>>On friday i had to go to a training about resiliency in children. It was actually really really interesting information, but the speaker was soo soo soooo dry. I almost didn't make it through. One good thing I saw which really made me laugh was this website:
Shutupabout.com
Its a group of moms who talk about "shut up about your perfect kid". They all have children with special needs and they are PROUD OF THEM! what a concept! :)
Here is a link to a pretty funny video they did :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_I3PMB30b0&feature=player_embedded
>>Today, I was honor at my school with the award of "teachers who make a difference" it is for the entire county, and depending on your amount of students, you get to choose one or two teachers from your school who deserve this award. I felt honored to be the only teacher chosen from my school and got to go to a dinner with my principals and superintendent. During school today, my superintendent brought me a corsage. Then, tonight, we had aps, drinks, took pictures with my principals and I, then was given a nice picture frame and a a certificate. I feel so incredibly honored to be receiving this award. IT's amazing to be supported and loved, and all that within my district. My superintendent explained that I was probably the only teacher ever to recieve this award in their first year of teaching. Yay for me!
>> we start standardized testing this week.. That equals hellish week :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
29 days left
>>Yes. 29 days left of school this year. Crazy crazy. I never thought I would survive. Let alone be winning awards. I'm very very proud of myself. I have grown up a lot this past year. Gotten braver, stronger, more confident. It feels good. Along those lines I had a parent in a 5th grade class came to observe my class to see if it would be a good fit for her son next year. She came with our director of special ed (for the district), the director of special ed (for the district her child lives in) and a person from the county. I was impressed with my students, my one aide in the room at the time, and myself with how well it went. Everyone was friendly, but I didnt really have much time to stop and chat. During which though, I heard the director from the other district say to the person from the county, "wow, it is amazing how much this class has changes" (since before I was there) and then when we left she said "You are awesome!" I am proud of us. i didnt even have to do things any differently since I knew they were coming to observe. We did things the same way we would have done whether there were people there or not. It did make my students nervous when they found out who was watching.
>>Ya know how I made that post on Tuesday, about how great it was to be back? and how amazing my students were, and How it was going to be a smooth rest of the year. I take it back. wednesday and thursday were hellish. Not hellish, just tough. I am being tested and I'm getting stumped and its hard for me to admit that. Wednesday, we started a new system where me or one of my aides is outside during lunch to keep an eye on Phillip. He has been hitting students, throwing things, slapping, etc. Tuesday went okay. The aide had to tell Phillip once not to hit students. Yesterday out of nowhere he picked up a rock and threw it at another kid. Right in the head. The aide pulled him aside and took him back to class. We talked with the principal and decided on a detention after school. I talked with mom and warned her. Then he proceeded to come back into class and play with his "private" area for the rest of the class period. Then, I have a student who is compulsively late. Everyday. he shows up 15, 20, 10, 5, minutes late. I have given him detention after detention. I am stumped. I dont know what to do. Today I made him a deal that he can be late as long as it it only 3 mins. If it is more, then he'll keep getting detentions. We will see.
>>Today Phillip did much better. Mom is fighting the detention but we are sticking to our guns. Steve today also stole 80 dollars from his mom. WE found out he HAD the 80 dollars and attempted to get him to let us hold the money until the end of the day. He refused so we called his mom and let her know. It turns out he had stolen the money from her. Mom came to school and called the cops to come and yell at him about it. Steve handled it relatively well. Without anger. Surprising.
>>What else. what else. I fell like a million things have been going on. But, I feel like those are the most major. I will leave you with a quote from the sweetest kid on earth Sam.
Sam: "Marcus, Steve, and Jaime, they always look at girls in inappropriate places! They always do! I dont. I tell them girls don't like that. They are always looking at girls inappropriately. When I look a girls I look at her face!"
Me: Thats good! and do you look at her personality?"
Sam: Yes! Thats very important too!
Me: Thats good Sam. Girls like that.
