Students and THEIR Labels

One of the things that continually have the bees in my bonnet buzzing is the issue of clothing and students.

No, this is NOT the post where I opine about the serious lack of clothing in American classrooms nor is it the post where I profess to be astounded concerning the large amount of cleavage I see at the local high school. I’m not even going to write about how most school hallways resemble a plumber’s convention due to the amount of rear ends that wink at me.

My point this time is the emphasis children place on particular brands of clothing – Abercrombie, Pacific Sun, American Eagle, Hollister….

Now, I’m not just picking on students. I’m guilty of liking certain brands of clothing as well – Ralph Lauren, Talbots, Liz Claiborne , and Jones New York to name a few.

However, the difference is while I like certain brands of clothing I don’t alienate folks if they don’t wear the same thing as I do….I don’t call them names…..I don’t belittle them publically. Wear what you personally want to wear…..I do.

Unfortunately, students can and do alienate each other, call each other names, and belittle them publically.

This type of activity can undermine our number one purpose….learning.

Every few days I invite a student to join me for lunch…I don’t do this alphabetically because it would be too predictable, but I do make sure that every student is invited each nine weeks. I ask the student to get his or her tray and join me back in the classroom. We talk about all sorts of things. I ask the student about his or her life at home, likes, dislikes. We often discuss television shows including cartoons.

This provides an opportunity for me to build relationships with students…..students that are my problem kids…..kids that are the stand-out stars….and kids that I might not ever even know they were in the room unless I invited them to lunch.

Occasionally during these lunch dates a student will let me know if he or she is having issues with other students. This is usually when I find out I’m having a major clothing issue….a clothing bias can cause enough of a disruption to hinder the learning process.

This is when our normal studies come to a screeching halt, and we take a side road through fashion in history. We might research the fashions of the time period we are studying or, I might choose a short story I can read aloud to student and then ask them to illustrate what they think the characters in the story might be wearing depending on the clues given in the story. Students have to analyze the possible time period and the character’s actions to come up with a plausible costume. These activities also get students to discussing clothing choices and how they make and DON’T make a man.

From time to time one of the activites I use involves the Presidents of the United States. Some of their clothing choices were interesting, and speaking of labels……one label that is often repeated is the Brooks Brothers label. Follow this link to my newest posting at American Presidents titled All the President's Clothes... where I discuss how the Brooks Brothers label has been involved with the executive office since the early 19th century.

Wake Up!

The general public usually does not know what goes into the implementation of a home run winning lesson plan. It takes knowing your subject matter inside and out (a feat within itself), it takes knowing many various teaching strategies in order to link the right strategies with the content, and it takes an inate knowledge of the education needs for each and every student in your group. Finally, it takes knowing something about assessment strategies so that real data can be obtained to measure student progress.

However, none of my actions to plan appropriate lessons matter if my students are asleep. It can be very frustrating to be fully engrossed in teaching your plan, look out across the room, and see two or three nodding off. Yes, I’ve had my share of sleepy ones as well.

My first reaction has been one of anger. How dare they fall asleep during my lesson?!

Next I decided that perhaps it was me. Was I really that boring? I poured over my plans and looked for weak areas. Did I include enough activity for students in my plans or were they merely sitting in their seats watching me? What was the level of the “boring meter” regarding the content the lesson covered, and how could I eliminate the boring factor?

Even with all of my introspection I still had sleepy students. I’ve now come to the conclusion that it isn’t always me. There are outside environmental factors that determine how my students react in the classroom, and while I cannot control these factors I still have to address them in a manner designed to maximize the learning in my classes.

Outside environmental factors include:

*In most homes both parents work and have a set time to be at their jobs. It’s hard to get a family up and ready to go all at the same time and often what happens is some children manage to get their clothes on and fall back to sleep while their parents finish getting ready. There is no breakfast since a large majority of kids eat at school now. Once in the car many kids fall asleep again and often still asleep as they are hustled out of the car at school. They stumble into the building sometimes a good hour to 30 minutes before the school day actually begins. Even after eating a school breakfast many sit 15-20 minutes in the hallway before homeroom begins…..just long enough to nod off again.

*Some children, even the nine and ten year olds I have taught serve as caregivers for younger siblings in the afternoon and evenings. There is no time for homework or even fun sometimes because every minute is looking after little ones, preparing a meal, or cleaning the house.

*Many children are burdened with schedules that would make you and I cringe. Their afternoons are full of various lessons or practices. Sometimes ball practice of some sort last as late as 9 o’clock for some teams.

