below the line

I've done a lot of work in my district with Courageous Conversations which focuses on paying attention to the role race plays in learning, instruction, and the institution of schooling. That work influenced my dissertation work and as a result I have done a lot of reading and thinking about what it means to teach in a culturally responsive way. One of the things we learned about/worked on last year in the series of trainings my team did was trying to uncover what is called "below the line" information about students. Below the line refers to information about students that helps you really know and understand them better. Particularly in reference to students that come from cultural backgrounds that differ from my own, getting "below the line"info means getting information about students and their families directly from the students and their families as opposed to making assumptions about them based on their cultural background.

I don't know if it's because I am in the middle of my dissertation work and so I am thinking about getting to know families better or if more experience under my belt makes me more comfortable in talking with parents, but this year I got a lot of below the line info at conferences that really makes me feel like I can understand certain students better. Parents were open and shared with me and for the first time I think I felt more comfortable to probe a little and ask questions. I always fear that asking questions about what they do for a job or who cares for the child after school is going too far, yet truly it helps me get a better picture of the lives my students live.

A few interesting tidbits...

• one student lives in a hotel
• one student has a mom that does Mixed Martial Arts fighting
• one student's dad is Santa Claus (well he is like Santa Claus because he drives a delivery truck for a big company and works extra hours during the holiday season to make sure packages are delivered on time)
• one student has a mother that is getting married soon
• 2 students have moms that are currently working on degrees and they study at night and take courses online
• 2 moms are daycare providers/nannies so they can be home with their kids

Knowing these little things about parents helps me understand my kiddos better and certainly helps me feel more connected to my students and their parents. I definitely want to continue making those types of connections with students and their families because it feels good!

a new way for morning work

Over the summer my teammates and I purchased some plastic magazine holders from the dollar bin at Target...they were $2.00 each, but still a good deal for brightly colored, durable containers. We pretty much wiped out the inventory at all our local Targets to each get a class set, but I am really glad we did because they are working out great for a few reasons.

1. They hold our iPads, headphones, AppCrayons, and morning work folders. That's a lot of stuff for each kid, so the bins or "buckets" as we can them really help each kiddo keep track of his/her stuff. We also have all of those items numbered in the event that they get separated from their specific bucket (which does happen in my room sometimes because we share those items with the PM class).

2. Never before have my kiddos been so accountable for completing their unfinished work. I love it! In the past, if they were late to school or just spent too much time chatting instead of coloring, their unfinished morning work simply went in their cubby and home at the end of the week. There was no follow through for completing it and a lot of work was messy. Same for unfinished math pages--they just went home and were never completed if a child was not able to complete the work during the actual math lesson. Now, however, all of those pages stay in the bucket until they are completed. And, students have to have all of their work completed BEFORE they can get their iPad in the morning, so there's a good incentive for keeping up with morning work. I love how in the morning I see kids taking out things they did not finish and getting those things done before getting their iPads. Work is neater, it's going home completed, and kids are learning about the importance of finishing their work.

When I had two classes in the past,  I just couldn't wrap my mind around having folders for morning work because it seemed like way too much to juggle for two groups of students. I wasn't sure about the storage and the organization and that prevented me from trying it out. This year, with only one group, I decided to try it out and I am really happy with how it's working. Students get their buckets off the shelf in the morning when they come in and keep them at their tables all day until it's time to put iPads away and put the buckets back in their "parking space" (assigned spots so they know where to put it which makes clean up a bit easier). Sometimes the tables can get a bit crowded when the buckets are out, especially table groups with five kids, but we put them on the floor if we need more table space and overall it's a great system.

Target doesn't have the buckets anymore because it was part of their end of summer inventory, but I am pretty sure a store like Really Good Stuff would have something similar. We have always had little mailboxes where kids put their work that is ready to go home, but I'm glad they now have a holding place for projects and things they are still working on.

apologies apologies

Well well well...haven't I been just a completely neglectful blogger recently. I don't think I have posted since the first or second week of school! yikes!

So here are some updates:

My class....is very very very very chatty. The first few weeks were great, but as they have gotten to know each other better and become friends with each other they have started talking up a storm which makes for a very frustrated teacher. I have made a conscious effort to make sure I am providing them times to talk within lessons but it just feels like they don't ever stop! I feel so thankful that I only have one class this year because I honestly don't think I could handle two! I am not sure if it's the fact that our numbers are higher this year or just the mix of kids I have but I feel like I must say "my turn to talk" about five hundred times a day!!!

My baby girl...SIX months old and just so darn cute! I love spending my afternoons with her and seeing her change and develop a personality. She is now rolling all over the place and trying to figure out how to crawl. She doesn't quite get how to do it but I just know it's going to happen any day now. She started eating solids and just loved food. She eyes everything I eat and wants in. She sits in her little highchair and when she gets food she is just over the moon. She has liked everything I've given her except avocado. Go figure...that's one of my favorites! I think she started cutting her first tooth today too!

My dissertation...is coming along slowly but surely. I partnered up with someone from my class so we can share our weekly goals with one another and keep each other on track. I have two afternoons a week when Baby Sneaker is at daycare until 3:00 so I can get some work done. I am currently finishing up my third round of interviews and transcribing so that I can start my data analysis phase. The work is so fascinating, but it's a lot on top of teaching, being a mama, and taking care of the house. I am hoping that the end is in sight, but I have no idea how long data analysis will take.

I hope to continue keeping this blog alive but I just don't have it in me to post frequently about all the stuff going on in my classroom. I will do my best though!