Wellllll.... it's been a bit hectic. Every road I have traveled its either snowing, snow on the road, or both. On my way up north I hit a patch of snow and ice. Luckily I had seen it coming and was driving slowly. That kicked me into the plowed snow on the side of the highway. Right down the road and right up the road...no snow. The wind was hitting the side of this hill just perfectly to blow it off and into the road. As I was pulled through the snow berm I thwacked a snow pole. This cracked my passenger side windshield. Then there I sat because the snow berm pulled me in far enough I was stuck. A guy came to help me and he was stuck attempting to help. I helped him get out and watched for traffic and sent him on his way. Then two guys in two trucks traveling opposite ways decided with determination they would pull me out. Right quick they did and I was on the road again. I messaged my brother and said order a new windshield I'm going to need one. So before I had arrived home he had one ordered. So that was a little more excitement than I needed.
I made one stop to visit a good friend. It was sooooo good to see her and her family. I am very thankful I was able to visit her.
Then I thought I had most of my Christmas shopping complete courtesy of Amazon Prime. Nope there were a few forgotten things. So I ventured out into that crazy pre-Christmas shopping world. I think I am ready. Usually by this time I have Christmas Cards ready and sent. Um NOPE not this year. I will aim for New Year's cards :). That might be an acheivable goal.
Just after I got back some of my cousins drove through town on their way up to a family Christmas. It was really fun to see them. I don't get to see them enough!
When you have an accident that requires dealing with insurance dread fills you up. Well at least me it does. However, my insurance company Farmers has made it so painless. They have communicated every step made phone calls for me. Made sure to get payments out to vendors before Christmas. I am impressed. They even called a car rental company on my behalf. I have to have my bumper cover replaced which I will do when I get back to Nevada. I wrote a thank you because I was expecting a long painful process that made me want to cry and yell. Sometimes you are surprised.
I am glad I am on break. I was ready, my students were ready, I think even the parents were ready. The Alarm clock is turned off for the duration. So nice.
December 24, 2015
December 2, 2015
Whining sick
So back to work. Get home and am just not feeling like myself. I attribute it to being tired and off schedule after the break. I think to myself " I'll just lie down for awhile". About an hour later I wake up shivering and not from the cold weather. My electric mattress pad was on and I caught a chill. Yep running a temperature. Just high enough to be miserable. I take some acetaminophen and attempt to rest again. Usually when I get sick I have a window where I feel decent enough to go lesson plan for a sub. That didn't really happen so I went and did it anyway. My poor sub I hope they made sense. Sigh. We were also scheduled to go to our local convention center for the "Festival of Trees" at the convention center every year local businesses decorate trees and place them down there. Some of them are quite clever. Then later they have a craft fair and Santa visits etc. For this part they just want the kids to come see the trees. I feel bad doing that to the sub any break in the usual routine makes things more hectic. It isn't the most exciting event but it is a community thing we attempt to support. The fever has not broken. I have a feeling tomorrow will have to be another sick day. uggh.
Update: umm yes another sick day. Just when you think you're getting better the fever spikes again. Also you might be running a fever if you can go outside in subzero temperatures and sweat while feeling too hot. I apologize for my whining.
After too short of a night I woke up to a fever. I had hoped it would break. I took myself to the grocery store for Coke, saltines, and chicken and rice soup. I hoped to not see anyone I knew but of course I did. Oh well I got my stuff quickly and came back home to put on my pjs. Hopefully by tonight my fever breaks. Back to bed I go. I know more whining. I am just sick enough to be a pain in the rear. Good thing I'm the only one who has to put up with me :)
Update: umm yes another sick day. Just when you think you're getting better the fever spikes again. Also you might be running a fever if you can go outside in subzero temperatures and sweat while feeling too hot. I apologize for my whining.
After too short of a night I woke up to a fever. I had hoped it would break. I took myself to the grocery store for Coke, saltines, and chicken and rice soup. I hoped to not see anyone I knew but of course I did. Oh well I got my stuff quickly and came back home to put on my pjs. Hopefully by tonight my fever breaks. Back to bed I go. I know more whining. I am just sick enough to be a pain in the rear. Good thing I'm the only one who has to put up with me :)
November 25, 2015
Plumbers and Company
So... I threw in a load of laundry and....it backed up into the bathtub. Waaaaaaah! The plumbers are back. Mom and Dad are about 15 minutes away. Sigh!!! So at least their beds are made and that part is ready. The plumbers were super nice and said at least it isn't tomorrow! Well mom and dad won't be able to do much when they get here other than watch plumbers wander in and out. It sounds like they beat both ends of the snowstorm yesterday and today! So luckily I saved my new shower curtain from backed up water. So I don't have to run and get a new one today!
November 23, 2015
Lice and whiners.
I thought you deserved a lice update. It is alive and thriving. I thought perhaps we had made it through. I was wrong. The nurse said the would have to do some home visits and if that didn't work some students might be expelled. There are students who have had lice since school started and their home nor head has been treated. If we were anywhere else there would probably be allegations of neglect. So yes I still itch and scratch. Just ordered a refill of tea tree oil. Sigh...and it continues.
Well the whiners whined loud and long enough about our curriculum. It seems we must reevaluate. Grown ups are less capable than children.
Well the whiners whined loud and long enough about our curriculum. It seems we must reevaluate. Grown ups are less capable than children.
November 21, 2015
Potty training and Whining
Potty training. My little muffin buddy next door wanted to come for a visit. However, they are in the midst of potty-training. Unscheduled visits or travel is difficult during these times. So he came over with his potty and his bucket of trains and toy cars. It took some negotiations to achieve sitting on the potty. We finally made a deal that if I set my timer for five minutes at the end he would get on the potty for five minutes. Very intense negotiations with a lot of whining. The deal was made we tried to shake hands but gave each other high fives in agreement instead. So the timer went off. He sat on the potty as agreed and then success. It was a very proud moment. We had to call home and share the success. I flushed the evidence, but trust me it occurred. Then back to playing with toy cars and trains.
I spent all afternoon at school planning for the next couple of weeks. I think I am mostly ready. I have some to finish but it is mostly ready to go. We only have school for two days next week. I sent a message last night to one of the writers of our math curriculum to address issues that my grade level keeps whining about. He confirmed what I had been saying to my team. I could tell he couldn't figure out why I was asking such a ridiculous question. What seems to happen every year at my grade level in particular is a fight to challenge students. I do not have the attitude that students can't do something. I have the attitude that they can if I give them what they need to be successful. Every training I have been to the last few years has been telling teachers to change your mindset about what students can and cannot do. I have some that will struggle the entire year yet I know they will make significant growth. You know why they will struggle? Because learning isn't always easy. That is why it is called learning. If you aren't experiencing a little struggle you aren't learning. This isn't just a part of education but a part of life. Sometimes the learning is more of a struggle than other times. Sometimes it comes easier. There are eight mathematical practices. One of them is about persevering to solve a problem. In other words not giving up. So I have to work hard to give students the right tools to help them persevere in problem solving. This sometimes means more work for me. We have to meet at the level students are able to achieve and push a little higher.
