having the receipt or item with me to get a price adjustment
Favorite ornament theme or color? Every year since my birth, my mom has gotten me a dated Hallmark ornament, so I now have a collection of 29. It is so fun to look back at each year and remember why that particular ornament was chosen.
Turkey or ham on Christmas day? We do Ham usually on Christmas Eve, but my sister-in-law usually does beef on Christmas. A little Roast Beast like in the Grinch?
What do you want for Christmas this year? To be with my husband and to cherish every moment of those two weeks....and Uggs.
Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? When I was little we used to have Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house and the men took turns dressing up as Santa. One year it was my dad and I remember kind of figuring it out, but my parents swore it wasn't him.
Age you discovered who Santa was? Can't remember. To me Santa represents the spirit of giving which I like to think is alive and well!
Egg nog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Hot Chocolate, especially the way my roomie makes it with a little butterscotch schnapps!!
Traditional colors (red & green) or other colors? I love silver too, but yes red and green are the typical holiday colors for me.
Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? Nope.
How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? Good question.
Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? I like both. I love receiving a gift that someone picked out for me, but I also love getting the chance to shop after Christmas.
Favorite children's Christmas cartoon? Don't really have one. I do however, really enjoy Pee Wee Herman's Christmas Special...I know that sounds weird, but I do.
Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly wrapping paper. One of my favorite things about the holiday is wrapping gifts.
Real tree or artificial? Our tree was always real when I was growing up. Ever since I married a Californian, we have had a fake tree.
When do you put up the tree? Usually right after Thanksgiving!
When do you take the tree down? Before New Year's
Do you like eggnog? Sometimes, but mostly no. I think just eggnog ice cream.
Favorite gift received as a child? Well let's see, I am pretty sure that my first Cabbage Patch doll was a Christmas gift and she is still in my bedroom at my parents' house. Florrie was one of those gifts that was very special and considering I still have her, I would say she was definitely a favorite.
Hardest person to buy for? My husband!
Do you have a nativity scene? Always did growing up. I have a small one of my own, but this year my holiday stuff is split between storage in Germany and storage in Portland so I don't have it up.
Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually I mail although this year I didn't send any out. I love to send a photo card, but since hubs and I have not gotten any good photos recently as a result of being apart, I may wait and send a New Year's Card after we see each other over Christmas.
Favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually, The Santa Clause Series
When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually the day after Thanksgiving or sometimes sooner. This year I knew I wouldn't be going back East for Christmas so I did my holiday shopping for my family back in July when I was visiting and left the gifts there!
Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes.
Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Honey Baked Ham
Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear
Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells, especially the version from the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Awesome! Also a big fan of All I Want for Christmas is You (especially this year!)
Travel at Christmas or stay home? We always travel. Usually it's from Oregon to Connecticut where my family is. Last year it was from Germany to CT, and this year we are going to Arizona to be with my in-laws, so I will enjoy a very short flight for once, and hubs is flying out from Germany on Wednesday. Cross your fingers he gets out okay because they have a lot of snow!
Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course I can! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donnor, Blitzen, and Rudolph!
Angel, star, or ribbon at the top of the tree? Star
Open present Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? My family tradition growing up was always to open on Christmas Day. Now that my brother and I are older and he has kids, we sometimes open each others' presents on Christmas Eve. My husband's family tradition is to open presents on Christmas Eve, so this year I will have a new experience!
Favorite children's Christmas song? I think all Christmas songs are for grownups too!
Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowded stores or buying something and then seeing it on sale for less but not having the receipt or item with me to get a price adjustment
Favorite ornament theme or color? Every year since my birth, my mom has gotten me a dated Hallmark ornament, so I now have a collection of 29. It is so fun to look back at each year and remember why that particular ornament was chosen.
Turkey or ham on Christmas day? We do Ham usually on Christmas Eve, but my sister-in-law usually does beef on Christmas. A little Roast Beast like in the Grinch?
What do you want for Christmas this year? To be with my husband and to cherish every moment of those two weeks....and Uggs.
Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? When I was little we used to have Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house and the men took turns dressing up as Santa. One year it was my dad and I remember kind of figuring it out, but my parents swore it wasn't him.
Age you discovered who Santa was? Can't remember. To me Santa represents the spirit of giving which I like to think is alive and well!
Egg nog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Hot Chocolate, especially the way my roomie makes it with a little butterscotch schnapps!!
Traditional colors (red & green) or other colors? I love silver too, but yes red and green are the typical holiday colors for me.
Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? Nope.
How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? Good question.
Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? I like both. I love receiving a gift that someone picked out for me, but I also love getting the chance to shop after Christmas.
Favorite children's Christmas cartoon? Don't really have one. I do however, really enjoy Pee Wee Herman's Christmas Special...I know that sounds weird, but I do.
It's back....
Yesterday afternoon I started having a sore throat and by late evening, I was having all the same symptoms of strep that I had last month. I went to the doctor this morning, and sure enough, my throat culture was positive. They put me on a different kind of medicine this time and also gave me Tylenol with Codeine which helps a lot. I can't believe I have gotten strep twice in the past month! Crazy. I had to cancel my hair appt which I made MONTHS ago because I am contagious and I just feel awful. I also have to miss our staff holiday party :0( Bummer.
I think I may take a sick day on Monday just to give my body enough time to really recover. I have had kids absent here and there, but it seems like I am picking up illnesses from them left and right! I feel like this last week before Arizona is going to fly by and I don't want to risk being under the weather when I finally get to see Mr. Sneaker again!
At least since I am not really up for doing anything besides lying in bed, I can get some reading done. I have a stack of about 15 books that I need/want to read!
I think I may take a sick day on Monday just to give my body enough time to really recover. I have had kids absent here and there, but it seems like I am picking up illnesses from them left and right! I feel like this last week before Arizona is going to fly by and I don't want to risk being under the weather when I finally get to see Mr. Sneaker again!
At least since I am not really up for doing anything besides lying in bed, I can get some reading done. I have a stack of about 15 books that I need/want to read!
Success!
Today was the meeting that I planned for the Latino families in my two classes. I had moms and dads from 7 different families come and they stayed just about an hour talking with me. At first, it was a little awkward. I didn't plan an agenda and I didn't want to do a presentation or just talk to them. I wanted to hear from them and get them talking and sharing with me about what is going well and what I might be able to do to make their experience better. By the end of the hour, they were conversing and sharing and I thought it went really well. I don't know exactly how I sounded trying to pull it off in Spanish, but I was able to understand what they were saying and they said that when I communicate with them in Spanish, they are able to understand me (so I must be making some kind of sense!).
I tried to express to them why I wanted to have this meeting and basically it's because I want to make sure that I am supporting their having equal access to information about our Kindergarten program and I want them to feel comfortable enough with me to volunteer in the classroom, ask me questions when things don't make sense, or offer feedback/ideas/suggestions.
We talked about a lot of different things during the hour and I really hope that they felt it was worth their time and a positive experience. Luckily two families were there that I have gotten to know a bit better through working with them on the PASS team, so I felt very supported and encouraged by them. All three of those parents are completely bilingual, so I felt better knowing that if I got stuck in trying to say something, I could ask for help.
I talked a bit about the literacy bags and had two parents ask me for permission slips which they signed and turned in. So far I have a little over half of each class signed up to participate, which is good, however I was hoping to get everyone involved. I decided to go the permission slip route because I want to make sure that families are taking responsibility since the items cost a LOT of money (which I thankfully got through donations) and in order to keep this process going all year, everybody needs to do their share of caring for the materials and returning them on time. I don't want to send bags home and never see them again. I have talked to my students each day this week about the importance of bringing a permission slip because if they don't, I won't send a bag home with them on Friday. I am guessing that some kids are going to get upset when they don't get one, but that is how it has to be.
I am exhausted after feeling a bit stressed over the parent meeting, so it's time for a little relaxation! Only one week until hubs is back in the US and 9 days until I see him!
I tried to express to them why I wanted to have this meeting and basically it's because I want to make sure that I am supporting their having equal access to information about our Kindergarten program and I want them to feel comfortable enough with me to volunteer in the classroom, ask me questions when things don't make sense, or offer feedback/ideas/suggestions.
We talked about a lot of different things during the hour and I really hope that they felt it was worth their time and a positive experience. Luckily two families were there that I have gotten to know a bit better through working with them on the PASS team, so I felt very supported and encouraged by them. All three of those parents are completely bilingual, so I felt better knowing that if I got stuck in trying to say something, I could ask for help.
I talked a bit about the literacy bags and had two parents ask me for permission slips which they signed and turned in. So far I have a little over half of each class signed up to participate, which is good, however I was hoping to get everyone involved. I decided to go the permission slip route because I want to make sure that families are taking responsibility since the items cost a LOT of money (which I thankfully got through donations) and in order to keep this process going all year, everybody needs to do their share of caring for the materials and returning them on time. I don't want to send bags home and never see them again. I have talked to my students each day this week about the importance of bringing a permission slip because if they don't, I won't send a bag home with them on Friday. I am guessing that some kids are going to get upset when they don't get one, but that is how it has to be.
I am exhausted after feeling a bit stressed over the parent meeting, so it's time for a little relaxation! Only one week until hubs is back in the US and 9 days until I see him!
Almost there
Right now my floor and desk are COVERED with books, papers, binders, pencils, and potato chips (A girl has to have a little somethin' somethin' to get her through all this work, doesn't she?). Tomorrow and Thursday are my last two days of class of Fall term. I am almost done and I cannot wait for the sweet satisfaction that will come when I am driving out of the parking garage after class on Thursday night.
Since August, I have been away from my husband because I returned to PDX to work on my doctorate and keep my place in my school district, while he remained in Germany where we had been living together for the past year. I started teaching Kindergarten at a new school while at the same time struggling through a full load of doctoral courses (13 credits!). I have spent most weekends doing homework, reading, and writing. I have been engrossed in research about culturally responsive teaching while at the same time attempting to be a totally awesome Kindergarten teacher who actually employs those culturally relevant teaching methods in the classroom. I have spent approximately 10 hours per week in class in addition to the 45 + hours I am working and sometimes when I had weekend class, I spent as many as 21 hours in class in a single week. In the past few weeks, I have been writing, re-writing, and editing papers for each of my courses, all the while stressed that my writing will not be good enough for the rigorous standards of this intense program I am part of. I know that I have been extremely stressed and not once in the past 14 weeks have I been able to get a hug from the person I love most in the world. :: tear ::
Whew. Sneaker Teacher==> plate= FULL
After Thursday, I will not have class or homework for an entire month! I am so excited to enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to relax and enjoy some free time. In exactly 17 days I will reunite with my cute husband for two weeks in Arizona. I will soak in the jolliest time of year with lots of hot cocoa, books read for pleasure, gossip magazines, and I will definitely catch up on hugs. I cannot even express how excited I am for December 17th! I absolutely love this time of year and the impending sense of relief of being done with classes makes it all the more sensational.
Oh how sweet it is!