*More and more families are out and about during the evening. Go into any restaurant at 10 o’clock in my neighborhood and you see several children eating dinner with their parents.

*I often use writing assignments during Language Arts to gather more incite into the lives of my students, and what they write is very revealing. They are so honest….sometimes painfully honest. From a simple prompt such as “How I Spent My Afternoon…” I find out that many of my students are visiting the local Walmart at nine, ten, eleven and even after midnite. Some wind up with a parent who is working the late shift. One little boy plays video games every evening till midnight in his Dad’s office and then has an hour long drive home before bedtime. Another student wrote about sitting at the jail with her aunt waiting on the release of her mother. She had been picked up for drugs that morning.

*Many children don’t have a bedtime. If they do, it’s much too late. Students report they are up till all hours doing whatever they want to.

*Some children report they do have a bedtime, but once their parent goes to bed they get back up to watch the television in their room, play on their computer, read, eat, etc.

So I continue to have sleepy babies sitting in my room. One way I have attempted to improve this situation is through the use of lively music and dancing. When things seem to be getting bogged down and I notice a few are getting droopy-eyed we DANCE and DANCE, and DANCE!

Yep, we DANCE. We’ll take a break and I play some lively songs and in order to get everyone involved I’ll act as silly as I have to. They think I’m crazy the first few times, but when they see how much fun it can be they join in. No, there are no video tapes of me DANCING….thank the Lord, so don’t ask.

Once the break is over we are much more ready to tackle the content at hand and more learning can take place…….and there’s nothing like letting others see you in a silly dance move to build camaraderie among members of a group.

Some songs we have used are

Little Eva's Locomotion

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry

Chubby Checker's Let's Twist Again

Twist and Shout with The Beatles

Shout with the Isley Brothers

Marcia Griffiths Electric Boogie (Slide)

Cha Cha Slide

Pink's Get the Party Started

And don’t discount Brain Gym for improving the alertness of droopy students.

Can you think of some other lively tunes we could use?

1,2,3,4...I Declare a Paper War!

Classroom management is never deleted from my list of ongoing concerns. Each new group of students…..heck…..each new school day brings a very different dynamic to the classroom depending on many varibles such as what went on at home the night before, what the student ate or didn’t eat, and whether or not my lesson is as educationally sound as it can be.

I’ve had my fair share of students that push my buttons, lack of administrative support, and I’ve dealt with some of the most incorrigible students our society offers today. It’s a real challenge to build a relationship with these students as they struggle with me for control of the classroom, but that’s always my focus. With a small degree of our student population more punishment does nothing. I try to remain on the positive side as much as possible.

I’ve read the current literature regarding classroom management, but sometimes great ideas for handling discipline issues come from history. After reading a biography of James Madison by Ralph KetchamI was inspired to try something out with a particularly rambunctious group of fourth graders that were stepping on my last nerve.

So, you have “paper war” in the title, a reference to James Madison, and a hint of a fun classroom management strategy. Are you intrigued? The remainder of my post is over at the American Presidents Blog.

Tools of the Trade: Class Syllabus, Part Two

Yesterday I posted part one of my syllabus I provide for students at the beginning of the year.

Here is the rest of it:

Class Work-Students will be responsible for various assignments each day---many of these will be graded. Lessons are planned very carefully, and time limits are taken into consideration. Students are expected to complete class work in class---it will not turn into homework unless special conditions apply.

Homework-Homework is required. Students should review their notes for at least 10 minutes each night. Reading a sub-section of the current chapter is also a great tool for success. Homework is an important part of the curriculum as it provides extra time for independent and responsible thought regarding the content from that day’s class. Written homework assignments are always due the next school day. Assignments will be written in the agenda. Total homework time for fourth grades in all subjects combined should never extend beyond a 40 minute period. Please note there are several opportunities for students to begin and/or complete an assignment---while students are in the hallway before the school day begins, if a student finishes class work early, or at the end of the day while listening to transportation calls.

It is understood; however, from time to time family emergencies will arise. Students MUST bring a note to class regarding the missed homework assignment the day the assignment is due or upon the student returning to school (refer to the section regarding late/missing assignments for further information). Playing sports, cheerleading, or other afternoon lessons does not constitute an excuse for failing to complete homework. There are no exceptions given for long term assignments.