I guess what I am saying over all is I don't want to hear any more whining from the grownups about the curriculum being too hard. Believe and maybe they will achieve.
I spent all afternoon at school planning for the next couple of weeks. I think I am mostly ready. I have some to finish but it is mostly ready to go. We only have school for two days next week. I sent a message last night to one of the writers of our math curriculum to address issues that my grade level keeps whining about. He confirmed what I had been saying to my team. I could tell he couldn't figure out why I was asking such a ridiculous question. What seems to happen every year at my grade level in particular is a fight to challenge students. I do not have the attitude that students can't do something. I have the attitude that they can if I give them what they need to be successful. Every training I have been to the last few years has been telling teachers to change your mindset about what students can and cannot do. I have some that will struggle the entire year yet I know they will make significant growth. You know why they will struggle? Because learning isn't always easy. That is why it is called learning. If you aren't experiencing a little struggle you aren't learning. This isn't just a part of education but a part of life. Sometimes the learning is more of a struggle than other times. Sometimes it comes easier. There are eight mathematical practices. One of them is about persevering to solve a problem. In other words not giving up. So I have to work hard to give students the right tools to help them persevere in problem solving. This sometimes means more work for me. We have to meet at the level students are able to achieve and push a little higher.
I guess what I am saying over all is I don't want to hear any more whining from the grownups about the curriculum being too hard. Believe and maybe they will achieve.
November 20, 2015
Plumbers, Training, and Persimmons
Well adventures in plumbing. I called the landlord and the plumber and his assistant arrived. They discovered my landlords had wisely poured concrete over the mainline to the house. So they thought they might have to remove the toilet to rotor-rooter. Well, they discovered that wouldn't work. Also the water shut off to the toilet was frozen. So back to the basement they went and thought they may have to cut the pipe to get the job done. Then they found a clean out. Not where a clean out should be but none-the-less a clean out. They then cleaned out. It took quite awhile longer than I suspected it would. They did get it done and we turned on the shower, sink, and washer and it all drained as it should. Turned out there were tree roots in the line. So there ya go. Then I had to clean the bathroom. I threw out my shower curtain and went and bought a new one. Because welll.....back up water. 'nuff said.
In other news another elementary school in our district spent their funding on mathematics professional development for their teachers. It was a webinar with a presenter I had seen the last two summers at the trainings I went to down south. Some of it was a repeat of what I had already learned but some of it was new information. The information I had heard before it was good to hear again. It might sink in this thick brain if I keep hearing it. It was very kind of their administrator to invite teachers from other schools. Only two of us attended from the other school. I was grateful the invite was extended. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more. It clarified some information for me. I hope they will invite us to the next one because it was great. What is amazing to me is that I have learned so much about teaching math these past three years. I am way more successful at teaching math to students than I am reading at this point. I always thought reading was my strong suit. However, because I felt math was my weakest teaching area I sought out every potential math professional development opportunity that was extended to us. I am very glad I did this. Not that I don't need to learn more, I definitely do.
So my Friday was spent in training and with plumbers. I know... super exciting. I started cleaning house today and put most of my recycling in my car to drop off at the recycling center. I hoped to make it there today but that didn't happen. My little buddy next door came over and "helped me" vacuum and shred paper. His sister came over and wanted to make banana bread. So we made that and I popped that in the oven. In my last basket from bountifulbaskets.org I received persimmons. I had only read about persimmons in books. I couldn't have even described a persimmon. So I decided to attempt to make Persimmon Bread. I have NO idea if I will like it hate it or will feed it to the birds. It is in the oven right now. I will let you know how that turned out. If it is good I have enough persimmons for another batch. Here is the recipe I used from Food.com.
Persimmon Bread:
In other news another elementary school in our district spent their funding on mathematics professional development for their teachers. It was a webinar with a presenter I had seen the last two summers at the trainings I went to down south. Some of it was a repeat of what I had already learned but some of it was new information. The information I had heard before it was good to hear again. It might sink in this thick brain if I keep hearing it. It was very kind of their administrator to invite teachers from other schools. Only two of us attended from the other school. I was grateful the invite was extended. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more. It clarified some information for me. I hope they will invite us to the next one because it was great. What is amazing to me is that I have learned so much about teaching math these past three years. I am way more successful at teaching math to students than I am reading at this point. I always thought reading was my strong suit. However, because I felt math was my weakest teaching area I sought out every potential math professional development opportunity that was extended to us. I am very glad I did this. Not that I don't need to learn more, I definitely do.
So my Friday was spent in training and with plumbers. I know... super exciting. I started cleaning house today and put most of my recycling in my car to drop off at the recycling center. I hoped to make it there today but that didn't happen. My little buddy next door came over and "helped me" vacuum and shred paper. His sister came over and wanted to make banana bread. So we made that and I popped that in the oven. In my last basket from bountifulbaskets.org I received persimmons. I had only read about persimmons in books. I couldn't have even described a persimmon. So I decided to attempt to make Persimmon Bread. I have NO idea if I will like it hate it or will feed it to the birds. It is in the oven right now. I will let you know how that turned out. If it is good I have enough persimmons for another batch. Here is the recipe I used from Food.com.
Persimmon Bread:
Makes 1 loaf
- 1cup persimmon puree (from 3 -4 Fuyu persimmons)
- 2tablespoons water
- 1/2cup butter, softened
- 1cup granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon vanilla
- 3eggs
- 2cups all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a standard loaf pan
- Cut out the stem of each persimmon and cut into chunks. Puree the persimmons in a food processor or blender with 2 Tablespoons water.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the persimmon puree and beat until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to batter and beat until smooth.
- Pour into a loaf pan and bake at for 50- 60 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool well before slicing. Well wrapped, the bread will keep for a few days.
November 18, 2015
Convincing Floods
The more someone tells me how talented, special, happy, smart, faith filled, or amazing they are the less I believe them. If you're smart I see it with your actions and wisdom. If you are happy you shine and no words are needed. If you are a believer I see it in your walk. If you are special I can see it in the way others treat you. If you have talent I see it in the area of your gift. So please don't give me words attempting to convince me of any of the above.
