I know I mentioned a new student in my last post. Ahhhh he started yesterday. And he's proving to be difficult. It's so hard to have someone come in and mess up the good relationship my students have with me and one another. While dealing with his dispectful attitude and I turned to continue working with nick and he replied "hey.. At least it is only 10 days and not the whole year" kids are so on top of it.
I feel badly. I hold no love for this student at the moment. I know if I had him for a whole year it would be different, but when on the second day you're in my class you are calling me a bitch and my students care about me enough to come tell me then you are not good for the juju in my room. We will survive and I will kill him with kindness and hope that I can win him over in the next 10 days.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Internet issues
Internet issues so I am posting from my phone. Excuse the short post. 12 days left of school. I am getting a new student on monday. Yes. 12 days before the end of school. When we are supposed to be having fun, enjoying the days before summer, enjoying the last time we will see the 8th graders before they go to high school I am getting a new kiddo. Apparently he has a lot of behavior problems, but we will make it through.
I am already going through withdrawals of my 8th graders. I am going to miss them so much next year I can hardly imagine what it's going to be like. These guys make my days better and make my job fun! A few of them I have had since they were 6th graders. I have watched them grow up. I am proud of the people they have become. An I hope that I know them in the future.
Teaching is tough business. But I wouldn't change it for the world.
I am already going through withdrawals of my 8th graders. I am going to miss them so much next year I can hardly imagine what it's going to be like. These guys make my days better and make my job fun! A few of them I have had since they were 6th graders. I have watched them grow up. I am proud of the people they have become. An I hope that I know them in the future.
Teaching is tough business. But I wouldn't change it for the world.
Monday, May 7, 2012
End of days
>> We have exactly 22 days left of school. In exactly a month we will be saying good bye. This will probably going to be one of those hard ones. This is the first group of kiddos I have had for all 3 years. Watching them grow up and change and learn. I am going to miss them, and I am going to worry about them.
>>Sam is back at school with a big ol' scar running from ear to ear. He is taking life in strides, but has retained his sense of humor and good attitude. I am so glad he is alright and that nothing more serious (well, except brain surgery) had to happen.
>>I went to my first out of state conference this past weekend. A few colleagues and I got to fly out of town to attend the Love and Logic seminar. The difficult part of this was that this is a parenting class and 3 out of the 5 of us that attended do not have children. I guess in the near future we will teaching district parents the steps to Love and Logic. There was a lot that was very interesting. But, again hard to implement in my classroom. One item I did like was telling my students "I love you but I'm not going to argue with you." My students at first were weirded out, but it came down to the fact that of course I love them. They thought this was hard to believe. I tried to explain that there are different types of love. Love that you feel for your family, your friends, etc. And I care and love them all very much. I actually think this made them feel happy and special. Many people may think it is weird to tell their students this but in my room it is a whole different world.
>>I talked with Sam for almost 30 minutes today about his family and his parents fighting a lot. He has told me aboutr this before and things are more difficult now that his sister is home. We talked about this and I let him tell me about how he was feeling and what he thought when his parents discussed divorce. Carl had to add in that "this is school time not personal talking time". I explained to Carl that this class is different. We sometimes need help to talk through difficult situations, and sometimes we just need someone to listen. I exoplained that I never expect him to tell me anything personal about his life, but if he ever needed to just talk I wouldnt hestitate to listen and be there fo rhim. I love this aspect about teaching. I love the good relationships i have with my students. I enjoy being there for them and I wish there was more I could do. I don't look forward to June when 5 of them graduate and then I need to worry and wish I had a way to keep in contact with them. I swear I need like a teacher facebook so they can be my friend and contact me. I wonder if anyone has any ideas on how to make this work.
>>So many funny things happen daily in my room that I wish I could just tape them all. I think a twitter is in order - Will update soon and let people know what I find out.
>>Sam is back at school with a big ol' scar running from ear to ear. He is taking life in strides, but has retained his sense of humor and good attitude. I am so glad he is alright and that nothing more serious (well, except brain surgery) had to happen.