>>Ya know how I made that post on Tuesday, about how great it was to be back? and how amazing my students were, and How it was going to be a smooth rest of the year. I take it back. wednesday and thursday were hellish. Not hellish, just tough. I am being tested and I'm getting stumped and its hard for me to admit that. Wednesday, we started a new system where me or one of my aides is outside during lunch to keep an eye on Phillip. He has been hitting students, throwing things, slapping, etc. Tuesday went okay. The aide had to tell Phillip once not to hit students. Yesterday out of nowhere he picked up a rock and threw it at another kid. Right in the head. The aide pulled him aside and took him back to class. We talked with the principal and decided on a detention after school. I talked with mom and warned her. Then he proceeded to come back into class and play with his "private" area for the rest of the class period. Then, I have a student who is compulsively late. Everyday. he shows up 15, 20, 10, 5, minutes late. I have given him detention after detention. I am stumped. I dont know what to do. Today I made him a deal that he can be late as long as it it only 3 mins. If it is more, then he'll keep getting detentions. We will see.
>>Today Phillip did much better. Mom is fighting the detention but we are sticking to our guns. Steve today also stole 80 dollars from his mom. WE found out he HAD the 80 dollars and attempted to get him to let us hold the money until the end of the day. He refused so we called his mom and let her know. It turns out he had stolen the money from her. Mom came to school and called the cops to come and yell at him about it. Steve handled it relatively well. Without anger. Surprising.
>>What else. what else. I fell like a million things have been going on. But, I feel like those are the most major. I will leave you with a quote from the sweetest kid on earth Sam.
Sam: "Marcus, Steve, and Jaime, they always look at girls in inappropriate places! They always do! I dont. I tell them girls don't like that. They are always looking at girls inappropriately. When I look a girls I look at her face!"
Me: Thats good! and do you look at her personality?"
Sam: Yes! Thats very important too!
Me: Thats good Sam. Girls like that.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Back
>>Coming back to school was surprisingly pleasant and nice. A few of my students got haircuts. Some got out of the psych ward. It really was a great smooth day. Almost like they were happy to be back. They moved right back into the swing of things. It made me so happy.
>>I have an aide in my classroom, who is sort of a complainer. She constantly complains about everything, from the kids (not in front of them), to the school, to the class, to her life, everything. I am aware that everyone complains. I, in fact, am a constant complainer, but I attempt to keep it to a minimum. One of the reasons my principals said I received "teachers who make a different" award, was because I am always smiling and never complaining. Anyways, she is always complaining. Eventually, it gets tiresome. She acts like she knows everything, and if you try and tell her something differently she argues. She comes up with information, and when you tell her you heard differently she argues. When you have a difference of opinion, she argues. Now, I do really like her as a person, but after a while, its tiresome. Its hard to find joys when someone around you always focus' on the negative. I have begun to look on the bright side of everything, and being around her is not easy. I know I am her boss. I should be telling her what to do. But, its difficult. She also holds grudges and sometimes its easier to let her do what she wants, then to sit there and argue with her and then deal with it later. She definitely has had the most difficulty accepting that I am the boss. I have heard rumors that she may be moving to another class next year. I am constantly planning how amazing it will be without her around. But, then I think, What if I am getting my hopes up? How do I fix this? Its hard to change people who are set in their ways, but is there something I can do to just hint at her getting an attitude change? I'm stuck.