So after a unseasonably warm day that melted a lot of snow and made mud. We were told to avoid the mud and have our students avoid the mud. Then we have an alternate route fire drill.....in the mud. Well planned and thought out. My poor tennis shoes were a mess. So I get home and throw them in the wash with my muddy britches. Soon I hear water running in my bathroom. I quickly grab towels and look in there. The laundry water backed up into the bathroom. Flooding occurred. I had to be glad it was laundry water but it wasn't a great way to finish a day. So I cleaned that all up yippee. I will have to call my landlords. They are notoriously cheap when it comes to plumbing fixes. So while my laundry did get clean....a whole new pile was formed. Yippee
So after a unseasonably warm day that melted a lot of snow and made mud. We were told to avoid the mud and have our students avoid the mud. Then we have an alternate route fire drill.....in the mud. Well planned and thought out. My poor tennis shoes were a mess. So I get home and throw them in the wash with my muddy britches. Soon I hear water running in my bathroom. I quickly grab towels and look in there. The laundry water backed up into the bathroom. Flooding occurred. I had to be glad it was laundry water but it wasn't a great way to finish a day. So I cleaned that all up yippee. I will have to call my landlords. They are notoriously cheap when it comes to plumbing fixes. So while my laundry did get clean....a whole new pile was formed. Yippee
November 14, 2015
Refresh
Weekends are the time to reboot, reload, and refresh for another week. If I didn't have the weekend I wouldn't be a very good teacher. I didn't do much yesterday other than a couple loads of laundry, a trip to the grocery store, and a little organizing. It was very much needed. I usually go in on Friday and do more work. So instead I went in this morning. I am mostly ready for next week other than finishing lesson planning and a stack of grading. I don't know I may go in tomorrow and do some more.
I picked up my Bountiful Basket today and there was kale. So I right now simmering on my stove is a batch of potato-kale soup. I also got some interesting items like yams. They went to the neighbors. I also for the first time seen by me got orange cauliflower. Saving that one for mom. Oh yes and persimmons. I have no idea what to do with persimmons. I've only read about persimmons in old books. I didn't even know what a persimmon looked like till today. So now do I do something with the persimmons or find a friend who will do something with the persimmons. I should have enough produce for Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving last night my neighbor had me over for a Turkey Dinner. It really is my favorite. All I desire at Thanksgiving is 3 things. First turkey, second green beans, and lastly mashed potatoes. Then a little butter and salt and I am happy. I can do without pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and stuffing but not mashed potatoes. So there ya go. I shoveled a little snow that I didn't get shoveled and am ready for the next bout of snow.
It was a sad day yesterday for the Country of France and the City of Paris. I pray for them and pray that we have learned from these events.
I picked up my Bountiful Basket today and there was kale. So I right now simmering on my stove is a batch of potato-kale soup. I also got some interesting items like yams. They went to the neighbors. I also for the first time seen by me got orange cauliflower. Saving that one for mom. Oh yes and persimmons. I have no idea what to do with persimmons. I've only read about persimmons in old books. I didn't even know what a persimmon looked like till today. So now do I do something with the persimmons or find a friend who will do something with the persimmons. I should have enough produce for Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving last night my neighbor had me over for a Turkey Dinner. It really is my favorite. All I desire at Thanksgiving is 3 things. First turkey, second green beans, and lastly mashed potatoes. Then a little butter and salt and I am happy. I can do without pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and stuffing but not mashed potatoes. So there ya go. I shoveled a little snow that I didn't get shoveled and am ready for the next bout of snow.
It was a sad day yesterday for the Country of France and the City of Paris. I pray for them and pray that we have learned from these events.
November 12, 2015
Lice and Ice!
Generally after a storm here the weather clears away and we are left with clear skies and sunshine. That is exactly what happened this time. It became very cold. Well colder than it has been for awhile and my blood appears to need more thickening. Then again I did go outside today without a coat and didn't feel I needed one till I saw the temperature of 28 degrees. It may snow more this weekend we shall see.
Update on the "Lice Propagation." They are thriving and well. Today my student with lice arrived back at school. The nurse checked him said "he has eggs but no live ones so we can't send him home." Sigh.... REALLLY BIG ITCHY SIGHHHH! So not even an hour later in his quietest voice otherwise known as his "Playground Voice." He announces "My head itches so bad I just can't stand it." I say "Okay do you want to see the nurse?" "YES! I THINK THEY HATCHED!" So much for any attempt to be discreet. So off he goes. A few minutes later returns to get his backpack and leave for the day. I went in to ask the nurse at recess... and you guessed it they had indeed hatched. Good times. Yes my itching continues. We had a discussion about where to hang our coats. Not to share items of clothing etc. Then you see kids putting them willy-nilly and you itch and you scratch.
So we were discussing some upcoming changes with the law passed in this state regarding education. More and more is placed on the teachers. I feel the responsibility of my job. However, parents bear a huge portion of responsibility as well. Personal responsibility isn't a popular concept in today's society. I am beginning to understand why two of our current teachers are pursuing a degree in accounting. Yuck maybe not... maybe wildlife biology. Hmmmm :)
Update on the "Lice Propagation." They are thriving and well. Today my student with lice arrived back at school. The nurse checked him said "he has eggs but no live ones so we can't send him home." Sigh.... REALLLY BIG ITCHY SIGHHHH! So not even an hour later in his quietest voice otherwise known as his "Playground Voice." He announces "My head itches so bad I just can't stand it." I say "Okay do you want to see the nurse?" "YES! I THINK THEY HATCHED!" So much for any attempt to be discreet. So off he goes. A few minutes later returns to get his backpack and leave for the day. I went in to ask the nurse at recess... and you guessed it they had indeed hatched. Good times. Yes my itching continues. We had a discussion about where to hang our coats. Not to share items of clothing etc. Then you see kids putting them willy-nilly and you itch and you scratch.
So we were discussing some upcoming changes with the law passed in this state regarding education. More and more is placed on the teachers. I feel the responsibility of my job. However, parents bear a huge portion of responsibility as well. Personal responsibility isn't a popular concept in today's society. I am beginning to understand why two of our current teachers are pursuing a degree in accounting. Yuck maybe not... maybe wildlife biology. Hmmmm :)
November 10, 2015
1st snow
Monday afternoon the snow had started. A deceptive wet snow that didn't stick to the roads but was sticking to the grass. I had dinner at my neighbors brushed off my car and went to bed. At one a.m. I woke up for a bathroom break. Snow gives the night sky a certain glow so I had to peek out to see how much had accumulated. It was over a foot. For awhile I considered crawling back into bed. Then I thought I am wide awake that snow won't be any more fun to shovel at 5 a.m. As a matter of fact it will be less so because I will be worried about being late to work. So yes at oneish a.m. I shoveled and I shoveled and I shoveled. I completed half of my driveway in about an hour. Considering my back issues this year I decided I had pushed that far enough. I will still have to get up and brush off more snow before I head to work, but the rest of it will keep till I get home. So now I will drink some water and attempt to sleep what is left of the night!
November 3, 2015
Winter has arrived.
Winter blew in yesterday. We have winds at 52mph. I went to fill up my gas tank and had to use both hands to push the door open. It continued to blow until the early morning hours. I can't say I have ever really truly heard a howling wind until I moved to this state. I have a hill about the height of my house behind my house. It blows over that hilltop and howls in fury. At about 2 a.m. last night a thunderstorm started. It was so loud I thought something had blown against the side of my house. It startled me then I realized it was a thunderstorm. I'd never experienced a winter thunderstorm before moving to this state as well (that I recall). Anyhow the storm mostly blew on through we had snow in the northern part of the state and the mountains around us. Not much snow down below even though it spit snow off and on throughout the day. Today was the first day of this school year that I pulled out my winter coat an hat. So I think winter has officially arrived.