>>I went to my first out of state conference this past weekend. A few colleagues and I got to fly out of town to attend the Love and Logic seminar. The difficult part of this was that this is a parenting class and 3 out of the 5 of us that attended do not have children. I guess in the near future we will teaching district parents the steps to Love and Logic. There was a lot that was very interesting. But, again hard to implement in my classroom. One item I did like was telling my students "I love you but I'm not going to argue with you." My students at first were weirded out, but it came down to the fact that of course I love them. They thought this was hard to believe. I tried to explain that there are different types of love. Love that you feel for your family, your friends, etc. And I care and love them all very much. I actually think this made them feel happy and special. Many people may think it is weird to tell their students this but in my room it is a whole different world.
>>I talked with Sam for almost 30 minutes today about his family and his parents fighting a lot. He has told me aboutr this before and things are more difficult now that his sister is home. We talked about this and I let him tell me about how he was feeling and what he thought when his parents discussed divorce. Carl had to add in that "this is school time not personal talking time". I explained to Carl that this class is different. We sometimes need help to talk through difficult situations, and sometimes we just need someone to listen. I exoplained that I never expect him to tell me anything personal about his life, but if he ever needed to just talk I wouldnt hestitate to listen and be there fo rhim. I love this aspect about teaching. I love the good relationships i have with my students. I enjoy being there for them and I wish there was more I could do. I don't look forward to June when 5 of them graduate and then I need to worry and wish I had a way to keep in contact with them. I swear I need like a teacher facebook so they can be my friend and contact me. I wonder if anyone has any ideas on how to make this work.
>>So many funny things happen daily in my room that I wish I could just tape them all. I think a twitter is in order - Will update soon and let people know what I find out.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Spring has sprung
>> Spring has sprung in my classroom. I know I haven't posted anything of substance lately, but quotes will have to do.
THe boys in my classroom are in full crude middle school humor. Enjoy.
Carl: It feels like techno music when my heart is beating.
--
Nick: I heard all the girls in high school are stuck up... so there goes my chance.
--
(while using magnetic poetry)
Carl: Pull up.. I need pants!
--
Seth: I have an innie outtie! (pulls up shirt and shows bellybutton)
--
Seth: DId you know that some elephants get indigestion when they eat peanuts?
--
Carl: Yes. This is your penis.. I mean pencil!
--
(Bell rings to go home)
Jamie: HAPPY DILDO DAY!
Friday, April 13, 2012
almost a month
>>Yes, almost a month since I last posted. A lot but almost nothing has happened during that time. My home hospital student came out of the hospital but then just went back in today. (I think she will be okay this time). Today we found out that Sam had a sinus infection that his doctor did not take care of so it extended to his brain. Yes. Bad. He had surgery today and we are all very scared.
Here are some quotes that have been saved over the past few weeks.
Me: just because they have braces doesnt mean they are ugly (referring to girls)
Carl: But they can bite your tongue off.
--
Phillip: Life plan.. 15 years old new laptop. 16 years old new cell phone. 17 years old new car. 18 years old new job.
--
Carl: I gotcha bro. Yes, I call her bro. She's my bro.
--
Carl: Could you translate "once you go black you never go back" for me?
--
Jamie: I need to get some knee pads
Carl: your girlfriend needs to get knee pads.
Here are some quotes that have been saved over the past few weeks.
Me: just because they have braces doesnt mean they are ugly (referring to girls)
Carl: But they can bite your tongue off.
--
Phillip: Life plan.. 15 years old new laptop. 16 years old new cell phone. 17 years old new car. 18 years old new job.
--
Carl: I gotcha bro. Yes, I call her bro. She's my bro.
--
Carl: Could you translate "once you go black you never go back" for me?
--
Jamie: I need to get some knee pads
Carl: your girlfriend needs to get knee pads.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Quote
I am totally proud that I taught my class all day today with only 1 part time aide. I am awesome.
Student: you look tired today
Me: you know, that's not nice to say to someone.
Student: why? What's wrong with that? You do look tired.
Me: well I'm not tired so that's not a nice thing to say.
Student: I didn't say you were tired I just said you looked it.
Me: okay. Drop it.
Student: you look tired today
Me: you know, that's not nice to say to someone.
Student: why? What's wrong with that? You do look tired.
Me: well I'm not tired so that's not a nice thing to say.
Student: I didn't say you were tired I just said you looked it.
Me: okay. Drop it.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Goals
>> Another blogger I know over at Scooping it up wrote a post about goals. It got me thinking. I have many goals for myself as a teacher. Why not share?
First of all I want to plan more lessons.