Since August, I have been away from my husband because I returned to PDX to work on my doctorate and keep my place in my school district, while he remained in Germany where we had been living together for the past year. I started teaching Kindergarten at a new school while at the same time struggling through a full load of doctoral courses (13 credits!). I have spent most weekends doing homework, reading, and writing. I have been engrossed in research about culturally responsive teaching while at the same time attempting to be a totally awesome Kindergarten teacher who actually employs those culturally relevant teaching methods in the classroom. I have spent approximately 10 hours per week in class in addition to the 45 + hours I am working and sometimes when I had weekend class, I spent as many as 21 hours in class in a single week. In the past few weeks, I have been writing, re-writing, and editing papers for each of my courses, all the while stressed that my writing will not be good enough for the rigorous standards of this intense program I am part of. I know that I have been extremely stressed and not once in the past 14 weeks have I been able to get a hug from the person I love most in the world. :: tear ::
Whew. Sneaker Teacher==> plate= FULL
After Thursday, I will not have class or homework for an entire month! I am so excited to enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to relax and enjoy some free time. In exactly 17 days I will reunite with my cute husband for two weeks in Arizona. I will soak in the jolliest time of year with lots of hot cocoa, books read for pleasure, gossip magazines, and I will definitely catch up on hugs. I cannot even express how excited I am for December 17th! I absolutely love this time of year and the impending sense of relief of being done with classes makes it all the more sensational.
Oh how sweet it is!
Taking the Plunge
Last night, as I struggled to fall asleep, I decided to plan a parent meeting for my Spanish-speaking families,"una junta" en español. I am going to start sending home the Literacy Bags on Friday the 12th (provided the new shipment of bags arrives and gets decorated by then), and I realized that this totally wonderful program I have been so excited about may not work for families if they can't read the books that are sent home since they are all in English.
The first thing I did to try and solve this problem was to use all of my Scholastic bonus points towards books in Spanish. I already have quite a few, but they are in storage in Germany, so those won't really be too useful for the imminent start of the Literacy Bag rotation. I was thinking that I wanted an opportunity to show this group of parents the bags and maybe take out some of the games/activities to show them as well since the directions are all in English. Translating everything would take so long and I am really eager to get the project underway, so I decided to invite these parents to a meeting where we can talk about how this program will work for them. I am not entirely sure if they have people in their homes who can read English, so that is all part of what I want to find out. Most importantly, I want them to know that I want their feedback and I am willing to do what it takes to help both them and their kids.
I am really, really making an effort to ensure that what I do in the classroom is culturally appropriate and I want feedback from parents because I want to ensure that their experience of having me as their child's teacher is positive, especially since this could be their first experience with school given that I teach Kindergarten.
After school today, I starting making phone calls to invite the parents to this meeting. I decided that next Wednesday was a good date, but I didn't have a specific time in mind or a plan for what will actually take place once I get the parents there. I was really nervous to make these calls, thinking to myself, what will I say if they ask what the meeting is for? I was so happy to find that the parents I called were very nice and everyone said they would come to my gathering. I didn't get in touch with all of the families on my list, however I think it's pretty cool that everyone I called said they would come. I tried to explain that I want to show them some of the things that we have been working on in the classroom and also I want them to have an opportunity to share their questions, concerns etc. so that I can make sure I am doing everything I can to make them feel like they are part of our school and classroom community. I think I will be really nervous to have this meeting without a real solid agenda, but I think it is going to be a really great thing for both the parents and myself.
I did have one pretty awkward call in which I just could not understand what the parent was saying even after I asked her to speak more slowly. I think she was getting a bit annoyed with me, but I have to give myself snaps for making parent phone calls in my second language which is very intimidating. I also think it is a good experience to be in situations where I am uncomfortable or where my understanding does not come easily because it is likely that these parents feel that way in school situations and that helps me be sensitive to what they may experience.
I have 10 families altogether that I am inviting and I think I got in touch with about half. Two of these families are completely bilingual which I think will also be helpful at the meeting in case I am not understanding something or not able to express exactly what I want to say. I really have no idea how this meeting will turn out, but I have high hopes that it will be a positive experience and the start of improved family-school communication and relationships.
The first thing I did to try and solve this problem was to use all of my Scholastic bonus points towards books in Spanish. I already have quite a few, but they are in storage in Germany, so those won't really be too useful for the imminent start of the Literacy Bag rotation. I was thinking that I wanted an opportunity to show this group of parents the bags and maybe take out some of the games/activities to show them as well since the directions are all in English. Translating everything would take so long and I am really eager to get the project underway, so I decided to invite these parents to a meeting where we can talk about how this program will work for them. I am not entirely sure if they have people in their homes who can read English, so that is all part of what I want to find out. Most importantly, I want them to know that I want their feedback and I am willing to do what it takes to help both them and their kids.
I am really, really making an effort to ensure that what I do in the classroom is culturally appropriate and I want feedback from parents because I want to ensure that their experience of having me as their child's teacher is positive, especially since this could be their first experience with school given that I teach Kindergarten.
After school today, I starting making phone calls to invite the parents to this meeting. I decided that next Wednesday was a good date, but I didn't have a specific time in mind or a plan for what will actually take place once I get the parents there. I was really nervous to make these calls, thinking to myself, what will I say if they ask what the meeting is for? I was so happy to find that the parents I called were very nice and everyone said they would come to my gathering. I didn't get in touch with all of the families on my list, however I think it's pretty cool that everyone I called said they would come. I tried to explain that I want to show them some of the things that we have been working on in the classroom and also I want them to have an opportunity to share their questions, concerns etc. so that I can make sure I am doing everything I can to make them feel like they are part of our school and classroom community. I think I will be really nervous to have this meeting without a real solid agenda, but I think it is going to be a really great thing for both the parents and myself.
I did have one pretty awkward call in which I just could not understand what the parent was saying even after I asked her to speak more slowly. I think she was getting a bit annoyed with me, but I have to give myself snaps for making parent phone calls in my second language which is very intimidating. I also think it is a good experience to be in situations where I am uncomfortable or where my understanding does not come easily because it is likely that these parents feel that way in school situations and that helps me be sensitive to what they may experience.
I have 10 families altogether that I am inviting and I think I got in touch with about half. Two of these families are completely bilingual which I think will also be helpful at the meeting in case I am not understanding something or not able to express exactly what I want to say. I really have no idea how this meeting will turn out, but I have high hopes that it will be a positive experience and the start of improved family-school communication and relationships.
more than just friends
As I was reading a story today at the end of my AM Kindergarten session, I looked up and saw two of my students-- a boy and a girl-- looking very cozy. The boy was sitting with his arm around the girl looking a little bit more like a teenage couple than 5 year olds! Geesh, they start young these days....
In other news, I found out that the school PSO approved my request for funding to finish my literacy bags project. I am now able to create enough bags so that each child will get to take one home each Friday. I went shopping at Lakeshore for some activities to go along with the themed books. They have so many cool games and activities and it was so fun to shop with funds that won't ultimately come out of my own bank account. I ordered some more bags online that I will have parents help me decorate and I just have a few more bags that I need to make activities for since I used all of the funds I have. Here are some of the games/activities I got...
In other news, I found out that the school PSO approved my request for funding to finish my literacy bags project. I am now able to create enough bags so that each child will get to take one home each Friday. I went shopping at Lakeshore for some activities to go along with the themed books. They have so many cool games and activities and it was so fun to shop with funds that won't ultimately come out of my own bank account. I ordered some more bags online that I will have parents help me decorate and I just have a few more bags that I need to make activities for since I used all of the funds I have. Here are some of the games/activities I got...
There are certain games that go along with particular books, so I got this letter matching game that goes with the A My Name is Alice book. These will be part of a "Names" bag with The Name Jar and Chrysathemum.
This recycling sorting game will be part of the Earth & Environment theme bag
This shell word building game will go with the Hawaii theme bag which includes the books A is for Aloha, Hula Lullaby, and a story about a lost sea turtle.
I got the dinosaur number puzzles to go with the dinosaur theme bag
These cute bean bag fruits and vegetables will go with the Food & Nutrition theme bag. The cards on the key ring describe different activities that can be done with the bean bags.
Fun bug sorting to go with the insects bag
I still need to create activities for the camping bag, the families bag, the all about me bag, the colors bag, the rhyming songs bag, The Jan Brett bag (which contains The Mitten & The Hat), and the Laura Numeroff bag (which contain If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and other books like that). I am trying to make sure that each bag has some kind of activity relating to either math, letters, or word building. I am so excited to start sending these bags home, but I just need to finalize some things before I can. I am hoping to start sending them the week after Thanksgiving. I told one little boy about the camping bag since he really likes to camp and he was so excited. I told him that I would make sure he could take it home first and he was like...."Thanks Mrs. Sneaker." So cute! I am a little curious how these bags will work out for my Spanish speaking families since all of the books are in English. I am thinking of inviting them to come in so I can show them the games and how to play and maybe make some suggestions of what to do with the books if they don't read in English...I am not sure the best way to go about it.
If anyone has any suggestions/ideas for activities related to the themes I still need to make activities for, I would love to hear them!
shoe love
I have been out of the classroom for the past two days with Courageous Conversations training. I really enjoy the work we are doing with this committee, but it's hard to be out of the classroom and it's even harder to be out two days in a row. I am really excited to be back with my kiddos tomorrow!
I got an email today from a parent expressing how much her daughter misses me since I have been out. We only had 2 days of school last week, then this little girl was out sick on Monday and then I was out Tuesday and Wednesday, so it's been awhile since I have seen her. This mom just wanted to tell me how much her daughter loves me and that she has been missing me a lot. What a sweet email to receive and so appreciated because I don't think teachers can ever hear enough about the positive influence we have on the kids we teach and the families we work with! She also said that her daughter talks about me all the time and how cool my shoes and scarves are. I have never had a class before that got so excited about my shoes.... love it!
Sometimes I get so caught up in teaching and getting done what I need to get done, that I forget how powerful my impact is on the lives of lots of little people. I think about them all of the time when I am outside the classroom, but it's really nice to know that they are thinking about me, too and talking about me and what we do in the classroom with their parents.
Also, I just got this new book, which I am really excited about. I feel like I have a huge stack of "teacher books" that I have been meaning to get to, but I haven't been doing a lot of reading outside of what I need to read for my courses. I can't wait for winter break because my classes will be on hiatus and I can just enjoy some good reading (and seeing my hubs!)
Since I am really interested in the concept of making scripted reading programs more culturally appropriate and relevant, I think this will be a very interesting read. Sometimes I really question the kinds of stories that are included in the reading program that we use, so I am interested to read some more about what criteria are used when pieces of literature are selected. One of my ideas for my doctoral research involves taking a deeper look at the curriculum we use across grade levels to evaluate how culturally appropriate it is for groups other than White students.
I got an email today from a parent expressing how much her daughter misses me since I have been out. We only had 2 days of school last week, then this little girl was out sick on Monday and then I was out Tuesday and Wednesday, so it's been awhile since I have seen her. This mom just wanted to tell me how much her daughter loves me and that she has been missing me a lot. What a sweet email to receive and so appreciated because I don't think teachers can ever hear enough about the positive influence we have on the kids we teach and the families we work with! She also said that her daughter talks about me all the time and how cool my shoes and scarves are. I have never had a class before that got so excited about my shoes.... love it!
Sometimes I get so caught up in teaching and getting done what I need to get done, that I forget how powerful my impact is on the lives of lots of little people. I think about them all of the time when I am outside the classroom, but it's really nice to know that they are thinking about me, too and talking about me and what we do in the classroom with their parents.