I had my post-observation review with my administrator. It went exceptionally well. I have grown a lot this year. I think part of it is the training I have went to. The other part of it was the commitment I decided to make to my students this year. I decided I would be involved less in "school" things and be more involved in my classroom. What this has amounted to is more time spent lesson planning and reflecting on how to improve my lessons. I am really glad I did this. Do not get me wrong. I still think "oh I should..." but then I just say NO! My priorities have shifted and I feel like I am a happier teacher with happier students.
Tonight is pretty chilly. I pulled out my slippers and my flannels! It was good to come home and put them on an realize my day is almost done. Today my parents had to put their Springer Spaniel to sleep. She was 14 1/2 years old. It is hard to have a companion with you for that long and not feel their loss. She was a good dog, sometimes a dumb dog, a great mouser, and a great companion for trips to the duck pond. We will miss her! I can't believe how much icky river water she drank over the years. It's amazing she lived this long!
Well, I think I'd better do some cooking this weekend. My stash is low and my motivation to make dinner is lower, I need to get more meals put away. Then I will eat healthier. I remembered my hot cup of tea this morning. It tasted soooo good this afternoon. The heaters in our classrooms do not appear to be working well. I haven't whined yet because others are whining loudly enough for us all. They could have had the boiler on at a minimum. I will see if it is chilly tomorrow.
I had my post-observation review with my administrator. It went exceptionally well. I have grown a lot this year. I think part of it is the training I have went to. The other part of it was the commitment I decided to make to my students this year. I decided I would be involved less in "school" things and be more involved in my classroom. What this has amounted to is more time spent lesson planning and reflecting on how to improve my lessons. I am really glad I did this. Do not get me wrong. I still think "oh I should..." but then I just say NO! My priorities have shifted and I feel like I am a happier teacher with happier students.
Tonight is pretty chilly. I pulled out my slippers and my flannels! It was good to come home and put them on an realize my day is almost done. Today my parents had to put their Springer Spaniel to sleep. She was 14 1/2 years old. It is hard to have a companion with you for that long and not feel their loss. She was a good dog, sometimes a dumb dog, a great mouser, and a great companion for trips to the duck pond. We will miss her! I can't believe how much icky river water she drank over the years. It's amazing she lived this long!
Well, I think I'd better do some cooking this weekend. My stash is low and my motivation to make dinner is lower, I need to get more meals put away. Then I will eat healthier. I remembered my hot cup of tea this morning. It tasted soooo good this afternoon. The heaters in our classrooms do not appear to be working well. I haven't whined yet because others are whining loudly enough for us all. They could have had the boiler on at a minimum. I will see if it is chilly tomorrow.
October 30, 2015
The Common Core Debate
So I am not pro-Common Core. Nor am I completely Anti-Common Core. What I am is anti-stupid articles that claim something or the other IS Common Core. In every state there has been a set of standards that teachers must teach. Arizona State decided to get a group of people together to create some National Standards. Which they did. Then many many states adopted those standards. Including the one I work in. Here are my thoughts on the standards. They are very similar to what we had before except most go a little deeper. The state I came from before their standards may have been a little higher. They aren't perfect. There are some with the philosophy we ONLY teach the standards that are in place for that grade level. I think that is wrong. If a student is ready for more then you give them that opportunity. From what I hear from 1st Grade teachers if they ONLY taught the 1st Grade standards children wouldn't be leaving 1st Grade reading. The truth is there has to be some standards in place so that teachers are teaching all the skills students need. It makes me nervous when I read articles that are anti-Common Core because usually they are about a particular teachers lesson, or a particular Districts curriculum. It really isn't "Common Core." How these standards are read and interpreted by States, Districts, Schools, and Teachers can vary. Any curriculum can say they are "Common Core" but "Common Core" does not endorse any curriculum. I don't think you should pick a curriculum based on that anyway. So please keep that in mind. Common Core might be the devil to blame, or it might be the curriculum, or the nut-ball teacher.
Halloween
There just aren't enough vitamins to get a teacher through Halloween Week. It was brutal. More than usual. Over the weekend they decided to revise how we do report cards. So we were given the instructions on Saturday. Then Tuesday after school there was a meeting to help you figure it out. I went to the meeting on Tuesday. I finally went home after 1 1/2 hours. I told our administrator I'd finish it at home in my pj's. Well I did finish that evening after about 3 more hours working on them. We have this technology to do report cards quickly and easily. The problem is that our district won't pay a programmer to fix the issues. Which is even more frustrating because they don't have to pay a programmer. They can just call another district that uses the same software and does the report card how they would like it to be and ask them to share how they enter things in the software. As a matter of fact a teacher did it a couple of times for us. She was ignored. Then I found out we were the only school in the district that did this. That made it worse. We were then told that next year they are switching to a new software program. It is just all tiring. I have been fighting a head cold all week. So that all pretty much sucked me dry. The new rubric they were using for grades is different than what we have been using. So then I had to go and tweak grades because they weren't a reflection of where they are on the new rubric.
At the beginning of this week I had students getting a little bug. A couple went home with a fever or upset stomach. Well my one special needs student walked into the classroom (we were having a quiet writing time) and announced " Ms. C I am going home!" so I had to ask "Who said you were going home?" Just to make sure that the student who is pretty good at making announcements that are not necessarily full of factual information. He said "Miss P" the school secretary. I quietly asked him to come over and whispered "why are you going home?" and in his best Outdoor Recess Voice he announced " Because I have the RUNS and I keep having the RUNS all day today!" What did I say after that... "okay get your backpack!" A couple of students snickered quietly, some looked puzzled like running where?, and some just stared in dismay! So that was entertaining.
I was also had my formal observation this week. It always falls on Halloween Week. Which I feel is completely unfair to observe a teacher that week, and the week before Christmas Break. Anyhow, the students did pretty well and I did okay I think. My focus was allll on that and NOT the Halloween Party for my class. Luckily in music my class had been practicing our state song and our school song. So they performed that for the parents. I had a couple of quick little activities. However I was relying on the internet to get me through with a fun old Halloween story and a couple of Halloween dances. The internet went down. Apparently it went down town-wide. Whatever they did to mess that up it got fixed in the nick of time. I managed to keep them busy enough and they had enough treats to get them through the party. I was completely worn out. We were then called to the office right after school and told we could leave early today because of all the time we spent on report cards. Which by the time we left wasn't really "early" but it was a nice thought.
When I got home all I wanted to do is put on my pajamas. So I did that. Then all I wanted to do was fall into bed. Then I remembered I was kid-sitting. So my buddy brought his dinner over and I watched some cartoons that I never want to watch again. Then we went to his house and we played trains. Then I came home and fell into bed and fell asleep immediately. Unfortunately I didn't sleep through the night because of my cold I woke up a lot. In between I slept fairly well. I decided not to go into school today and get ready for next week and just get some rest. I will have to go down tomorrow but today I did exactly what I needed.