My class is based on schedules, and doing the same things weekly. Wednesdays are writing day. Thursday and friday are fluency reading. Monday and Tuesdays are phonics/workbooks. (These schedule needs to be extended into math too, but L.A. is pretty steady now.) I have to clear my credential, so I am required to write up lesson plans, create goals and this year I have focused on writing because it is not my strong area. In fact in the beginning of the year we NEVER did it. Anyways, this past few months I have been focusing A LOT on writing rubrics and my students initiating their own learning through using rubrics. Wednesday I did a lesson where students had to create their own rubrics using past writing examples of their own as well as ones i made. my students LOVED IT. They requested we leave the examples up all year so they could look at them and use them while they are writing. They were excited. They explained their reasoning and why they graded certain things certain ways. I LOVED IT. It did not take me long to plan. But, if I could try and do something exciting like this once a week. A fantastic different kind of learning experience. I would be proud of myself.
2: develop a good way to track students goals.
Currently I have a huge binder in which each student has a divider. Their goals are divided in, and usually a week before goal checks are due, I go through and find work that meets each goal and I check their progress. (we work on goals all the time, but i dont specifically test) I would like to develop a way to test monthly, if not every other week. I would love to be able to send home nicely corrected evidence with every goal, or at least have less estimations, and more analyzing of data.
3. Do not be late on any IEPS.
I will say it is usually not my fault that I am late on IEPs. usually it's scheduling, parents, and my waiting until the last minute. I would like to be EARLY more often then right on time.
4. Have more fun.
A lot of time in my classroom we spend on academics because my students are so far behind academically. I would like to incorporate some more fun learning activities. Art projects. Fun history lessons. Fun science lessons. This goes into my first goal. but I think if I take time to research and work on new exciting lessons, we could have a lot of fun.
--
>>I took my students on a reward field trip to a local fast food restaurant today. We had to walk there in the rain. Which wasnt awful. My students did VERY well. I was actually impressed. The worst part was coming back to school and trying to get them back on track for the rest of the day. We survived but, I was also checked out ,and that is never good for anyone. I was being silly and immature, and it is not always the best when I get like that.
>>Next week is the ski trip. Do we remember that from last year? I hope it goes okay.
First of all I want to plan more lessons.
My class is based on schedules, and doing the same things weekly. Wednesdays are writing day. Thursday and friday are fluency reading. Monday and Tuesdays are phonics/workbooks. (These schedule needs to be extended into math too, but L.A. is pretty steady now.) I have to clear my credential, so I am required to write up lesson plans, create goals and this year I have focused on writing because it is not my strong area. In fact in the beginning of the year we NEVER did it. Anyways, this past few months I have been focusing A LOT on writing rubrics and my students initiating their own learning through using rubrics. Wednesday I did a lesson where students had to create their own rubrics using past writing examples of their own as well as ones i made. my students LOVED IT. They requested we leave the examples up all year so they could look at them and use them while they are writing. They were excited. They explained their reasoning and why they graded certain things certain ways. I LOVED IT. It did not take me long to plan. But, if I could try and do something exciting like this once a week. A fantastic different kind of learning experience. I would be proud of myself.
2: develop a good way to track students goals.
Currently I have a huge binder in which each student has a divider. Their goals are divided in, and usually a week before goal checks are due, I go through and find work that meets each goal and I check their progress. (we work on goals all the time, but i dont specifically test) I would like to develop a way to test monthly, if not every other week. I would love to be able to send home nicely corrected evidence with every goal, or at least have less estimations, and more analyzing of data.
3. Do not be late on any IEPS.
I will say it is usually not my fault that I am late on IEPs. usually it's scheduling, parents, and my waiting until the last minute. I would like to be EARLY more often then right on time.
4. Have more fun.
A lot of time in my classroom we spend on academics because my students are so far behind academically. I would like to incorporate some more fun learning activities. Art projects. Fun history lessons. Fun science lessons. This goes into my first goal. but I think if I take time to research and work on new exciting lessons, we could have a lot of fun.
--
>>I took my students on a reward field trip to a local fast food restaurant today. We had to walk there in the rain. Which wasnt awful. My students did VERY well. I was actually impressed. The worst part was coming back to school and trying to get them back on track for the rest of the day. We survived but, I was also checked out ,and that is never good for anyone. I was being silly and immature, and it is not always the best when I get like that.
>>Next week is the ski trip. Do we remember that from last year? I hope it goes okay.
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