Also, I just got this new book, which I am really excited about. I feel like I have a huge stack of "teacher books" that I have been meaning to get to, but I haven't been doing a lot of reading outside of what I need to read for my courses. I can't wait for winter break because my classes will be on hiatus and I can just enjoy some good reading (and seeing my hubs!)
Since I am really interested in the concept of making scripted reading programs more culturally appropriate and relevant, I think this will be a very interesting read. Sometimes I really question the kinds of stories that are included in the reading program that we use, so I am interested to read some more about what criteria are used when pieces of literature are selected. One of my ideas for my doctoral research involves taking a deeper look at the curriculum we use across grade levels to evaluate how culturally appropriate it is for groups other than White students.
Some Cool Art
One of the many projects that my very organized Kinder teammates do involves making an art project for each letter of the alphabet. For the letter M, each child got to paint and then cut out two mittens and for the letter A, each kid got to dip cut up apples into paint and stamp them on the page. Although I like the kids to have the chance to do art, I found that in the half day schedule it was nearly impossible for all of the kids to finish these projects. They required parent helpers and if I didn't have parent helpers, there was just no way for me to get it done, especially for the kids who leave for ELD. I felt like the projects were ending up incomplete or rushed and I really didn't like that part.
I decided that instead of doing the projects that way, and getting results that were not too thrilling, I would change it up. I do recognize the importance of creating a project that requires following certain steps, yet to me, art should without rules. I want kids to really have the chance to create, so I decided to see what would happen if I sent my alphabet pages home, giving kids free reign to choose any word they want to that starts with our letter of the week and to create an image of that word in any way they like. I have been so impressed with some of the artwork that has come back, I just have to share it.
I just about died when I saw that turtle. It is phenomenal. I sent a letter home indicating that these projects can be worked on with family members, but I can just imagine all the quality family time that went into these and that makes me so happy! Some of them come back with just a pencil drawing, but each time, I show the kids all of them so they can get ideas about different materials they could use. I can't even begin to fathom how amazing it is that they have incorporated so many different artistic methods and mediums. Paper tearing, collage work, 3 dimensional art, painting, photographs etc. etc. etc. This is one of my many attempts to make learning more meaningful for kids. Instead of me telling them that p is for pigs, they got to choose whatever word they wanted to choose. Instead of me giving them a limited number of art supplies/items, they can go to the depths of their creativity and make some great things.
The idea is that all of these pages go together in an alphabet book that will represent different things that are meaningful to each child. I was hesitant to try this out because I wasn't sure if certain families would have the resources at home to complete fun projects and I am guessing that the really cool ones are coming from the upper middle class families, but I am happy I pursued the projects in this format because it's really fun to see how creative they are. They are actually giving ME ideas of different art projects that would be great for them to do.
We also sent home a Turkey project that is similar. The kids could decorate the turkey in any way they like and those are amazing as well. I didn't take pictures yet, but I will because they are blowing me away as well.
Is a project like this still great if some kids don't bother to participate and return theirs? Is a half completed art project from school better than no project at all, or does the potential for real creativity outweigh the fact that some kids just won't do it? These are the questions that I ask myself. I just want to keep encouraging kids to be creative and hope that eventually everyone will participate and try out some fun ideas with their letter pages. I don't want this to be just another way for the White families to outshine the Hispanic families. I just have such a strong feeling about the need for art to be representative of what the kids want to make and not just a "product" that is the same for everyone based on specific directions. It's hard to make choices that are right for everyone, but I am on such a mission to make sure that I am valuing what kids from all cultures bring to the classroom.
PS I am getting ANOTHER new student on Wednesday. This will be the fourth consecutive week that I have gotten a new student (almost). It's a girl and I hope she is lovely :0)
I decided that instead of doing the projects that way, and getting results that were not too thrilling, I would change it up. I do recognize the importance of creating a project that requires following certain steps, yet to me, art should without rules. I want kids to really have the chance to create, so I decided to see what would happen if I sent my alphabet pages home, giving kids free reign to choose any word they want to that starts with our letter of the week and to create an image of that word in any way they like. I have been so impressed with some of the artwork that has come back, I just have to share it.
I just about died when I saw that turtle. It is phenomenal. I sent a letter home indicating that these projects can be worked on with family members, but I can just imagine all the quality family time that went into these and that makes me so happy! Some of them come back with just a pencil drawing, but each time, I show the kids all of them so they can get ideas about different materials they could use. I can't even begin to fathom how amazing it is that they have incorporated so many different artistic methods and mediums. Paper tearing, collage work, 3 dimensional art, painting, photographs etc. etc. etc. This is one of my many attempts to make learning more meaningful for kids. Instead of me telling them that p is for pigs, they got to choose whatever word they wanted to choose. Instead of me giving them a limited number of art supplies/items, they can go to the depths of their creativity and make some great things.
The idea is that all of these pages go together in an alphabet book that will represent different things that are meaningful to each child. I was hesitant to try this out because I wasn't sure if certain families would have the resources at home to complete fun projects and I am guessing that the really cool ones are coming from the upper middle class families, but I am happy I pursued the projects in this format because it's really fun to see how creative they are. They are actually giving ME ideas of different art projects that would be great for them to do.
We also sent home a Turkey project that is similar. The kids could decorate the turkey in any way they like and those are amazing as well. I didn't take pictures yet, but I will because they are blowing me away as well.
Is a project like this still great if some kids don't bother to participate and return theirs? Is a half completed art project from school better than no project at all, or does the potential for real creativity outweigh the fact that some kids just won't do it? These are the questions that I ask myself. I just want to keep encouraging kids to be creative and hope that eventually everyone will participate and try out some fun ideas with their letter pages. I don't want this to be just another way for the White families to outshine the Hispanic families. I just have such a strong feeling about the need for art to be representative of what the kids want to make and not just a "product" that is the same for everyone based on specific directions. It's hard to make choices that are right for everyone, but I am on such a mission to make sure that I am valuing what kids from all cultures bring to the classroom.
PS I am getting ANOTHER new student on Wednesday. This will be the fourth consecutive week that I have gotten a new student (almost). It's a girl and I hope she is lovely :0)
Talk about a butt kicking
It started Wednesday morning with a slight sore throat, but I felt fine enough to get through the day. It got a little worse as I drove to class, but I still headed downtown because doctoral classes are important and I didn't want to miss out. However, during my first class, which lasts an hour and 15 minutes, I got the chills and started to feel horrible. When we transitioned to our next class I told my professor that I really wasn't feeling well and needed to go home. She was fine with it and the telltale sign that I was really sick was that I didn't care at all about missing class in the slightest (and usually I am such a nerd and won't even leave to use the restroom unless it's an official break).
On the way to the car I got so cold my teeth were chattering and I was totally shivering. I cried the whole way home which was pretty painful considering how sore my throat had gotten. I got home around 6 and went to bed and proceeded to sleep 15 hours. Thankfully we did not have school on Thursday and Friday was our grading day, so we were able to check out and work from home. I saw the doctor Thursday afternoon (my friend Jill drove me and was kind enough to wait SO long for them to do everything). I thought I was going to pass out as the guy was checking me in since we had already waited in line for a long time. I hadn't eaten anything, so I sat down on the floor with my back to the counter while he completed my paperwork.
Then I had to bring my papers over to the nurse treatment door, where we had to wait another 20 minutes or so for them to call me. At least I got to enjoy the best beach smoothy ever while I waited. I got the strep test (which by the way is so awful) and then I had to bring it over to the laboratory so they could analyze the results. When we got there we had to take a number (like at the deli counter) and wait for it to be called. It took about 15 minutes for them to call my number and then once I gave them my test thingy they said I would have to wait another 30 minutes.
Once they came out and said it was positive, they told me to go over to the pharmacy to get my prescription. I waited in line, gave them the info and they told me to wait on the chairs. 45 minutes later, we were still waiting! I got back in line and was seriously ready to tell them I was about to throw up or something just to get them to get the lead out but finally the pills were ready.
I have spent the last two days in serious pain. It feels like there are knives in my throat each time I swallow. I have chills, sweats, dizziness, body aches, and a headache. For some reason strep totally kicks my butt. I have gotten it a few other times as a teenager/adult and it has been the same horrible mess each time.
Yesterday I started to feel a bit better, but my throat still really hurts which makes it hard to eat and drink. It's hard to feel better without any fuel, so I pretty much hung out on the couch and watched tv all day.
I had been looking forward to a relaxing 4 day weekend and I saved a lot of my school work to do with all of that time. Now I feel the pressure to get stuff done because two days just went by without much productivity at all. The funny thing is, I am really happy that if I had to get this sick, it was on a long weekend, because I cannot even imagine having to write up plans and take care of business with school while feeling this sick. I am so happy that it was not part of this crappy week. Although I am not getting to go out because up until today I was still contagious, spending the entire day under a cozy blanket watching tv is not that bad of a way to spend a day. I just wish the horrible knives in my throat were not a part of it.
The good news is that ice cream is pretty much the only thing that tastes good so I have an excuse to eat lots of it :0)
Hopefully I will start to feel better today because I have had enough of this strep crap. The worst part of it all is that when my husband gets sick, I take such good care of him and make multiple trips to the store for whatever he needs or feels like eating, I make him tea, bring him everything in bed etc. When I get deathly sick, of course it's when we are living in different countries! I think he owes me some pampering over Christmas break just because!
What do you think is the nicest thing to do for a friend who is sick?
On the way to the car I got so cold my teeth were chattering and I was totally shivering. I cried the whole way home which was pretty painful considering how sore my throat had gotten. I got home around 6 and went to bed and proceeded to sleep 15 hours. Thankfully we did not have school on Thursday and Friday was our grading day, so we were able to check out and work from home. I saw the doctor Thursday afternoon (my friend Jill drove me and was kind enough to wait SO long for them to do everything). I thought I was going to pass out as the guy was checking me in since we had already waited in line for a long time. I hadn't eaten anything, so I sat down on the floor with my back to the counter while he completed my paperwork.
Then I had to bring my papers over to the nurse treatment door, where we had to wait another 20 minutes or so for them to call me. At least I got to enjoy the best beach smoothy ever while I waited. I got the strep test (which by the way is so awful) and then I had to bring it over to the laboratory so they could analyze the results. When we got there we had to take a number (like at the deli counter) and wait for it to be called. It took about 15 minutes for them to call my number and then once I gave them my test thingy they said I would have to wait another 30 minutes.
Once they came out and said it was positive, they told me to go over to the pharmacy to get my prescription. I waited in line, gave them the info and they told me to wait on the chairs. 45 minutes later, we were still waiting! I got back in line and was seriously ready to tell them I was about to throw up or something just to get them to get the lead out but finally the pills were ready.
I have spent the last two days in serious pain. It feels like there are knives in my throat each time I swallow. I have chills, sweats, dizziness, body aches, and a headache. For some reason strep totally kicks my butt. I have gotten it a few other times as a teenager/adult and it has been the same horrible mess each time.
Yesterday I started to feel a bit better, but my throat still really hurts which makes it hard to eat and drink. It's hard to feel better without any fuel, so I pretty much hung out on the couch and watched tv all day.