At the beginning of this week I had students getting a little bug. A couple went home with a fever or upset stomach. Well my one special needs student walked into the classroom (we were having a quiet writing time) and announced " Ms. C I am going home!" so I had to ask "Who said you were going home?" Just to make sure that the student who is pretty good at making announcements that are not necessarily full of factual information. He said "Miss P" the school secretary. I quietly asked him to come over and whispered "why are you going home?" and in his best Outdoor Recess Voice he announced " Because I have the RUNS and I keep having the RUNS all day today!" What did I say after that... "okay get your backpack!" A couple of students snickered quietly, some looked puzzled like running where?, and some just stared in dismay! So that was entertaining.
I was also had my formal observation this week. It always falls on Halloween Week. Which I feel is completely unfair to observe a teacher that week, and the week before Christmas Break. Anyhow, the students did pretty well and I did okay I think. My focus was allll on that and NOT the Halloween Party for my class. Luckily in music my class had been practicing our state song and our school song. So they performed that for the parents. I had a couple of quick little activities. However I was relying on the internet to get me through with a fun old Halloween story and a couple of Halloween dances. The internet went down. Apparently it went down town-wide. Whatever they did to mess that up it got fixed in the nick of time. I managed to keep them busy enough and they had enough treats to get them through the party. I was completely worn out. We were then called to the office right after school and told we could leave early today because of all the time we spent on report cards. Which by the time we left wasn't really "early" but it was a nice thought.
When I got home all I wanted to do is put on my pajamas. So I did that. Then all I wanted to do was fall into bed. Then I remembered I was kid-sitting. So my buddy brought his dinner over and I watched some cartoons that I never want to watch again. Then we went to his house and we played trains. Then I came home and fell into bed and fell asleep immediately. Unfortunately I didn't sleep through the night because of my cold I woke up a lot. In between I slept fairly well. I decided not to go into school today and get ready for next week and just get some rest. I will have to go down tomorrow but today I did exactly what I needed.
October 15, 2015
Itchy Scratchy
Well....... One of my students left school today with a stellar case of head lice. Needless to say. I have been scratching ever since. I had the school nurse check my head just to help me chill out about it. I was free and clear. However, I ITCH! I am getting out the tea tree oil and will use it liberally. It isn't required that a student go home if they have head lice because it isn't a communicable disease. It's just annoying. I was relieved when the student was like I CAN'T STAND IT! The student made it impossible to do anything but send them home. Meanwhile I itch...everywhere. Hopefully, this is a responsible parent that will make sure home, car, etc is treated.
Sometimes it is really hard to be far from home and friends. There is a huge part of me right now that really needs to go give a pal a really big hug! I know we both need it.
Every day I learn from my students. Sometimes it is lessons that I wish I never had to learn. I sometimes forget how much they have learned since school started. I have to keep that in mind.
I realized last year I needed a little more balance between work and home. I haven't completely struck that balance but I am getting better at it. A few classes have came up as professional development. I have debated and debated taking them or not. I know I would learn a great deal. However, it takes so much time away from my students. Another one popped up this week. I am still debating. UGGH.
My neighbor's little girl pops in and out. One of the things she likes to do is come sit at my piano and attempt a tune or two. I am going to have to teach her a few things because she is going to insist on it. It is pretty cute. Since she knows her alphabet I know I can help her start.
Meanwhile.... I am taking my itchy self to bed.... g'nite
Sometimes it is really hard to be far from home and friends. There is a huge part of me right now that really needs to go give a pal a really big hug! I know we both need it.
Every day I learn from my students. Sometimes it is lessons that I wish I never had to learn. I sometimes forget how much they have learned since school started. I have to keep that in mind.
I realized last year I needed a little more balance between work and home. I haven't completely struck that balance but I am getting better at it. A few classes have came up as professional development. I have debated and debated taking them or not. I know I would learn a great deal. However, it takes so much time away from my students. Another one popped up this week. I am still debating. UGGH.
My neighbor's little girl pops in and out. One of the things she likes to do is come sit at my piano and attempt a tune or two. I am going to have to teach her a few things because she is going to insist on it. It is pretty cute. Since she knows her alphabet I know I can help her start.
Meanwhile.... I am taking my itchy self to bed.... g'nite
Tossing and Turning
Sleep is not over-rated. I had a bout of insomnia last night. I attributed it to drinking too much caffeine. Sigh. Then tonight I fall into a slumber. Only to be wide awake a few hours later. So finally I decided tossing and turning was a waste of time and prepared some materials for tomorrow. I suppose that will give me a better start to the day. An even better start would be sleep. The brain is often a troublesome thing. Keeps those thoughts whirling about. So perhaps since I have completed tasks for tomorrow I will be better able to rest.
I have a student that is going to be gone all next week. Since I know the student has very responsible parents I gathered up the majority of the work for next week. Which means I had to get alllll my ducks in a row for what I was teaching next week. So instead of completing grading etc. I was preparing for that. So I have a lot to do this weekend to get some grades completed and in my gradebook. So it goes.
It has been interesting to observe the 3rd grade teachers with the students we had last year. I am seeing the wear around the edges. It bites when administration makes you feel like it was you. Now I get to see these teachers having the same struggles. I want to shout "SEEE" it is a rough group of kids. Oh that just triggered my rant of the year. Bullying. I am growing to love to dislike this word. Bullying. It's being given too much power and weight. I am NOT saying bullying doesn't occur. It does. However, a lot of parents create victims of their children. NOTHING is EVER their child's fault. They NEVER instigate ANYTHING. They are just this way because they are BULLIED. UGGH. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Learn about it. Please! Do the world a favor and teach your child some so they don't grow up to be a**es. Thank you very much. Kids are going to pick on those who are different. It is the reality. Now I can educate and put a stop to a lot of it. However please make some wise choices. If you send your child to school wearing something outlandish other kids are going to ask about it. Even if it is not in a mean way, they will ask. It doesn't make sense in their world. Just be VERY VERY careful about using that word BULLY. It is an abused word. It is a misused word. It is an overused word.
Okay enough about that. So I am going to greet my pillow again and see if I can get a few more z's in.
I have a student that is going to be gone all next week. Since I know the student has very responsible parents I gathered up the majority of the work for next week. Which means I had to get alllll my ducks in a row for what I was teaching next week. So instead of completing grading etc. I was preparing for that. So I have a lot to do this weekend to get some grades completed and in my gradebook. So it goes.
It has been interesting to observe the 3rd grade teachers with the students we had last year. I am seeing the wear around the edges. It bites when administration makes you feel like it was you. Now I get to see these teachers having the same struggles. I want to shout "SEEE" it is a rough group of kids. Oh that just triggered my rant of the year. Bullying. I am growing to love to dislike this word. Bullying. It's being given too much power and weight. I am NOT saying bullying doesn't occur. It does. However, a lot of parents create victims of their children. NOTHING is EVER their child's fault. They NEVER instigate ANYTHING. They are just this way because they are BULLIED. UGGH. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Learn about it. Please! Do the world a favor and teach your child some so they don't grow up to be a**es. Thank you very much. Kids are going to pick on those who are different. It is the reality. Now I can educate and put a stop to a lot of it. However please make some wise choices. If you send your child to school wearing something outlandish other kids are going to ask about it. Even if it is not in a mean way, they will ask. It doesn't make sense in their world. Just be VERY VERY careful about using that word BULLY. It is an abused word. It is a misused word. It is an overused word.
