April Showers Bring May Flowers

Today the students came back to school after being out for a week in the wake of the N1H1 flu scare. After all of the turmoil of April - stomach flu, broken arm, a long parade of substitute teaching assistants, the second new student in six weeks, a new Promethean board and training for it, deciding to build a house and trying to get ours ready for sale, TAKS testing, and the swine flu craziness - this has been one of my favorite days of this school year. My students were rested and happy to be back. I was rested and happy to be back after having yesterday to work on some of the organizational challenges of my classroom. Everything was pretty calm in the classroom and througout the school. We worked really hard all morning, and then worked on a Mother's Day project for the afternoon. My students were trying to use their words to solve the daily problems that arise in a classroom full of 5- and 6-year-olds. I still had three absent, but that left 18 students which is a practically perfect number. All in all, the students seem to have grown in many ways over the past week. They have been showing a lot of growth in many areas, but I think the time off was good for them. I didn't have to resort to using any official means of monitoring their behavior, it just flowed. And I think almost every child told me they love me at least once during the day. You just can't top that!

I See the Finish Line

This is the first post of 2009. School has been closed for a week now in the wake of the Swine Flu scare. This has been a crazy year of starting behind and catching up, moving ahead and falling behind again. There have been so many last minute changes and unknown elements in each day that I struggle to know how to make a plan for anything. The good thing about all of the craziness and flexibility is that the really important things start to stand out. Even though it sometimes seems impossible to press on through the mirky chaos, the finish line starts to look clearer and somehow we gird up and try again, even more determined and more focused. I can't wait to see what the last month of school will look like. I am excited to look back over how far we have come. But the time seems so short now, we still have so much to do. How will we ever get everything done? I'm already starting the mental checklist for next year...

A Christmas Story

I gave each of my students a book and a Chapstick for Christmas. I knew they would like the Chapstick, but I wasn't sure about the book. I picked out several copies of 5 titles and tried to give each student the book I thought he or she would most enjoy. One of my students is very smart and could easily do well in first grade. In fact, he's so smart that he is beginning to realize that there is a difference between what some people have and what his family doesn't have. He loves school, though, and often says so with a really big grin as he goes about his work. I couldn't wait for him to open his present because he is the one student that I had in mind specifically when I selected a certain book. He loves trains - draws them into every story, reads books about them, asks questions about them - so one of the books I got was about Thomas the train. When he opened the package, he gave me the biggest hug and it lasted a long time while he recovered his composure. "Thank you, thank you," he said, clutching the book. Waving the wrapping paper he added, "I'll never throw this away, never, never, never!" I know we joke about little ones who would rather play with the wrapping paper, but I have to wonder what this child's Christmas must be like when he is so excited to have a present that he keeps the paper for a souvenir...

Pinata Plans Agley

It turns out that if you are studying Christmas in Mexico and plan to make pinatas from balloons, newspapers, and flour paste, there are a few things you should know. First, although it does wash out, flour paste is one of the messiest substances I've ever used in a classroom, and since students don't like it on their hands, they regularly wipe their hands clean using whatever is available be it furniture or clothing. If you should decide to tackle a project of this magnitude, you should plan ahead and ask students to bring a change of clothing or else you might find yourself writing notes home to explain to parents why you are sending their children home looking like tiny mummies. Also, flour paste is quite drippy and does not vacuum out of the carpet when dry as one might expect. Second, it takes about two to three days for each layer of paper mache to dry, so please do not begin this project on the Wednesday of the last week before winter break. Third, if you plan to paint the pinatas, you must not plan to do so on the morning of the Christmas party when your students are wearing their "fancy clothes" which they gained permission to wear after writing a letter to the principal. This remains true even if the students are wearing smocks. If, however, you should begin this activity unaware of the pitfalls and realize too late that there is no way to finish in time, please note that you can always fall back on the paperbag pinata as a last-minute alternative. It is much less messy to make, although it does not have the satisfying hit-it-with-a-stick hard shell found in the paper mache version. Decorate with markers, stickers, colored paper or tissue paper, stuff and tie the top with yarn. Ta-dah!

Holiday Happenings

This week has been very interesting. I've changed the routine a bit and we are studying holidays around the world in place of our usual literacy & Social Studies. My students seem to be feeling a bit more free to express themselves, and we've had several "bad word" incidents. On the positive side, I've seen students quizzing each other and me about the ABCs, reading out loud to themselves and each other, and writing a lot more. Today we made mkekas, the woven mats used in celebrating Kwanzaa. This is probably the largest, and most individualized, project to date, and many of my more diligent students did not know what to make of it. It took quite a while and a lot of helping and fixing of mistakes, but most of them are finally finished and they are so proud of themselves. The mats look great. Now it's time to plan the holiday party - yea! My students want to write a letter to the principal asking permission to "dress up" for the party instead of wearing their regular school uniforms.

3 days!

I am a terrible blogger! Things keep happening so fast and I work too late and I can't seem to find the time to write. I can't believe it is already the end of October. I am feeling frustrated and sad because I can't seem to catch up, and I can't get all the materials I think I need. My teaching assistant comes only one or two days each week, so I never know what my day will look like. The last few days have been tough. I don't think I'm alone in this. Other teachers and staff seem pretty frustrated as well. I think much prayer is in order here.

Enough complaining. Some good things are going on. Last week I added time in the computer lab and the science lab to our classroom schedule. The kids seemed pretty excited. The computer lesson was just introductory, but the kids will have more time to explore this week. The science lab was so nice and clean when we arrived. We dissected some plants from our school garden and taped specimens of plant parts in our science journals, then labeled them. My students all wanted a bathroom break while we were there. I think this was mostly due to being near new bathrooms. However, one of my children was found crying in the bathroom after an "accident." The science lab looked like a tornado had blown through, and we have a school nurse who refuses to help with accidents. It was a crazy afternoon.

My students would happily tell you the countdown to Halloween. They have been certain that it is any day now since October began. We are having Mathoween at my school. This means that we will be doing Halloween-themed mathematics-focused activities all day long. It is also the end of red ribbon week when we emphasize the "say no to drugs" message. It is a nice change and Friday should be fun. I'll let you know.

Wow!

This has been a crazy six weeks. I think that I have now officially lost my second teaching assistant. I believe she has been let go, although I am not exactly sure of the reason. Nobody tells me anything! So, I've had some more substitutes. Also, this week we had an Instructional Planning Meeting (IPM). I'm including the acronym to emphasize it's importance. This is a meeting that low-performing schools must have to determine what interventions are being put in place to correct the previous shortfalls. It lasts for the entire school day. Many high-level school district personnel and curriculum specialists meet with teachers in various content areas - literacy, math, and science in our case. The meeting is recorded by someone sitting at a computer - kind of like a court reporter. We answered questions about our assessment data and our Campus Improvement Plan (CIP). We gave brief descriptions of what goes on in our classrooms in each of the content areas and specifically what we are doing to reach our subgroups and those students who are performing below grade level. We were all pretty nervous about it, but it actually went pretty well. The district administrative team was very helpful and concerned that we had everything necessary to perform the task at hand. At one point, a huge grasshopper-type beast flew from one of the potted plants, across the room, fluttered around the heads of squealing, squirming teachers and administrators, and landed on the science curriculum specialist. This brought much laughter and lightened the mood considerably. I left the meeting feeling empowered and encouraged.