I had been looking forward to a relaxing 4 day weekend and I saved a lot of my school work to do with all of that time. Now I feel the pressure to get stuff done because two days just went by without much productivity at all. The funny thing is, I am really happy that if I had to get this sick, it was on a long weekend, because I cannot even imagine having to write up plans and take care of business with school while feeling this sick. I am so happy that it was not part of this crappy week. Although I am not getting to go out because up until today I was still contagious, spending the entire day under a cozy blanket watching tv is not that bad of a way to spend a day. I just wish the horrible knives in my throat were not a part of it.
The good news is that ice cream is pretty much the only thing that tastes good so I have an excuse to eat lots of it :0)
Hopefully I will start to feel better today because I have had enough of this strep crap. The worst part of it all is that when my husband gets sick, I take such good care of him and make multiple trips to the store for whatever he needs or feels like eating, I make him tea, bring him everything in bed etc. When I get deathly sick, of course it's when we are living in different countries! I think he owes me some pampering over Christmas break just because!
What do you think is the nicest thing to do for a friend who is sick?
Green Eyed...
Today I was just a tad bit jealous as I watched my parent helper get my class completely quiet and behaved. She used to be a teacher before she had kids and is currently a stay at home mom, but her new name is the "Kinder Whisperer." She is so great with them. I needed to do assessments today and when I need to do assessments that means the kiddos get to watch a 30 minute educational video so I can pull them one at a time. I hate having them just sit and watch a video, but I need the time (and quiet) to work 1:1 and that is the least stressful way (for me) to get my assessments accomplished.
I get slightly embarrassed when I have a parent helper on assessment days because I am already feeling bad about putting the kiddos in front of the boob tube and it makes me feel just a little worse when there is a parent to witness said boob tube watching. It was, however, a total blessing to have this mama there to supervise the video watching. Let's face it, when left semi unsupervised, Kindergarten children do not remain quiet and peaceful. There is always a little wild rumpus going on and it was wonderful to be able to just do assessments and not worry about keeping the kidlets quiet. When the video was over, I still had a few remaining kids to work with, so I grabbed the book Courderoy and the Kinder Whisperer proceeded to read it to the class. They were so well behaved and wonderful and her soft, soothing voice was enough to make me crown her as the Queen of all parent volunteers. She rocks.
The green eyed monster arose, however, when she left and I took over with the kids and they were their usual wiggly, chatty, buns in the air selves. Why!? I am always so insecure about my classroom management skills and although I know I definitely have systems in place and do/say the right things, I still feel like keeping the kiddos on task is a constant effort. I know that comes with the territory of teaching Kindergarten and there is not a Kindergarten teacher out there who can say that his/her class is quiet/on task/well behaved/sweet/polite all the time (right?!), yet I couldn't help feeling a bit jealous that a parent helper could step in and create a total cloud of peacefulness in my classroom when I am typically dealing with buns in the air, chatty patties, and rooty tooties. I think that there is some effect that the "other" person has on kids--maybe it's the novelty of a different person doing something with them, a new face, a different voice--who knows, but it made me feel a little sad for my always trying to get them to be quiet self.
First off, I worry that this parent will think I am not doing a good enough job since it was clearly easy for her to engage my children in a quiet adoration of her story reading. I also worry that maybe my classroom management really is not good since I seem to always run into the same issues (probably because I have always taught 5 and 6 year olds...hello!) Am I too hard on myself?
Anyway, needless to say, despite my desire to become the Kinder Whisperer instead of watching her skills from the side table, I heart parent helpers!
I get slightly embarrassed when I have a parent helper on assessment days because I am already feeling bad about putting the kiddos in front of the boob tube and it makes me feel just a little worse when there is a parent to witness said boob tube watching. It was, however, a total blessing to have this mama there to supervise the video watching. Let's face it, when left semi unsupervised, Kindergarten children do not remain quiet and peaceful. There is always a little wild rumpus going on and it was wonderful to be able to just do assessments and not worry about keeping the kidlets quiet. When the video was over, I still had a few remaining kids to work with, so I grabbed the book Courderoy and the Kinder Whisperer proceeded to read it to the class. They were so well behaved and wonderful and her soft, soothing voice was enough to make me crown her as the Queen of all parent volunteers. She rocks.
The green eyed monster arose, however, when she left and I took over with the kids and they were their usual wiggly, chatty, buns in the air selves. Why!? I am always so insecure about my classroom management skills and although I know I definitely have systems in place and do/say the right things, I still feel like keeping the kiddos on task is a constant effort. I know that comes with the territory of teaching Kindergarten and there is not a Kindergarten teacher out there who can say that his/her class is quiet/on task/well behaved/sweet/polite all the time (right?!), yet I couldn't help feeling a bit jealous that a parent helper could step in and create a total cloud of peacefulness in my classroom when I am typically dealing with buns in the air, chatty patties, and rooty tooties. I think that there is some effect that the "other" person has on kids--maybe it's the novelty of a different person doing something with them, a new face, a different voice--who knows, but it made me feel a little sad for my always trying to get them to be quiet self.
First off, I worry that this parent will think I am not doing a good enough job since it was clearly easy for her to engage my children in a quiet adoration of her story reading. I also worry that maybe my classroom management really is not good since I seem to always run into the same issues (probably because I have always taught 5 and 6 year olds...hello!) Am I too hard on myself?
Anyway, needless to say, despite my desire to become the Kinder Whisperer instead of watching her skills from the side table, I heart parent helpers!
Danny Boy
There is a little boy in my class who started school with very few school related skills. I have posted about him before and how much I appreciate his sense of community and other areas of strength, but when it comes to writing, math, reading etc, it is pretty obvious that he entered school without a lot of experience in these areas.
The first time we colored a pattern, his page was basically scribbles. I had explained to the class that each child should choose two colors and alternate the colors in a pattern. I provided a model and showed them, talked about the different colors, and "read" the pattern so they could hear the alternating color words. For Danny Boy, a pattern did not happen. He scribbled. That's it. There was no attention paid to the lines or to selecting only two colors in order to create a pattern. Last week, we colored another pattern. This time, he chose pink and orange and completely blew me away by mastering the pattern coloring. He totally got it! I was so proud :0)
Although he is still behind his peers, I can tell that things are starting to click and he is really trying hard. He keeps telling me at the carpet that he is being "piet." Good thing we just learned the /q/ sound because to him "piet" means not talking while I am teaching.
I really have high hopes for this little friend and I am so proud of the progress he has made!
The first time we colored a pattern, his page was basically scribbles. I had explained to the class that each child should choose two colors and alternate the colors in a pattern. I provided a model and showed them, talked about the different colors, and "read" the pattern so they could hear the alternating color words. For Danny Boy, a pattern did not happen. He scribbled. That's it. There was no attention paid to the lines or to selecting only two colors in order to create a pattern. Last week, we colored another pattern. This time, he chose pink and orange and completely blew me away by mastering the pattern coloring. He totally got it! I was so proud :0)
Although he is still behind his peers, I can tell that things are starting to click and he is really trying hard. He keeps telling me at the carpet that he is being "piet." Good thing we just learned the /q/ sound because to him "piet" means not talking while I am teaching.
I really have high hopes for this little friend and I am so proud of the progress he has made!
Clicking
Today I assessed one of my students on Fast Track Phonics. The last time I assessed her she was having a hard time recognizing what sounds different words start with and was struggling to remember many of the sounds. Today she recognized 18 of the 21 sounds that we have covered and she was sounding out and reading words! I have heard from the other Kinder teachers that at this grade level, at a certain point in the year things just start clicking. They said it usually happens for many kiddos around February, but I am really happy to see that things have really started clicking for this student already. Today she turned in a pile of homework that up until today had been incomplete and I feel like she transformed into a student. She is now more attentive on the carpet, focusing on the sounds and words, and even shushing the kids who are being too noisy. I am so proud of her progress and feel such joy to see this transformation happening. Witnessing the process of kids learning how to read and having an integral role in making that happen makes being a Kindergarten teacher the best job in the world!
PS I got another new student today-this time in the morning class. Thankfully, she is really sweet. She just moved from California and primarily speaks Spanish, so I don't know how much of what I taught/said she understood, but she tried so hard and was a model student today! I always feel such stress over having a new student, but so far each one has been a pleasant addition to the group. I have a few behavior challenged in the AM group, so I don't feel like I can handle any more. I was very happy to discover that my new friend is terrific!
PS I got another new student today-this time in the morning class. Thankfully, she is really sweet. She just moved from California and primarily speaks Spanish, so I don't know how much of what I taught/said she understood, but she tried so hard and was a model student today! I always feel such stress over having a new student, but so far each one has been a pleasant addition to the group. I have a few behavior challenged in the AM group, so I don't feel like I can handle any more. I was very happy to discover that my new friend is terrific!
Out in the open
Today I read the story called My Friend with Autism to help my students understand their classmate who has Autism. They listened really intently to the story and I could tell they sensed the importance of what I was reading. We talked about how this boy doesn't speak, but that it is still important to talk to him and that it might be nice to give him some extra time to make eye contact because that is something he is working on. We talked about the time this child took a girl's bracelet and how sometimes he doesn't understand when kids' have hurt feelings or when he bumps into someone that it might make them upset. I ended the discussion by asking the class what they would do to help my student with Autism and one boy said he would pray for him so he might not have Autism anymore. What a thoughtful idea. I wish it worked like that.
I really think that with young children it is important to be specific when we talk about something like this. It's important to use the word Autism and to name the child that has it because it helps the kids really understand what we are talking about. There is nothing wrong with the fact that this child has Autism, but there are things that I can do and the children can do to help him reach the goals that he is working towards which requires a certain level of understanding. At first I thought it would be weird to talk about him while he was out of the room, yet really, it was helpful for the children and I think they gained a better understanding of some of the behaviors/things they see in the classroom. I think talking about Autism and letting kids ask questions or share thoughts will ultimately help them become more knowledgeable, compassionate, and understanding people who don't fear people with disabilities. I of course got permission from both the child's parent and the SPED teacher before openly discussing this child and his differences and I am really glad that we took some time today to talk about Autism.
I really think that with young children it is important to be specific when we talk about something like this. It's important to use the word Autism and to name the child that has it because it helps the kids really understand what we are talking about. There is nothing wrong with the fact that this child has Autism, but there are things that I can do and the children can do to help him reach the goals that he is working towards which requires a certain level of understanding. At first I thought it would be weird to talk about him while he was out of the room, yet really, it was helpful for the children and I think they gained a better understanding of some of the behaviors/things they see in the classroom. I think talking about Autism and letting kids ask questions or share thoughts will ultimately help them become more knowledgeable, compassionate, and understanding people who don't fear people with disabilities. I of course got permission from both the child's parent and the SPED teacher before openly discussing this child and his differences and I am really glad that we took some time today to talk about Autism.
Party Time
Wow! I absolutely loved basking in the glory of two Halloween parties that were entirely planned and executed by parents! I had two moms take charge of party planning and boy did they do it up! The first party involved decorating goody bags, pumpkin bowling, ghost toss, pin the tail on the black cat, a parade, and healthy snacks. I had 8 parent helpers, which was awesome!
The second party involved Halloween sugar cookie decorating, musical chairs with Halloween music, children getting wrapped up in toilet paper like mummies, and parading through the school.
I got to take pictures and enjoy watching the kids have tons of fun. One boy said that it was the best party ever and a few kiddos in the afternoon class said they didn't want to leave school. We also made some cute word family bats that I should post a picture of next week. I didn't take any photos, but they are still at school so I can snap a picture on Monday.