Okay enough about that. So I am going to greet my pillow again and see if I can get a few more z's in.
October 9, 2015
Oh I think I've got my RANT on!
I don't think I have exceptionally high standards in my profession. However I follow our high quality curriculum to the best of my ability. I also don't have expectations that students won't learn it, or that they will be unable to learn it. I have expectations that they will continue to try and try again until we have success. It is a joint success. I share the joy with my students in the moment they (sometimes FINALLY) make the connection. What I don't do is say to myself or to colleagues, you're right this is too hard. Lets go backwards. I am finding it difficult this year with my new colleague to keep the standard high. Don't get me wrong we have some exceptionally low students. They need a lot of support to get them there. We may have to practice skills every day a few times a day for the rest of the school year to get them there. I can do that. I can make that possible. I am not saying it won't be hard, it will be hard. It will at times seem as though we will never get there. Maybe I'll have one or two that won't. The plan for them will have to be re-evaluated. I don't have excuses. I cannot blame the curriculum, I cannot blame the school. It is on me. Okay yes, sometimes there are larger learning issues. SOMETIMES! Most of the time that responsibility lies on me. I am the teacher.
I realized with my colleague the students in her class that she struggles with, she really doesn't want them in her class. She really doesn't want to teach, re-teach, re-teach again. She wants to make them a problem for someone other than her. I am supposed to be an expert. I am still learning every single day. I learn from my students. I make sure I talk with colleagues of vast experience and training to get ideas and learn from them. I am doing my best in hopes that my students will have success. I realized after a heated conversation with my colleague. I will not ever be on the same page as her. If I ever do get on the same page as her I need a new profession. I realized that I cannot compromise. However, I will do it quietly. I cannot have a peaceful working relationship if this is the topic all of the time. So I will continue to move forward. I also realized what my colleague wants to do is take our core instructional time and differentiate into groups. That is all kinds of wrong. Our low kids learn so much from the high ones and they rise up to another level when they can learn from peers. My colleague was shot down on the idea of doing this during reading by the administrator. So now she is pushing for it in Math. Based on what I am seeing I lack confidence in her ability to get the students there. So the answer is NO!
I am attempting to keep two hungry kids fed this year. I am attempting to get clothing for another one. It is saddening and maddening.
Another thing on my list of frustrations is parents whining about getting school supplies. Um thanks for not getting your kid glue, and paper, and etc. I not only buy a ton of supplies for my classroom every year that I never bother to put on the list. I now have to purchase your child what he/she needs. If you saw how much I spend on things for school I am sure you'd be horrified. I am horrified. When a kid is hungry you buy snacks, when they don't bring supplies you get them, when you don't have materials you need for day to day instruction you buy them, when the complete curriculum isn't bought by your district you purchase it, to continue your own learning you buy more products, you buy materials, you buy teaching aides, you buy extra boxes of Kleenex, Lysol and more Lysol. I am investing so much in your child. Please invest in him/her as well. Thank you rant over!
Well, sometimes accidentally on purpose I create a controversy. There is a lot of anti-Common Core news articles. The majority of the time I am chuckling. No Common Core does not require your child to compare Reagan to Hitler. The teacher did that or perhaps the district did that. Not Common Core.
This is an example of a Common Core Standard.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
I realized with my colleague the students in her class that she struggles with, she really doesn't want them in her class. She really doesn't want to teach, re-teach, re-teach again. She wants to make them a problem for someone other than her. I am supposed to be an expert. I am still learning every single day. I learn from my students. I make sure I talk with colleagues of vast experience and training to get ideas and learn from them. I am doing my best in hopes that my students will have success. I realized after a heated conversation with my colleague. I will not ever be on the same page as her. If I ever do get on the same page as her I need a new profession. I realized that I cannot compromise. However, I will do it quietly. I cannot have a peaceful working relationship if this is the topic all of the time. So I will continue to move forward. I also realized what my colleague wants to do is take our core instructional time and differentiate into groups. That is all kinds of wrong. Our low kids learn so much from the high ones and they rise up to another level when they can learn from peers. My colleague was shot down on the idea of doing this during reading by the administrator. So now she is pushing for it in Math. Based on what I am seeing I lack confidence in her ability to get the students there. So the answer is NO!
I am attempting to keep two hungry kids fed this year. I am attempting to get clothing for another one. It is saddening and maddening.
Another thing on my list of frustrations is parents whining about getting school supplies. Um thanks for not getting your kid glue, and paper, and etc. I not only buy a ton of supplies for my classroom every year that I never bother to put on the list. I now have to purchase your child what he/she needs. If you saw how much I spend on things for school I am sure you'd be horrified. I am horrified. When a kid is hungry you buy snacks, when they don't bring supplies you get them, when you don't have materials you need for day to day instruction you buy them, when the complete curriculum isn't bought by your district you purchase it, to continue your own learning you buy more products, you buy materials, you buy teaching aides, you buy extra boxes of Kleenex, Lysol and more Lysol. I am investing so much in your child. Please invest in him/her as well. Thank you rant over!
Well, sometimes accidentally on purpose I create a controversy. There is a lot of anti-Common Core news articles. The majority of the time I am chuckling. No Common Core does not require your child to compare Reagan to Hitler. The teacher did that or perhaps the district did that. Not Common Core.
This is an example of a Common Core Standard.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
Sometimes a teacher makes an extremely poor teaching decision. Sometimes a District makes an extremely poor curriculum decision. If you do not like how they asked your student to show their learning of a standard you need to address that at the teacher, school, or district level. Common Core is NOT a curriculum. It states what skills need to be learned at different grade levels. It doesn't say how to do so or what to use to do so. It just states the general concepts. For instance a Second Grade Standard is to add and subtract within 20. It doesn't tell me how to teach my students to add and subtract within 20. The curriculum we use and the training I've had helps make those decisions. This is not a Common Core endorsement from me either. However, if you are going to blame Common Core make sure Common Core is actually the culprit.
My little neighbor came to hang with me a bit today. He was just so proud of me last night when he found out about a place in my home state filled with little trains you can ride. He thought that was quite exceptional. I am not sure if he was proud of me for showing him trains or the fact there were these sorts of trains. I got a little kiss on my forehead for sharing a video with him. Made me chuckle. He was disappointed in his mom's offering for dinner tonight and I think he thought he might find something good in my fridge. I needed to go to the store so he was pretty disappointed in me as well. I did finally go to the grocery store. I like to go on a Thursday or Friday Evening here because I am pretty much on my own. I can get it done fairly quickly. I spent all afternoon at school planning for next week. I need to go in tomorrow and tweak some things and do some more grading. I keep asking mom to come make me dinner after work. She is always a bit late. SIGH! I need to do some cooking. I did a little last weekend but not really enough. So it goes. My goal has been to get all my school work done on Friday so that I can do work at home on Saturday and Sunday. I promised myself I would NOT go in to work on Sunday. So I will need to go in for a bit tomorrow. We do not get Columbus Day off in this state so it shall be another normal work week.