>>I have an aide in my classroom, who is sort of a complainer. She constantly complains about everything, from the kids (not in front of them), to the school, to the class, to her life, everything. I am aware that everyone complains. I, in fact, am a constant complainer, but I attempt to keep it to a minimum. One of the reasons my principals said I received "teachers who make a different" award, was because I am always smiling and never complaining. Anyways, she is always complaining. Eventually, it gets tiresome. She acts like she knows everything, and if you try and tell her something differently she argues. She comes up with information, and when you tell her you heard differently she argues. When you have a difference of opinion, she argues. Now, I do really like her as a person, but after a while, its tiresome. Its hard to find joys when someone around you always focus' on the negative. I have begun to look on the bright side of everything, and being around her is not easy. I know I am her boss. I should be telling her what to do. But, its difficult. She also holds grudges and sometimes its easier to let her do what she wants, then to sit there and argue with her and then deal with it later. She definitely has had the most difficulty accepting that I am the boss. I have heard rumors that she may be moving to another class next year. I am constantly planning how amazing it will be without her around. But, then I think, What if I am getting my hopes up? How do I fix this? Its hard to change people who are set in their ways, but is there something I can do to just hint at her getting an attitude change? I'm stuck.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Back to the grind
>>Tomorrow we go back to school. I have been off for 10 days. It has been an amazing spring break. I feel relaxed. I feel sane again. I needed all this. I am ready to kick the next months butt and make it through this year. Get through my final IEPS and finish this year on top. yay! lets do it :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
spring break
>>I am on a much needed spring break until the 26th of april. It's been a long haul since we had a week off in Feb. No breaks. Nothing. The kids were ready. I was ready. Everyone was ready. Its only Saturday though and I am already kind of missing my kiddos. What am I going to do during summer??
>>The other day we had a meeting with the special education teachers in my district. Even though these meetings are a pain because we usually end up there until 5-5:30. Its nice to see the other teachers who deal with the same stuff as I do. In our district we have a teacher who teaches k-2. A 3-5 teacher. I am 6-8. and then we have a Language intensive class which focus' on students with communication/reading needs. We went over things for next year. I will be down to 9 kiddos. This is pretty nuts. I started out this year with 20 students! Then, I went down to 17. When my school opened the new SDC class I am now down to 13. But, next year. 9? I am not getting any 6th graders. So, for next year I will just lose my 8th graders and not get any new students. It's a little sad, because it's always nice to have new students come in and change up the class, but I am also excited for the fact that the students will all come next year knowing the rules, and schedule, and how things work. It makes my life a million times easier than it was this year. Plus. only 9 students!!!? my class is going to learn so much next year! :)
>>I also recently received at Ipad to use in my classroom. This week will be spent finding good aps for my students to learn with, and I am excited to find out some good resources to use it for.
>>The other day we had a meeting with the special education teachers in my district. Even though these meetings are a pain because we usually end up there until 5-5:30. Its nice to see the other teachers who deal with the same stuff as I do. In our district we have a teacher who teaches k-2. A 3-5 teacher. I am 6-8. and then we have a Language intensive class which focus' on students with communication/reading needs. We went over things for next year. I will be down to 9 kiddos. This is pretty nuts. I started out this year with 20 students! Then, I went down to 17. When my school opened the new SDC class I am now down to 13. But, next year. 9? I am not getting any 6th graders. So, for next year I will just lose my 8th graders and not get any new students. It's a little sad, because it's always nice to have new students come in and change up the class, but I am also excited for the fact that the students will all come next year knowing the rules, and schedule, and how things work. It makes my life a million times easier than it was this year. Plus. only 9 students!!!? my class is going to learn so much next year! :)
>>I also recently received at Ipad to use in my classroom. This week will be spent finding good aps for my students to learn with, and I am excited to find out some good resources to use it for.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
well...
>>Apparently I got nominated for an award.. It's for "teachers who make a difference". I am actually not sure what it really means, but I believe you are nominated and then you get an award. It isnt really a competition it is just an area to recognize good teachers in our county. I was the only teacher nominated from my school and it is quiet a complement. It makes me proud that my hard work is recognized. But, it also makes me proud to know that I am good at what I do.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Stress
>>A lot of the things I deal with on a daily basis could be thought of as stressful. A lot of the things I have to tell my students over and over could be thought of as stressful. It is very easy for them to become this way. I think I have even blogged about stress. Lately I have taken on a new outlook. A lot of the things I deal with are comical. They are hilarious. It is amazing the issues I deal with. It's easy to get frustrated. It's easy to think that my job is so hard. But, what's even better is just laughing at it. Its so much better to enjoy it. To take a moment and look at these kiddos and just laugh. They are so funny. They say the best things. I love it.
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