I feel like I got a lot done between yesterday afternoon and the time in classroom after school today. I am really excited for the new math games that I have ready to introduce next week as I attempt to wean my kiddos off of daily choice time in order to test the waters with some more "academic" activities during the 30 minutes when some students leave for ELD. I am also super excited for a relaxing weekend filled with not as much homework as I have been having lately. My voice is totally going away, so it will be nice to sleep in tomorrow and rest up!
The second party involved Halloween sugar cookie decorating, musical chairs with Halloween music, children getting wrapped up in toilet paper like mummies, and parading through the school.
I got to take pictures and enjoy watching the kids have tons of fun. One boy said that it was the best party ever and a few kiddos in the afternoon class said they didn't want to leave school. We also made some cute word family bats that I should post a picture of next week. I didn't take any photos, but they are still at school so I can snap a picture on Monday.
I feel like I got a lot done between yesterday afternoon and the time in classroom after school today. I am really excited for the new math games that I have ready to introduce next week as I attempt to wean my kiddos off of daily choice time in order to test the waters with some more "academic" activities during the 30 minutes when some students leave for ELD. I am also super excited for a relaxing weekend filled with not as much homework as I have been having lately. My voice is totally going away, so it will be nice to sleep in tomorrow and rest up!
Caught Off Guard
Today my students did an activity where they had to complete the sentence "I am a ________." because our sight word this week is "a' and we have worked on "I" and "am" in previous weeks. I gave the sentence "I am a great teacher" as an example (hehe) and I had a girl raise her hand and told me she thought that was selfish because I was saying that I was better than the other teachers. Some of the others kids chimed in and agreed.
Ok....first of all, her thought was pretty well stated for a Kindergartner, but I was thinking the kids would be more prone to agree that I am indeed a great teacher rather than argue that I was being mean to other teachers. I was a little thrown by her thought. I explained that I was just saying something about myself and that I was not saying other teachers were not great or saying that I am better than others, just that I am a great teacher (come on kiddos, I am just trying to give an example!). They were insistent that my sentence was rude.
Hmph!
At least I got lots of hugs at the beginning of the day because the kiddos missed me while I was out for two days so I know that they love me even though they seemed to take issue with the fact that I tried to proclaim myself as a great teacher. Kids are so funny!
Looking forward to our Halloween parties tomorrow that I was fortunate enough to have parents plan and organize for me! I will be dressing up like a blue crayon just like I do every year, although I have a new pair of royal blue adidas kicks to go with my costume this year :0)
Ok....first of all, her thought was pretty well stated for a Kindergartner, but I was thinking the kids would be more prone to agree that I am indeed a great teacher rather than argue that I was being mean to other teachers. I was a little thrown by her thought. I explained that I was just saying something about myself and that I was not saying other teachers were not great or saying that I am better than others, just that I am a great teacher (come on kiddos, I am just trying to give an example!). They were insistent that my sentence was rude.
Hmph!
At least I got lots of hugs at the beginning of the day because the kiddos missed me while I was out for two days so I know that they love me even though they seemed to take issue with the fact that I tried to proclaim myself as a great teacher. Kids are so funny!
Looking forward to our Halloween parties tomorrow that I was fortunate enough to have parents plan and organize for me! I will be dressing up like a blue crayon just like I do every year, although I have a new pair of royal blue adidas kicks to go with my costume this year :0)
Specks
Today I visited the allergist and the eye doctor. I have been having trouble driving at night, so I went to get my eyes checked and I will now be wearing glasses when I drive at night and when I use the computer for long periods of time (so basically all the time...j/k he he).
I also had a series of pricks on the arm to see if I have food allergies (which I don't), but the allergist did clarify that I am not allergic to sulfites like I had previously been told. I actually have a deficiency in metabolizing alcohol which is why I often break out in a splotchy rash if I drink.
Even though I didn't work today, I am exhausted! I just went and got myself a little Starbucks to get me through the rest of class! I bet that means I won't sleep tonight, but I have been gone from my classroom for two days and I am getting a new kiddo tomorrow, so that would probably be the case anyway. Maybe I should stay up and finish the rest of my homework that is due tomorrow....
I also had a series of pricks on the arm to see if I have food allergies (which I don't), but the allergist did clarify that I am not allergic to sulfites like I had previously been told. I actually have a deficiency in metabolizing alcohol which is why I often break out in a splotchy rash if I drink.
Even though I didn't work today, I am exhausted! I just went and got myself a little Starbucks to get me through the rest of class! I bet that means I won't sleep tonight, but I have been gone from my classroom for two days and I am getting a new kiddo tomorrow, so that would probably be the case anyway. Maybe I should stay up and finish the rest of my homework that is due tomorrow....
Great Feeling
I am disappointed in my scattered posting as of late, so I want to post, but I also feel the need to make it short and sweet because this girl has some homework to do. Today I attended a training from 10-3 with my principal, school counselor, and school secretary (whose daughter is in my class). We are part of the school PASS team which stands for Partnerships for Achieving Student Success. The purpose of our work is to collaborate with parents of color in order to initiate some school wide changes and make them feel more comfortable as active members of our school community. We met in September, but at that time, I was not part of the evening session with the parents because we were told that it would be more comfortable for the parents if they could first meet only with the principal. This time, my principal invited the rest of us to join so after book club, we had part 2 of our session and our parent group joined us from 5:30-8.
It was a fantastic evening.
Three of the parents out of 6 are parents of my students, so that makes the work we are doing seem all the more significant, but I am really excited about the discussions, the openness, and the community that we are building. We each took a turn sharing what school was like for us growing up and it was so interesting to hear their stories. I feel fortunate to be part of this group and I can tell already that we are really supporting our parents of color and creating an environment where they will feel more comfortable to take an active role in the school and the education of their children. Some of the parents who are participating are already forming groups to bring other parents in on the action which is really great!
As soon as I sat down, I knew I recognized one of the moms, but I wasn't sure where I knew her from. When we introduced ourselves, I told her that and she mentioned that she works at The Container Store. She was the woman who helped us create our awesome ELFA closets. LOVE HER (and the super organized closets!). Just goes to show that you always have to conduct yourself well because you never know when a stranger will become someone you encounter in a different way!
It was a fantastic evening.
Three of the parents out of 6 are parents of my students, so that makes the work we are doing seem all the more significant, but I am really excited about the discussions, the openness, and the community that we are building. We each took a turn sharing what school was like for us growing up and it was so interesting to hear their stories. I feel fortunate to be part of this group and I can tell already that we are really supporting our parents of color and creating an environment where they will feel more comfortable to take an active role in the school and the education of their children. Some of the parents who are participating are already forming groups to bring other parents in on the action which is really great!
As soon as I sat down, I knew I recognized one of the moms, but I wasn't sure where I knew her from. When we introduced ourselves, I told her that and she mentioned that she works at The Container Store. She was the woman who helped us create our awesome ELFA closets. LOVE HER (and the super organized closets!). Just goes to show that you always have to conduct yourself well because you never know when a stranger will become someone you encounter in a different way!
Another one?
I found out today that I am getting another new student in my PM class who will start tomorrow. One of the secretaries came in during my choice time and I started to freak out a little because I am scheduled to be out tomorrow and Wednesday. I have training tomorrow and took Wednesday off for a doctor's appointment. I told the secretary that I thought it would be better for the new student to wait until I come back to join the class because it would be really confusing for him to have a substitute the first two days and then me. Luckily, the secretary called his mom and she agreed. Whew! Again, I worry that the addition of another new student will affect the dynamics of my sweet little pm class, but I will hope for the best.
I spent a lot of time after school today trying to get organized and ready for two days of subs. Jill is going to be with my kiddos so I know they are in great hands and she has subbed before so she knows how everything goes, but I still like to make sure everything is organized before having someone else come in to teach. I got my plans ready for tomorrow but I gave her an IOU for Wednesday's plans. I will have to write those tomorrow night. I have training tomorrow from 10-3, then book club from 4-5, then the second part of training where we meet up with parents until 8:30. Another long day! I am happy that I can sleep in a bit and I am planning to hit the gym early because it has been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since I have graced a treadmill or elliptical. I hate feeling too busy for workouts, but the past few weeks have been so buys it just has not been an option!
Hopefully I will post more this week than I did last week!
I spent a lot of time after school today trying to get organized and ready for two days of subs. Jill is going to be with my kiddos so I know they are in great hands and she has subbed before so she knows how everything goes, but I still like to make sure everything is organized before having someone else come in to teach. I got my plans ready for tomorrow but I gave her an IOU for Wednesday's plans. I will have to write those tomorrow night. I have training tomorrow from 10-3, then book club from 4-5, then the second part of training where we meet up with parents until 8:30. Another long day! I am happy that I can sleep in a bit and I am planning to hit the gym early because it has been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since I have graced a treadmill or elliptical. I hate feeling too busy for workouts, but the past few weeks have been so buys it just has not been an option!
Hopefully I will post more this week than I did last week!
Naughty and posting from Class!
My day was packed full of conferences, yet surprisingly it went by really fast. I really enjoyed talking with parents today and having good conversations with them about their kiddos, their jobs, and myself. Several parents were actually interested in talking to me about my doctoral program and many gave positive feedback about how much their children are enjoying being in my Kindergarten class. I had several very successful conferences in Spanish and I felt like I understood exactly what the parents were saying and what they were asking me/needing from me which is not always true when I conduct conferences en español. I had a great feeling the whole day and I know that I am connecting really well with these families. They are awesome and I feel really lucky. Several parents specifically commented on how they liked my personal alphabet and how fun it was to create it and my classroom blog got LOTS of love <3 <3
I also found out that the PSO gives $250 to each classroom teacher for additional materials and since I teach two classes, I get twice that amount. I am so psyched about that and can't wait to do some shopping at Lakeshore this weekend (after I get LOTS of sleep of course!) I can also apply for additional funds if I have a special project in mind like the literacy bags I am planning to create. 12 more conferences tomorrow and then I am going to soak in the bliss of a completely relaxing weekend! TGIF!
I also found out that the PSO gives $250 to each classroom teacher for additional materials and since I teach two classes, I get twice that amount. I am so psyched about that and can't wait to do some shopping at Lakeshore this weekend (after I get LOTS of sleep of course!) I can also apply for additional funds if I have a special project in mind like the literacy bags I am planning to create. 12 more conferences tomorrow and then I am going to soak in the bliss of a completely relaxing weekend! TGIF!
The Tough Ones
It is so hard to conference with parents when their child has a lot of need for improvement. I want to encourage parents to value learning and help their kids at home, but I struggle with communicating this without making parents feel like they are not doing enough. I want to have high expectations for their participation in the education of their child, yet I have faith that they are doing the best they can and the best they know how. I know that circumstances for some of the families I work with differ greatly from the circumstances I know and relate to. I want to be helpful and encouraging, but I think there is a fine line between being supportive and being preachy. I don't know from personal experience, but it must be so hard to be a parent. I hope they value the time we have to meet and understand that I have their children's best interests at heart!
Tomorrow is a LONG day of conferences followed by research class and all I can say is that I cannot wait for Friday afternoon at 4:30!!!
Tomorrow is a LONG day of conferences followed by research class and all I can say is that I cannot wait for Friday afternoon at 4:30!!!