September 26, 2015
Another week...bites the dust :)
Well last week I did not get the opportunity to attend the training after all. Another teacher was already down south for a Dr. appointment so they decided not to pay for me to travel etc. down there. It was a bummer but at the same time a relief.
This week was very busy. We had our first Parent-Teacher conferences of the year. Which is always wayyyy more interesting than I would like. I will just say it is a confusing world kids live in. I had a discussion with a friend. The friend didn't quite understand what I was trying to say about this. Much of our country has decided the nuclear family just isn't that important. I see the price being paid and I am powerless to change it for children. Just hear me that there is a price and it is very, very costly. The world has enough confusion without adults decisions adding to it.
We do not have access to our online assessments because the company that provides these for us is doing updates. We don't know if we will have them all year. So all we can do is use assessments available to us and track that data. The problem is they are not as comprehensive or complete. The district hasn't given us suggestions or alternatives. I keep seeking out assessments in hopes that I am tracking my students to the best of my ability. It is quite frustrating though.
The days have been very warm here and the nights quite cool. Fall has arrived. I wish we would get a little more rain but other than some beautiful fluffy white clouds traveling over us I haven't seen a possibility of rain.
I need to do some cooking this weekend. My stash is depleted. I am just having trouble deciding "what". Inspiration has not struck.
I went to the chiropractor again this weekend. I had a minor adjustment. So it is getting better and better. My muscles are always sore after the adjustment. I am not walking in major pain at the end of every day now.
Today I went in to school and all that I accomplished was my lesson plan for next week. I will have to go back in this evening and grade papers, clean up the classroom, organize materials, and do a bit more planning. I keep thinking I will get faster at this. So far not much luck being faster.
We received an interesting e-mail from administration this weekend. It was discussing our first professional development training provided by our regional professional development coordinators. It was a high quality lesson. What was interesting is that the feedback administration got was that it was too "hard" and didn't make sense. What these trainers do is teach us as if we were the students in the classroom. They always teach this way. They teach an "example" lesson use strategies that they would like to see us attempting and then we have a reflection period. I think we didn't quite reflect long enough to cover what was taught because we ran out of time. It was a math lesson with an anchor task. It was at about a 3rd or 4th grade level. If this was too "hard" for our teachers... I am at a loss. I hope that next time the trainer will offer more explanation for these folks. I really do not understand why it was hard for them. The administrator asked that we give feedback to her so she could let the trainer know. Anyway they had better get used to being taught in the format of being a student to learn strategies. We have to actively participate and think. Perhaps they were unable to do this on a Wednesday afternoon after school. This is why if I had children.... they would not be in public school. Your "highly-qualified" staff.... needs to get more qualifications.
This week was very busy. We had our first Parent-Teacher conferences of the year. Which is always wayyyy more interesting than I would like. I will just say it is a confusing world kids live in. I had a discussion with a friend. The friend didn't quite understand what I was trying to say about this. Much of our country has decided the nuclear family just isn't that important. I see the price being paid and I am powerless to change it for children. Just hear me that there is a price and it is very, very costly. The world has enough confusion without adults decisions adding to it.
We do not have access to our online assessments because the company that provides these for us is doing updates. We don't know if we will have them all year. So all we can do is use assessments available to us and track that data. The problem is they are not as comprehensive or complete. The district hasn't given us suggestions or alternatives. I keep seeking out assessments in hopes that I am tracking my students to the best of my ability. It is quite frustrating though.
The days have been very warm here and the nights quite cool. Fall has arrived. I wish we would get a little more rain but other than some beautiful fluffy white clouds traveling over us I haven't seen a possibility of rain.
I need to do some cooking this weekend. My stash is depleted. I am just having trouble deciding "what". Inspiration has not struck.
I went to the chiropractor again this weekend. I had a minor adjustment. So it is getting better and better. My muscles are always sore after the adjustment. I am not walking in major pain at the end of every day now.
Today I went in to school and all that I accomplished was my lesson plan for next week. I will have to go back in this evening and grade papers, clean up the classroom, organize materials, and do a bit more planning. I keep thinking I will get faster at this. So far not much luck being faster.
We received an interesting e-mail from administration this weekend. It was discussing our first professional development training provided by our regional professional development coordinators. It was a high quality lesson. What was interesting is that the feedback administration got was that it was too "hard" and didn't make sense. What these trainers do is teach us as if we were the students in the classroom. They always teach this way. They teach an "example" lesson use strategies that they would like to see us attempting and then we have a reflection period. I think we didn't quite reflect long enough to cover what was taught because we ran out of time. It was a math lesson with an anchor task. It was at about a 3rd or 4th grade level. If this was too "hard" for our teachers... I am at a loss. I hope that next time the trainer will offer more explanation for these folks. I really do not understand why it was hard for them. The administrator asked that we give feedback to her so she could let the trainer know. Anyway they had better get used to being taught in the format of being a student to learn strategies. We have to actively participate and think. Perhaps they were unable to do this on a Wednesday afternoon after school. This is why if I had children.... they would not be in public school. Your "highly-qualified" staff.... needs to get more qualifications.
September 16, 2015
Travel and assessment
You never know what a day will bring or a three minute conversation. I am headed south tomorrow or Friday. I don't have any details yet. Which makes it hard to make a plan. I was asked to attend a statewide conference. Our state passed a law about students reading by grade three. There are a few exemptions such as special needs students and English Language Learners. If they are not reading by grade three they will be retained. So apparently what is up for discussion is what assessment tool we will be using to track them. I don't know when this law goes into effect. I think it is a couple of years. When a law is passed like this that has such a huge impact on the current system, plans are put into place sooner rather than later. It should be an interesting conference with representatives from each district around our state. The lawmakers also passed a law that every school must have a reading specialist. So that is new to our state as well. It is interesting they put these laws into place when we have such a large teacher shortage in our state.
I will have to pack a bag even though it may only be a one day trip. I hope I have the details by morning so I have a little bit of an idea what I need to be prepared for. There are only two teachers from our district going that I know of and our administrator. I will try to share more of what I learn upon my return.
Speaking of assessments. The statewide assessment tool we usually use to evaluate and track our student progress has been unavailable to us due to some updates they are working on. So I have really had to think about what tools I have available to me to assess my students. I've spent a lot of time creating data folders to track their progress. There are still components I feel I am missing but I am using the materials available to me without spending more money.It is a little frustrating that administration new this and didn't help us come up with an alternative. It is what it is and so I must work with it. I wanted to track data more often this year anyway. In our district it is very unusual to retain students and getting them tested for any kind of learning issue is very difficult. If I track them throughout the year I have a better chance of making that happen. So I have learned from observation how I can possibly overcome this. One of the biggest hurdles is parents. They don't want their students retained. I understand there can be a social impact from retention. Now with our new law it is possible that one in three students will be retained in third grade. That is pretty significant. I feel that the lower grades MUST do a better job on tracking these students so there is some back up for retaining them.
