A positive note

For about two weeks my class and I worked on angles, shapes, and how to move them around. We did all sorts of projects that would help them understand what they could use these for. When the time finally came for the test I felt certain that they had it down pat. They took the test and low and behold all of the students except one received 100%. The one who didn't get a hundred missed only one. They were all very proud of themselves, as they should be, but I was proud of them too and also a little proud of myself. They worked hard but they had fun and that made it easier so if anyone needs some teaching suggestions for shapes and angles give me a ring :0}

So Many Meetings

With my cooperating teacher being tied up in annual reviews and proctoring tests the making and implmenting of the lesson plans have mainly fallen to me. It has been good for me to be able to do this as I have to set the pace and keep an eye on how the students were doing. I have the pleasure of starting a new unit on money starting with pennies, nickels, and dimes. In second grade they have not yet begun to equate money with buying things. I have a couple of things up my sleeve. I am trying to give them some time to move around as well as sitting and doing busy work. This week they have sent me an extra TA while Mrs. Hoag is out of the classroom. This is good because an extra pair of hands go a long way. I am getting good practice with controlling the class and in counting and pennies, nickels and dimes.

A new week

We all came to school on Monday looking forward to a new week with hope that our difficult child had miraculously changed during the break. Monday went fairly well with only a couple of "almos" problems that we quickly took care of. Our elementary school starting on Tuesday had the second grade staff proctoring the fourth and fifth classes state standardized testing for the first three and half hours. To make matters worse they also changed my classes lunch and recess times. We told the students that their schedules would change a little and mass chaos ensued. Not too many people like change, but for my kids they had not been given any warning so they had trouble understanding it. This of course threw off our difficult student and she went off. we tried to get her in a room and close the door so that she would not disturb the test takers but it took a while. The principal came storming down and told her that if she had another outburst that she would be suspended from school for two days. At last someone who was ready to enforce some order. Thank you Principal.

You must be kidding right?

Yesterday was the worst day yet in my classroom. The teacher was in annual review meetings and the class aides and I were working with reading groups. The expected child tantrum happened and the class fell apart, this time much worse than I have ever seen it. Our student who usually goes after the child in question blew up so badly that he was screaming until he almost threw up. He was read in the face shaking and sweating and his aide was restraining him as best she could. The tantrum girl was removed bodily by the security guard and not only were the other students freaking out but one of our aides was in tears. We pulled some of the students out of corners and one particular student that never pays attention to any of this was sobbing. This is what broke our hearts. It just so happened that tantrum girls mother was here for her annual review and so the behaviorilist quickly brought her back to the class. She gave her to me and said "she is calm now and look how mature she is". She was petting her hair and telling how good she was. I can not remember the last I had been so angry. It just was so unfair in so many ways. The message that was loud and clear was not a good one. "Act out all you want". Well I made it through the rest of the day and I am glad that I have a week off to do a lot of deep breathing and praying. They are not helping this girl or her mother who believes it is just a phase she is going through.

A smiling face

Our students look to us constantly for praise. They want us to tell them that they have done a good job. Sometimes because I am busy trying to make sure I have crossed all my t's and dotted all my i's I forget this. The other day a student of mine sat through a lesson trying very hard to read and not whine that she couldn't do it or it was too hard. When the lesson was over I realized this so I went over to her and told what a great job she had done. I told her I was very proud of her. I also told the teachers assistant and the teacher. They also spoke to her and told her that they were very proud. The rest of the day she was on cloud nine. She was smiling and got excited about her other lessons. She also declared that she was going to be nicer to her teachers. True to her word she did exactly that for the rest of the day. It is hard to believe that something so little can make a big difference for our students.

Some days

When you work with children every day brings a new experience some good some bad. Last week was an exceptionally difficult one. One of our students was a walking time bomb. It would take very little to set her off and when she did the whole class would erupt. In our classroom there are students that can not handle yelling or crying. When she would begin to escalate some students would cover their ears and rock or cry. Others would run up to her and scream at her to stop. She was sent to the principal 5 times last week and after she left the room there was work to be done to calm down the rest of the class. I love what I am doing, but last week was a little draining and I was ready for bed by 9:00 PM every night. This week has been better and I am looking for ways to try to stop the problem before it gets out of control. This is a great learning experience and I am observing how other teachers are handling these difficulties. I am glad to be able to learn how to intercede when necessary.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

One of the things I have found interesting during my observations and student teaching time is the way that teachers try to get the students attention. In some elementary schools the teachers favor the five clap method. This usually gets the students attention and they respond pretty quickly. However if you take that method to another elementary school where the children are told to raise their hands with a peace sign to quiet their peers the students may look at you funny when you clap. There is nothing worse than doing something and find the children looking at you funny. An example of this recently was a substitute teacher in one class I was student teaching stood in front of the classroom and loudly declared "eyes up front" and began counting "three" and then she noticed that the class was silently watching her. At a loss she whispered "two, one". Their regular teacher demanded silence as soon as she said "eyes up front" and there was no counting involved.

I have found that the best and most universal way to get them to be quiet is to stop talking and stand in front of the class watching the students. It may take a minute but the class will notice that something is not right and quiet down.

I have to share with you the most effective method that I have seen is when a certain teacher stopped talking and began humming loudly while she wrote students names on the board. It only took about 10 seconds for silence to ensue. The teacher never said what she was going to do to the students whose names she had written on the board but the students didn't want to find out.