Survived!
I survived my very first Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch! The field trip itself was great--mostly due to the large number of parent volunteers that came along--but I was not at all stoked for a 40 minute long bus ride with the kiddos. I am just a fan of traveling with a lot of other people, whether it's in a plane, bus, or train. I prefer the serenity of my own vehicle in which I can choose the volume of the music or have it quiet if that is the mood I am in. Let's face it-- a bus full of 5 year-olds is never quiet! Most of the parents followed the bus and I have to say I was jealous. I guess it's my intense desire to avoid vomit incidences that translates into not liking riding with other people, but luckily everyone made it through okay.
Once we got to the pumpkin patch the kids go to pet some farm animals, take a train ride to the pumpkins, choose a pumpkin, run through a hay maze, take a boat ride during which a fake dragon and shark both emerged from the water, and then enjoy a picnic lunch outside in the sunshine (thank you gorgeous Oregon October weather for blessing us with a sunny and warm day instead of rain!). One super nice dad bought me coffee, but I had to tease him that I was no longer appreciative once we realized that the only bathroom option was a porta potty. Actually--as most teachers know- we are champion pee holders which is a skill I have honed on long international flights during which I chose not to use the airplane toilet, so I definitely had no issue waiting to use the bathroom back at school.
The kiddos were so tired out that a few fell asleep on the way home. Most of the kids got picked up by 1:00 or so, but I had about 10 with me until the very end of the day. They mostly played while I assessed a few of them and we ended our day with the story Pumpkin Soup which I read while they laid on the carpet in exhausted heaps.
As soon as I put them on the bus, I came back into the classroom and began a 4.5 hour stint of conferences. They all went really well (even when I had to break the news about kiddos not listening, drawing on books/tables, or saying not nice things to other kids). I really have awesome parents this year and I love it. They know their kids and I am glad that we can have an honest conversation about what they do at school. It has taken me a long time to learn that I don't need to sugar coat everything because in the end that does not help anyone. I did one conference in Spanish and I understood everything the mom was saying to me! She was asking me if it was bad that her daughter is learning letters and sounds in both Spanish and English because she thought maybe it was slowing her down in English since she is confusing the two. I told her that I think it's great she is learning both and that she will get it and she is doing fine! She should be so proud that her child will be bilingual. I wish I had learned another language when I was that young and I think that in our world, the more languages you speak, the more people you can communicate with, which I see as a very positive thing!
Out of the whole super busy fun filled day, my favorite part had to be hearing one little boy on the bus singing in a sweet little voice....beautiful girls, all over the world... So cute!
Tomorrow I have a regular day with the kiddos, then class after work. Thursday and Fridays I have the rest of the conferences and then it is going to be the best weekend because I don't have class and I will finally have time to relax!
Once we got to the pumpkin patch the kids go to pet some farm animals, take a train ride to the pumpkins, choose a pumpkin, run through a hay maze, take a boat ride during which a fake dragon and shark both emerged from the water, and then enjoy a picnic lunch outside in the sunshine (thank you gorgeous Oregon October weather for blessing us with a sunny and warm day instead of rain!). One super nice dad bought me coffee, but I had to tease him that I was no longer appreciative once we realized that the only bathroom option was a porta potty. Actually--as most teachers know- we are champion pee holders which is a skill I have honed on long international flights during which I chose not to use the airplane toilet, so I definitely had no issue waiting to use the bathroom back at school.
The kiddos were so tired out that a few fell asleep on the way home. Most of the kids got picked up by 1:00 or so, but I had about 10 with me until the very end of the day. They mostly played while I assessed a few of them and we ended our day with the story Pumpkin Soup which I read while they laid on the carpet in exhausted heaps.
As soon as I put them on the bus, I came back into the classroom and began a 4.5 hour stint of conferences. They all went really well (even when I had to break the news about kiddos not listening, drawing on books/tables, or saying not nice things to other kids). I really have awesome parents this year and I love it. They know their kids and I am glad that we can have an honest conversation about what they do at school. It has taken me a long time to learn that I don't need to sugar coat everything because in the end that does not help anyone. I did one conference in Spanish and I understood everything the mom was saying to me! She was asking me if it was bad that her daughter is learning letters and sounds in both Spanish and English because she thought maybe it was slowing her down in English since she is confusing the two. I told her that I think it's great she is learning both and that she will get it and she is doing fine! She should be so proud that her child will be bilingual. I wish I had learned another language when I was that young and I think that in our world, the more languages you speak, the more people you can communicate with, which I see as a very positive thing!
Out of the whole super busy fun filled day, my favorite part had to be hearing one little boy on the bus singing in a sweet little voice....beautiful girls, all over the world... So cute!
Tomorrow I have a regular day with the kiddos, then class after work. Thursday and Fridays I have the rest of the conferences and then it is going to be the best weekend because I don't have class and I will finally have time to relax!
Way Too Long
It's been way too long since I last posted, but it speaks to how crazy busy I have been lately. Last week I had class Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, and most of the day Saturday. I really love my weekend class and the people in it, but when half the weekend is spent in a classroom, it really goes by fast. I didn't get to work out at all last week and I have felt so rushed in everything.
Today I started my second round of assessments for Fast Track Phonics which required the use of my lovely TV and educational DVD's. I really hate putting the kids in front of a video, but if I need to assess, it's hard to have them doing stations or playing because that makes for a lot of interruptions and a less than quiet room. I was able to get a good amount of assessing done, just in time for my first batch of conferences tomorrow. We are going on our first field trip to a pumpkin patch about 40 minutes away. I am not quite sure why we have to go that far on the bus when there are patches closer to the school, but I guess it's quite a fun place with a boat ride and other fun features. I have a lot of parent volunteers which is great! Each parent will only have 2 kids and I don't have to have a group, so I can be free to take pictures and circulate to make sure everything is going okay. It should be an interesting day given that my PM class has to come in the morning and all of my kiddos will have a longer than normal day. Fortunately most of the parents are taking their kids home/picking them up at 12:45 when we get back so I will only have about 12 for the remainder of the day. Also, fortunately many of those kiddos are ones that I need to spend some time assessing so that works out well. All the kids except for one turned in their permission slips and despite calls home, verbal reminders, and extra permission slips sent home, I have yet to receive one for this child. The rule is that no permission slip means no field trip, but I would be so sad if this little boy could not come (because I feel that his parent is being irresponsible and not him). I sent him home today with a permission slip safety pinned to his shirt because he doesn't bring a backpack on most days. Hopefully the message will be received at home and he will be pumpkin picking with us tomorrow!
My doctoral courses are sparking lots of ideas relating to instruction/activities that are culturally appropriate. One of the activities we do each week is one page that goes into the children's alphabet books. These are crafty type activities where each child makes the same thing. We are always rushed to get it done and I feel like the end products are less than stellar since many kids have to leave in the middle for ELD. I have been toying with the idea of just sending home the page and having families create their own (kind of like what they did for their personal alphabet). They could choose something meaningful that starts with each letter so that their alphabet book at the end of the year would really be meaningful to them. I could see that concept going one of two ways. I would hope that the pages would be creative and show time and effort, yet I worry that for some kiddos, especially those who don't have access to school materials at home, it would turn into them just not making the book.
I had a really great turnout for the personal alphabets, yet if I really examined which kids returned theirs, it was mostly the white kids. I am really trying to think of activities that sparks interest for my culturally diverse students as well. It is so hard to infuse creative ideas when I am so crunched for time. I hate to just send things home for families to do, but maybe that is a great way to get families more involved? Thoughts?
Today I started my second round of assessments for Fast Track Phonics which required the use of my lovely TV and educational DVD's. I really hate putting the kids in front of a video, but if I need to assess, it's hard to have them doing stations or playing because that makes for a lot of interruptions and a less than quiet room. I was able to get a good amount of assessing done, just in time for my first batch of conferences tomorrow. We are going on our first field trip to a pumpkin patch about 40 minutes away. I am not quite sure why we have to go that far on the bus when there are patches closer to the school, but I guess it's quite a fun place with a boat ride and other fun features. I have a lot of parent volunteers which is great! Each parent will only have 2 kids and I don't have to have a group, so I can be free to take pictures and circulate to make sure everything is going okay. It should be an interesting day given that my PM class has to come in the morning and all of my kiddos will have a longer than normal day. Fortunately most of the parents are taking their kids home/picking them up at 12:45 when we get back so I will only have about 12 for the remainder of the day. Also, fortunately many of those kiddos are ones that I need to spend some time assessing so that works out well. All the kids except for one turned in their permission slips and despite calls home, verbal reminders, and extra permission slips sent home, I have yet to receive one for this child. The rule is that no permission slip means no field trip, but I would be so sad if this little boy could not come (because I feel that his parent is being irresponsible and not him). I sent him home today with a permission slip safety pinned to his shirt because he doesn't bring a backpack on most days. Hopefully the message will be received at home and he will be pumpkin picking with us tomorrow!
My doctoral courses are sparking lots of ideas relating to instruction/activities that are culturally appropriate. One of the activities we do each week is one page that goes into the children's alphabet books. These are crafty type activities where each child makes the same thing. We are always rushed to get it done and I feel like the end products are less than stellar since many kids have to leave in the middle for ELD. I have been toying with the idea of just sending home the page and having families create their own (kind of like what they did for their personal alphabet). They could choose something meaningful that starts with each letter so that their alphabet book at the end of the year would really be meaningful to them. I could see that concept going one of two ways. I would hope that the pages would be creative and show time and effort, yet I worry that for some kiddos, especially those who don't have access to school materials at home, it would turn into them just not making the book.
I had a really great turnout for the personal alphabets, yet if I really examined which kids returned theirs, it was mostly the white kids. I am really trying to think of activities that sparks interest for my culturally diverse students as well. It is so hard to infuse creative ideas when I am so crunched for time. I hate to just send things home for families to do, but maybe that is a great way to get families more involved? Thoughts?
Sardines at Snacktime
Every Wednesday our Star of the Week gets to bring in a snack that starts with our letter of the week to share with everyone. This week our letter is S. When I was about to pass out the snack, one little boy turned to his neighbor and said, "I hope it's not sardines!" Lucky for him it was striped shortbread cookies. Much tastier than sardines!
I also had a little boy tell me yesterday that he can do a pushup and now he has muscles! I think fitness must be important in his house because he is always telling me about his muscles :)
I am heading to class after work today. I think I finally have an afternoon without meetings, so I should be able to get caught up in my classroom and take off a little bit early so I have some time to sniff the flowers and blow out the candles before class. I felt like such a bag lady today leaving for work with an entire grocery bag full of food (lunch, snack, and dinner) along with two water bottles (as I am trying my hardest to drink a lot of water during the day!). The latte in my hand didn't make it much easier to carry all that, but I usually feel like I deserve a Starbucks Latte on Wednesday mornings since it's such a long day.
Hopefully day two with my new PM friends goes well!
I also had a little boy tell me yesterday that he can do a pushup and now he has muscles! I think fitness must be important in his house because he is always telling me about his muscles :)
I am heading to class after work today. I think I finally have an afternoon without meetings, so I should be able to get caught up in my classroom and take off a little bit early so I have some time to sniff the flowers and blow out the candles before class. I felt like such a bag lady today leaving for work with an entire grocery bag full of food (lunch, snack, and dinner) along with two water bottles (as I am trying my hardest to drink a lot of water during the day!). The latte in my hand didn't make it much easier to carry all that, but I usually feel like I deserve a Starbucks Latte on Wednesday mornings since it's such a long day.