The whole retention process was not EVER explained to me in this district. Still hasn't been. I learned from observing people going through the process last year. It wasn't pretty because some of them did not have any data to back up their claim. Now you'd think that would be fairly self explanatory. However if you were never told what data to use and especially in Kindergarten the online test is pretty much a practice round. You can't use it for evaluation purposes. It is more of a practice round. There is also a mysterious file with retention paperwork in it that needs to be filled out. Has this information EVER been shared. Um nope. Not to my knowledge. I discovered it only because I am a good listener. I heard one teacher asking for it. She was the only teacher I have spoken to that knew this paperwork existed. Clearly we have some communication issues at our school. So this is why I am spending a lot of time collecting and tracking data.
So tomorrow or Friday I head south. We've had a lovely day of refreshing rain after a very long dry spell. I am not looking forward to heading back into summer down south. I love our crisp fall air. I am going to melt.
I will have to pack a bag even though it may only be a one day trip. I hope I have the details by morning so I have a little bit of an idea what I need to be prepared for. There are only two teachers from our district going that I know of and our administrator. I will try to share more of what I learn upon my return.
Speaking of assessments. The statewide assessment tool we usually use to evaluate and track our student progress has been unavailable to us due to some updates they are working on. So I have really had to think about what tools I have available to me to assess my students. I've spent a lot of time creating data folders to track their progress. There are still components I feel I am missing but I am using the materials available to me without spending more money.It is a little frustrating that administration new this and didn't help us come up with an alternative. It is what it is and so I must work with it. I wanted to track data more often this year anyway. In our district it is very unusual to retain students and getting them tested for any kind of learning issue is very difficult. If I track them throughout the year I have a better chance of making that happen. So I have learned from observation how I can possibly overcome this. One of the biggest hurdles is parents. They don't want their students retained. I understand there can be a social impact from retention. Now with our new law it is possible that one in three students will be retained in third grade. That is pretty significant. I feel that the lower grades MUST do a better job on tracking these students so there is some back up for retaining them.
The whole retention process was not EVER explained to me in this district. Still hasn't been. I learned from observing people going through the process last year. It wasn't pretty because some of them did not have any data to back up their claim. Now you'd think that would be fairly self explanatory. However if you were never told what data to use and especially in Kindergarten the online test is pretty much a practice round. You can't use it for evaluation purposes. It is more of a practice round. There is also a mysterious file with retention paperwork in it that needs to be filled out. Has this information EVER been shared. Um nope. Not to my knowledge. I discovered it only because I am a good listener. I heard one teacher asking for it. She was the only teacher I have spoken to that knew this paperwork existed. Clearly we have some communication issues at our school. So this is why I am spending a lot of time collecting and tracking data.
So tomorrow or Friday I head south. We've had a lovely day of refreshing rain after a very long dry spell. I am not looking forward to heading back into summer down south. I love our crisp fall air. I am going to melt.
September 13, 2015
Weekend
Another week complete. It was a busy one. Meetings... of course. I helped babysit the neighbors kiddos today while their mom was away at a conference and dad working. I managed to squeeze in an afternoon nap on Friday. I worked on lesson plans Friday Evening and prepared materials for use this coming week. I went on Saturday and worked on a bit of organizing my classroom and putting things away and some laminating I needed done as well. Today I went in and did more laminating and graded papers. It was a few hours here and there but it was a lot. Hopefully I will feel well prepared for the week ahead.
I celebrated my birthday tonight with my three year old birthday present. We had pizza including gluten free for me and watermelon, honeydew, and salad. It was all delicious. I skipped on the ice cream and cake and had more fruit. They gave me some watermelon to take home so that will go well with my lunch tomorrow. I had plans to do some cooking this weekend but between tackling laundry and getting ready for next week it just didn't happen. Bummer! Maybe I will have some time another day.
I was sent a letter for Jury Duty the week after this. It is my fourth time this year to be served. I will have to see if I am actually required to serve. That is a lot of Jury Duty notices in one year. I decided to take a week hiatus from Facebook. It is entertaining and a huge distraction. I can't tell you how many times I have clicked on it out of habit and then realized I temporarily deactivated my account. That tells me I click on it too much.
It has been super dry here. Today some clouds roll in and there was a drop or two but nothing significant. We are supposed to have some rain the middle of the week and I am looking forward to a little moisture. It has been such a dry summer. Well, I'd better rest my head so I am somewhat ready to rise in the morning! G'nite
I celebrated my birthday tonight with my three year old birthday present. We had pizza including gluten free for me and watermelon, honeydew, and salad. It was all delicious. I skipped on the ice cream and cake and had more fruit. They gave me some watermelon to take home so that will go well with my lunch tomorrow. I had plans to do some cooking this weekend but between tackling laundry and getting ready for next week it just didn't happen. Bummer! Maybe I will have some time another day.
I was sent a letter for Jury Duty the week after this. It is my fourth time this year to be served. I will have to see if I am actually required to serve. That is a lot of Jury Duty notices in one year. I decided to take a week hiatus from Facebook. It is entertaining and a huge distraction. I can't tell you how many times I have clicked on it out of habit and then realized I temporarily deactivated my account. That tells me I click on it too much.
It has been super dry here. Today some clouds roll in and there was a drop or two but nothing significant. We are supposed to have some rain the middle of the week and I am looking forward to a little moisture. It has been such a dry summer. Well, I'd better rest my head so I am somewhat ready to rise in the morning! G'nite
September 9, 2015
New Curriculum
This is our second year implementing our new reading curriculum. We had our second half of the training on this curriculum over the summer. We are beginning to see positive results from our efforts. The students who started in the curriculum last year are showing significant improvement. There are a couple that fall outside of that rule but they have larger learning issues going on. It is exciting to see the growth. What is even more interesting is the reaction of people that are new to our school. We fought so hard to get a reading curriculum. It is such a relief to have a quality program. There are a lot of options that are horrible on the market. The new teachers are fighting this, they aren't open to it, and are pretty unwilling in general. I can only hope they keep putting forth effort so that they can see the growth potential. It always takes more time to implement something new. Then you find your groove and it works.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night. I realized I had to change my lesson plans. Do you think I could sleep with that weighing on my mind. NOPE! So I got up and just did it! That way I could spend the rest of the night in peace. I hope nothing is bothering my mind tonight.
I came home tonight made some dinner and chilled for a bit. I had some materials to prepare for a new student and for lessons tomorrow. I think I have completed my to-do list for tonight.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night. I realized I had to change my lesson plans. Do you think I could sleep with that weighing on my mind. NOPE! So I got up and just did it! That way I could spend the rest of the night in peace. I hope nothing is bothering my mind tonight.
I came home tonight made some dinner and chilled for a bit. I had some materials to prepare for a new student and for lessons tomorrow. I think I have completed my to-do list for tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)