Hopefully day two with my new PM friends goes well!
My Little Friend
I have a little friend in my PM class who has quickly made an imprint on my heart. His skill level is really low, but I am so committed to helping him make leaps and bounds of progress this year. I can tell he has not really worked with pencils and crayons a lot before coming to school and his fine motor skills needs work. He is starting to recognize his name and I made him a little activity with bottle caps that have the letters of his name on them so he can practice putting them in order. Even though none of the other children have this morning job, he is really happy to do it. When I had the rest of the kids on the carpet, he was lagging behind and I noticed that he was working hard to put his name in order. He switched around the a and the e, but he did a great job and was really motivated to see it through to completion. He also worked on tracing the s's on his morning worksheet very carefully. His intent and concentration were awesome! I had him use the large wooden tracing letters that I got the other day and he was so happy to trace each one even though the other kids were using markers to write. He is perfectly content to work at his own level and I love that. I would love to see him progress in his fine motor coordination so he can start writing his name like the other kids, but I love that he is making small steps forward each day and continuing to love school and work hard.
Even though he doesn't have the same academic skills as the other kids, he really has a good sense of caring for others and noticing things about the other kids. He knows which child goes on which bus, asks a lot of questions, is very friendly to other kids, and always loves to help. I am so excited to see his progress this year.
We were told that a few teachers who are on a special team geared towards culturally appropriate instruction will be trying out home visits this fall with families. My principal said anyone who wants to choose a family and do a home visit is welcome to, but we are not being mandated to do this. I am still trying to decide if I want to or not, but I definitely think that if I decide to do it that I will choose to visit this boy's family. His mom is coming on our field trip next week and I am really excited to get to know her.
P.S I still have hives! I went to the doctor today but there wasn't really a conclusion about why they have popped up. Possibly stress???
Even though he doesn't have the same academic skills as the other kids, he really has a good sense of caring for others and noticing things about the other kids. He knows which child goes on which bus, asks a lot of questions, is very friendly to other kids, and always loves to help. I am so excited to see his progress this year.
We were told that a few teachers who are on a special team geared towards culturally appropriate instruction will be trying out home visits this fall with families. My principal said anyone who wants to choose a family and do a home visit is welcome to, but we are not being mandated to do this. I am still trying to decide if I want to or not, but I definitely think that if I decide to do it that I will choose to visit this boy's family. His mom is coming on our field trip next week and I am really excited to get to know her.
Do you do home visits? What do you think about them?
P.S I still have hives! I went to the doctor today but there wasn't really a conclusion about why they have popped up. Possibly stress???
New Student
I just got an email that I will be getting a new student in my PM class starting tomorrow. Why is it that my first fear is that this new child will completely throw off the rhythm that we already have going? I wouldn't want to add another body to my already full AM class, yet I am so pleased with the calmness that ensues during the afternoon that I am very fearful of enlarging that class and having that nice dynamic change. In all my years of teaching, I have rarely had a new student move in that really impacted the entire class flow in a negative way, yet I have had it happen. I am hoping that tomorrow adds one more cutie to the mix.
I am still working on homework, getting conferences scheduled, trying to be organized and mentally preparing for next week. We have a field trip on Tuesday next week during which I will have both of my classes at the same time. Any parents who go on the field trip must take their kids home when we get back around 1, but I will still have just under two hours with the rest of the kiddos who need to ride the bus home (without having had a bathroom or lunch break). I will get to eat lunch, but it will be with the kids, so it's not a standard lunch break. As soon as the kids leave, I start conferencing and go until about 7 since I have class Wednesday and Thursday and cannot stay later on those days. Wednesday I teach all day then have class until 9:30, Thursday I have conferences all day then class until 9:00, and then Friday I have conferences all day. It is going to be a crazy week! Perhaps I should add a note on the bottom of conference reminders letting parents know how much I appreciate soy lattes and chocolate! hehe! It will be so nice when all of that is over! Also, I have class Friday/Saturday this weekend so I won't have a lot of time to get work done between this week's classes and next week's. I am definitely feeling the stress! I actually broke out in hives today for some unknown reason. One of my students actually pointed it out to me and sure enough there were hives all over my forearm. I felt fine so I just kept on teaching, but I am really curious what could have caused it.
I am off to the gym with research articles in hand so I can workout and get some reading done. Happy Monday!
I am still working on homework, getting conferences scheduled, trying to be organized and mentally preparing for next week. We have a field trip on Tuesday next week during which I will have both of my classes at the same time. Any parents who go on the field trip must take their kids home when we get back around 1, but I will still have just under two hours with the rest of the kiddos who need to ride the bus home (without having had a bathroom or lunch break). I will get to eat lunch, but it will be with the kids, so it's not a standard lunch break. As soon as the kids leave, I start conferencing and go until about 7 since I have class Wednesday and Thursday and cannot stay later on those days. Wednesday I teach all day then have class until 9:30, Thursday I have conferences all day then class until 9:00, and then Friday I have conferences all day. It is going to be a crazy week! Perhaps I should add a note on the bottom of conference reminders letting parents know how much I appreciate soy lattes and chocolate! hehe! It will be so nice when all of that is over! Also, I have class Friday/Saturday this weekend so I won't have a lot of time to get work done between this week's classes and next week's. I am definitely feeling the stress! I actually broke out in hives today for some unknown reason. One of my students actually pointed it out to me and sure enough there were hives all over my forearm. I felt fine so I just kept on teaching, but I am really curious what could have caused it.
I am off to the gym with research articles in hand so I can workout and get some reading done. Happy Monday!
Education as a balanced diet
Wow, even though I had a three day weekend, I didn't post at all yet! That is what tons of homework will do to a person! At least I have gotten out for a few exercise classes (pilates yesterday and yoga this morning) which helps to reduce the stress!
On Friday we didn't have school because it was a state in service day for teachers in Oregon. We were not mandated to do any workshops, but I signed up to go see Howard Gardner (The King of Multiple Intelligences!) It was great to hear him talk about his most recent book Five Minds for the Future, but I actually enjoyed the presentation that followed his even more. When Mr. Gardner was finished we heard from Mike Geisen who was National Teacher of the Year in 2008. He is a middle school science teacher from Oregon and he was fantastic. Not only was he very engaging and funny, but he used this metaphor/analogy of education as a balanced diet that really resonated with me. He talked about how the packaged curricula are kind of like the meat and potatoes that address the standards and get it done, but that there are so many other things we can do with our students that extend the breadth of their "diet." The concept seemed really brilliant to me and just made so much sense. We don't want to feed our kids "fast food" (quick and easy) we want them to have a healthy balance. We don't want to push institutional food that is bland and unappealing, we really want to be chefs who serve interesting, tasty, and exciting food that they want to eat!
I went to the teacher store today and got some fun new activities that I want to use with my kiddos during choice time. I am also trying to brainstorm ideas of how to help my kiddos who are really struggling to write their letters and write their names. I got some jumbo traceable letters that kids can write on and then wipe off. I may incorporate them into my letter writing time for the few kiddos who still stare at me blankly when it's time to write letters. I am getting really motivated to really take on a few kiddos as my projects this year and rock their worlds with all they will learn.
I think both of these will make great choice time station activities. The letters on the matching board are kind of like sandpaper so that adds a nice tactile touch to it for kiddos who are struggling with the shapes of the letters. I can't wait to try these out tomorrow!
On Friday we didn't have school because it was a state in service day for teachers in Oregon. We were not mandated to do any workshops, but I signed up to go see Howard Gardner (The King of Multiple Intelligences!) It was great to hear him talk about his most recent book Five Minds for the Future, but I actually enjoyed the presentation that followed his even more. When Mr. Gardner was finished we heard from Mike Geisen who was National Teacher of the Year in 2008. He is a middle school science teacher from Oregon and he was fantastic. Not only was he very engaging and funny, but he used this metaphor/analogy of education as a balanced diet that really resonated with me. He talked about how the packaged curricula are kind of like the meat and potatoes that address the standards and get it done, but that there are so many other things we can do with our students that extend the breadth of their "diet." The concept seemed really brilliant to me and just made so much sense. We don't want to feed our kids "fast food" (quick and easy) we want them to have a healthy balance. We don't want to push institutional food that is bland and unappealing, we really want to be chefs who serve interesting, tasty, and exciting food that they want to eat!
I went to the teacher store today and got some fun new activities that I want to use with my kiddos during choice time. I am also trying to brainstorm ideas of how to help my kiddos who are really struggling to write their letters and write their names. I got some jumbo traceable letters that kids can write on and then wipe off. I may incorporate them into my letter writing time for the few kiddos who still stare at me blankly when it's time to write letters. I am getting really motivated to really take on a few kiddos as my projects this year and rock their worlds with all they will learn.
I think both of these will make great choice time station activities. The letters on the matching board are kind of like sandpaper so that adds a nice tactile touch to it for kiddos who are struggling with the shapes of the letters. I can't wait to try these out tomorrow!
More Kinder Comedy
Today the same two students who worked with the missing initial sound stamps decided to do that activity again. The one little guy thought it was the funnest thing he ever did in his whole life, so it doesn't surprise me that he wanted to another crack at it.
Since they did the activity with me yesterday, I let them do it on their own today while I circulated and worked 1:1 with some students to check in with how they are coming along with their sounds and blending sounds together.
When I checked in with my stampers, one of the children had used the "sock" stamp. Since the initial sounds are missing, she had a picture of a sock and _ock stamped on her paper and she had written in a letter at the beginning of the word. Well...some of my kiddos are confusing the sound s makes with the sound c makes. She had expressed that confusion on this particular word. She thought that the letter c made the /s/ sound. I prompted her to think about what letter says /s/ without reading aloud the word she had created, but the other little smarty at the table boldly exclaimed, that says COCK (loudly).
During snack time today, we enjoyed apples and apple juice for our Aa snack (a is our letter of the week, so the student who is the star of the week brings in a snack for everyone that begins with our letter of the week). The apple juice came in cans and one little boy proudly showed me that he had opened his all by himself. He told me, "I did it because I have muscles."
Using my document camera today was fabulous! The kids did so much better with the activity because they were able to look at my model and copy what I was doing. It was great. There are a few who are really fascinated with the fact that they can see my hands when I move the materials around and a few who keep trying to put their hands under it, but for the most part it made for much better math lessons, which makes me really happy :0)
I have class tonight and I am hopeful I remembered to do all of my homework! So much to think about, so much to remember!
Since they did the activity with me yesterday, I let them do it on their own today while I circulated and worked 1:1 with some students to check in with how they are coming along with their sounds and blending sounds together.
When I checked in with my stampers, one of the children had used the "sock" stamp. Since the initial sounds are missing, she had a picture of a sock and _ock stamped on her paper and she had written in a letter at the beginning of the word. Well...some of my kiddos are confusing the sound s makes with the sound c makes. She had expressed that confusion on this particular word. She thought that the letter c made the /s/ sound. I prompted her to think about what letter says /s/ without reading aloud the word she had created, but the other little smarty at the table boldly exclaimed, that says COCK (loudly).
During snack time today, we enjoyed apples and apple juice for our Aa snack (a is our letter of the week, so the student who is the star of the week brings in a snack for everyone that begins with our letter of the week). The apple juice came in cans and one little boy proudly showed me that he had opened his all by himself. He told me, "I did it because I have muscles."
Using my document camera today was fabulous! The kids did so much better with the activity because they were able to look at my model and copy what I was doing. It was great. There are a few who are really fascinated with the fact that they can see my hands when I move the materials around and a few who keep trying to put their hands under it, but for the most part it made for much better math lessons, which makes me really happy :0)
I have class tonight and I am hopeful I remembered to do all of my homework! So much to think about, so much to remember!
Funnies
Today was a better day. Once again the afternoon was fantastic and I even got to pull kids to have them practice sounds and words 1:1 with me during choice time. I find that I learn so much information working/talking 1:1 and because of that I HEART choice time. During my AM session, I didn't pull kids and instead I worked with 2 children on some initial sound games. The first was the sound trains where they pick a train mat that has a letter on it and find the picture cards with a matching initial sound. Then we did the initial sound stamps. Those are stamps with an image and all of the letters for the word except the first sound. The students stamped their papers and then practiced writing the letters that represented the missing sound. When it was time to clean up the little boy that I was working with was seriously over the top about what we did. He literally exclaimed more than 5 times that it was the funnest thing he ever did. LOVE IT!
Also, I read the story There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed Some Leaves to the AM group. I got it along with some other free books from Scholastic this month. Although the original song is funny, I have to say that the various books I have gotten based on the song from Scholastic are not my favorites. This one was pretty lame (according to me), but the kids enjoyed the repeating phrase, "I don't know why she swallowed the leaves, perhaps she'll sneeze." Of course I was trying to be very exciting and dramatic each time I exclaimed that I didn't know WHY she swallowed the leaves. About halfway through one little girl raised her hand (the same girl who had a marathon hand raise just to tell me my shoes were beautiful) and she said "because she hambre" (hambre means hungry in Spanish). She didn't get why I didn't get why the woman ate the leaves....she was hungry...duh! This little girl is just about the more precious thing out there! I love her comments.
I have class again tomorrow and I think I still have some homework to finish up...boo! The Biggest Loser is on tonight so I just may be multitasking! At least this week the snack shares are up and running so we should have some good snacks to munch on during both classes!
PS There is a big smile on my face because operation document camera was a success and I now have one to use in my classroom! I cannot wait to get started on using it for math because Kinder kiddos need good modeling and it has been very difficult to model all of the activities that require numerous manipulatives. I am anticipating some mesmerization (is that a word!?) tomorrow when they see how it works!
Also, I read the story There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed Some Leaves to the AM group. I got it along with some other free books from Scholastic this month. Although the original song is funny, I have to say that the various books I have gotten based on the song from Scholastic are not my favorites. This one was pretty lame (according to me), but the kids enjoyed the repeating phrase, "I don't know why she swallowed the leaves, perhaps she'll sneeze." Of course I was trying to be very exciting and dramatic each time I exclaimed that I didn't know WHY she swallowed the leaves. About halfway through one little girl raised her hand (the same girl who had a marathon hand raise just to tell me my shoes were beautiful) and she said "because she hambre" (hambre means hungry in Spanish). She didn't get why I didn't get why the woman ate the leaves....she was hungry...duh! This little girl is just about the more precious thing out there! I love her comments.
I have class again tomorrow and I think I still have some homework to finish up...boo! The Biggest Loser is on tonight so I just may be multitasking! At least this week the snack shares are up and running so we should have some good snacks to munch on during both classes!
PS There is a big smile on my face because operation document camera was a success and I now have one to use in my classroom! I cannot wait to get started on using it for math because Kinder kiddos need good modeling and it has been very difficult to model all of the activities that require numerous manipulatives. I am anticipating some mesmerization (is that a word!?) tomorrow when they see how it works!
Sniff the flowers, blow out the candles
This morning, I had one of those days that made me want to put my head down on a desk and cry. My morning class had a very difficult time staying on task...not all of them--most of them are actually really on task and good at following rules and directions. There were a few kiddos however, that made the morning quite a struggle. I had to make my first negative parent called and tried to explain in my best Spanish that we are having some behavioral issues in the classroom that make it very challenging for me to teach. This child had a time out (missed PE while I retaught the lesson he ignored), then after another incident, I had a private talk with him in Spanish about behaving and following directions and he still kept it up. I don't like to have children miss recess or fun activities because I recognize that some kids need MORE activity than we are allowing which makes taking away opportunities for movement seem illogical in terms of getting them to settle down, so I am finding that I struggle with finding appropriate consequences. Sometimes I ask a child to leave the group and return when they are ready to follow directions, yet that sometimes backfires and the child just goes back to his/her seat and does nothing so they basically get out of the work. Because I am so limited on time, that makes holding students accountable a challenge. I sometimes feel like a failure in the consequences department because I have a hard time finding true consequences (which actually cause the undesired behavior to change). Yes, I can ask a child to leave carpet, but if they were not interested in what I was teaching in the first place, that is probably going to actually increase the probability they will misbehave in the future rather than decrease it. I also use choice time as leverage and indicate that students who make good choices earn their playtime, but some of the kids in my class receive ELD instruction in small groups and it is during this time that the rest of the students get play time (don't even get me started on how much I think that is not fair to the students who leave, but I cannot teach anything new while are gone, so choice time infused with learning games is pretty much the only option) so some kids don't get play time regardless of their behavioral choices. As a result, I lose the leverage of play time.
I am hopeful that a call home to parents will be a good start to recognizing there is a big problem and that we need to work together to help this kiddo understand the expectations in the classroom. I worry about how this parent may have perceived the call because I don't like to make negative calls prior to actually meeting the parent face to face. I did, however, feel it was necessary today. The afternoon seemed like a dream compared with the morning and I was thankful for a quieter, smaller group to spend the rest of the day with.
Our new math program has the kids drawing "scenes" in which they have to depict a certain number (like Anno's Counting Book). It is really interesting to evaluate these scenes because some children are SO much more advanced when it comes to drawing than others. We did our scene of 4 today and some kids showed 4 houses (like my model), others showed 4 people, and one showed 4 cars. Yet, there were also kids who just randomly scribbled like they have done for both the scene of 3 and the scene of 2. The idea is to draw a scene that incorporates the number in lots of different parts of the scene. For example an outdoor scene with 4 trees, 4 birds, 4 clouds, 4 flowers, and 4 kids playing. Sometimes I feel like such a failure when I look at certain things the kids do, but I try to keep in mind that some kids can be almost a year older than others in the same class and that a lot of things we do in Kindergarten are completely developmental and the skills will come in time with practice. I try not to be too hard on myself, especially when it comes to kids and their artwork. I do not want to imply that there is a right or wrong way to draw/make something because art is very subjective and I know that certain kids are just starting to use crayons and pencils.
Today was a good day for deep breaths and I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day! I try so hard to be positive and compliment the kiddos who are doing the right thing, yet it gets hard to be upbeat and positive when I feel like I am slowly losing my mind inside!
How was your day?
I am hopeful that a call home to parents will be a good start to recognizing there is a big problem and that we need to work together to help this kiddo understand the expectations in the classroom. I worry about how this parent may have perceived the call because I don't like to make negative calls prior to actually meeting the parent face to face. I did, however, feel it was necessary today. The afternoon seemed like a dream compared with the morning and I was thankful for a quieter, smaller group to spend the rest of the day with.
Our new math program has the kids drawing "scenes" in which they have to depict a certain number (like Anno's Counting Book). It is really interesting to evaluate these scenes because some children are SO much more advanced when it comes to drawing than others. We did our scene of 4 today and some kids showed 4 houses (like my model), others showed 4 people, and one showed 4 cars. Yet, there were also kids who just randomly scribbled like they have done for both the scene of 3 and the scene of 2. The idea is to draw a scene that incorporates the number in lots of different parts of the scene. For example an outdoor scene with 4 trees, 4 birds, 4 clouds, 4 flowers, and 4 kids playing. Sometimes I feel like such a failure when I look at certain things the kids do, but I try to keep in mind that some kids can be almost a year older than others in the same class and that a lot of things we do in Kindergarten are completely developmental and the skills will come in time with practice. I try not to be too hard on myself, especially when it comes to kids and their artwork. I do not want to imply that there is a right or wrong way to draw/make something because art is very subjective and I know that certain kids are just starting to use crayons and pencils.
Today was a good day for deep breaths and I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day! I try so hard to be positive and compliment the kiddos who are doing the right thing, yet it gets hard to be upbeat and positive when I feel like I am slowly losing my mind inside!
How was your day?
How do we learn?
For my principles and practices of learning class, we had to read an article about two metaphors that are applied to the process of learning. One is the acquisition metaphor where it is believed that people acquire knowledge and that knowledge is something that can be obtained. The other metaphor is the participation metaphor which explains that learning is more of a constructive process and that the learner has more of a role in building what they learn. The article makes the point that we cannot view learning in just one of these ways and that it truly is a combination of both. I feel like for most of my life, I experienced learning as an acquisition of knowledge, but I think this left me without understanding the true significance and value of what I learned and I also forgot a lot of what I learned throughout my schooling. Now that I am in a position where I go to class and learn about things that are pertinent to the job I do everyday, I think I am getting a little bit better at bringing myself into the learning and making it more about my own personal journey of learning. It's not just about collecting little bits of knowledge in order to have them, rather it's about incorporating those bits and changing yourself as a result of possessing them.
I have spent quite a bit of time doing homework this weekend and I am starting to get back in the groove of having school on top of work. I don't think I have ever felt this challenged before, but being in a doctoral program kind of takes it to a whole new level of rigor. I have met some great people in my new cohort and reconnected with some wonderful people that I "know" from last year.
Again, I feel like my posts here have been different lately...more of just a report on what I have been up to instead of really focused on teaching and what I am doing in the classroom. I have seen that not as many people are reading and commenting, so if you have something in mind that you would like to see more of, please let me know! I would love to connect you all to my classroom blog, yet I hesitate because I need to protect the privacy of my students. I would like to start including more posts about what we are doing in the classroom and possibly some examples of student work so stay tuned and bear with me as I usually don't feel this busy! I have something going on everyday after school this week and that makes me feel stressed. I am starting to crave pilates and yoga in the afternoons/evenings as a way to relax!
What do you do to relieve stress?
I have spent quite a bit of time doing homework this weekend and I am starting to get back in the groove of having school on top of work. I don't think I have ever felt this challenged before, but being in a doctoral program kind of takes it to a whole new level of rigor. I have met some great people in my new cohort and reconnected with some wonderful people that I "know" from last year.
Again, I feel like my posts here have been different lately...more of just a report on what I have been up to instead of really focused on teaching and what I am doing in the classroom. I have seen that not as many people are reading and commenting, so if you have something in mind that you would like to see more of, please let me know! I would love to connect you all to my classroom blog, yet I hesitate because I need to protect the privacy of my students. I would like to start including more posts about what we are doing in the classroom and possibly some examples of student work so stay tuned and bear with me as I usually don't feel this busy! I have something going on everyday after school this week and that makes me feel stressed. I am starting to crave pilates and yoga in the afternoons/evenings as a way to relax!
What do you do to relieve stress?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)