Study Guides-Students will receive a study guide at the beginning of a new unit of study. The study guide will be kept in the student’s notebook during the course of the unit. The guide contains all of the information a student needs to be successful---the essential question for the unit, the page numbers in the text where information can be found, the test and/or quiz dates, project information, vocabulary words, key questions for each lesson, and information regarding extra credit. At the beginning of each unit students will be given a homework assignment to share the study guide with a parent and to obtain a parent signature.

Extra Credit-Students can earn extra credit during every unit of study by following directions that are printed on each study guide. During the unit students will define every vocabulary word and answer each key question on notebook paper. Students will turn in their work with their notebook on test day. Based on how complete the assignment is students can receive up to five points added to their test grade and an extra letter grade in the gradebook. Students are encouraged to work on their extra credit througout the days leading up the test. It should never be completed in one night. This can be a terrific study method! Students will be instructed early in the year regarding the procedures and strategies to follow in order to complete extra credit.

Classroom Rules-Students are required to follow classroom rules and procedures. Students will be instructed regarding various classroom procedures (how to turn in papers, etc.). The classroom rules are as follows:
1. We will respect the rights of others
2. We will respect personal property and the property of others.
3. Before saying anything outloud, I will ask myself: Is this kind? Is this necessary?
4. We will not eat in the classroom unless a special event is planned.
5. We will follow the rules of specific areas and those printed in the student handbook and student agenda.

Attendance-Please refer to the county and school handbooks regarding the importance of perfect attendance. All guidelines and regulations will be strictly enforced.

Late Work/Missing Assignments: If students choose not to complete and turn in classwork or homework assignments they will earn grades of zero. If work is turned in late due to absence only those students who have legal, excused absences will be given credit. If absences are not excused make-up work will not be allowed. Please understand family vacations are not excused absences. Please schedule doctor and dental appointments after school hours. If the student has not been absent and has late work it will be accepted, however, five points will be deducted for each day the assignment is late. Students will be instructed regarding the procedure to obtain makeup work during the first few days of class.

Progress Reports: Parents will receive the traditional mid-term and end-of-term reports printed by the school system. Parents will also receive additional reports if the student’s average falls below a “B” (79 or below) and has incomplete or missing assignments. Student behavior is closely monitored. Parents will be asked to sign these reports and return them to school for verification. Social Studies grades are based on classwork, pop-quizzes, noteooks, projects, unit tests, and extra credit.

This syllabus should become a permanent part of the student’s notebook for reference throughout the year. Students will be instructed to place the syllabus inside their Social Studies notebook. From time to time students will be given points for having the syllabus in the appropriate spot during the year.

Slip….Please cut along this line…..

Social Studies
August, 2007-2008

Student Name_________________
I have read and discussed the Social Studies syllabus with my child and we understand EHT’s requirements.

________________________
Parent Signature

Tools of the Trade: Class Syllabus

The first of the school year is a time for questions.

Teachers question how their students will react to new procedures and new, more intense curriculum.

Students question the teacher. Will you be stern or easygoing? How will we change classes? When is recess? When is lunch?

Parents also have questions. How much homework will my child have? Does my child have to bring home all of these books? Will you allow my child to visit the restroom when she/he needs to go? Can you move my child away from “that” kid with the reputation?
As the year progresses parents have more questions. Why is my child failing your class? We need extra credit. What can my child do? When is the test anyway? How can my child pass the test if we don’t know what to study?

Parent questions and my own desire to assist students to become responsible, independent learners gave birth to the class syllabus I present here.

Every year I have to tweak the syllabus due to system and administrator changes to various policies, but it has basically remained the same over the years.

The syllabus is handed out the first day of school. The first night’s homework is to share the syllabus with parents and to ask them to sign the slip. Slips are brought back to school and placed in my files. I have a file for each student I teach. Later in the year when I am invaribly called on the carpet because a parent complains to the principal because I haven’t let parents know anything about my class I can present the signed slip. In fact, I don’t even have to do that anymore. My principal has heard so much about my syllabus that when a parent makes THAT call to the office she immediately tells them, “Oh no, EHT has a syllabus. Check your child’s notebook.” The syllabus is stored in the student’s notebook all year so that it can be used as a reference when questions come up.

Here is part one of my syllabus. I’ll present part two tomorrow.

Syllabus for Social Studies
Grade Level: Fourth Grade

Teacher: EHT
Contact Information: School
Address
School Phone
My school email

Mission and Goals: Our primary goal in Social Studies is to assist the student to become a productive responsible citizen. The Social Studies program includes the study of geography, political science, economics, behavioral science, and the humanities. Students will attack these domains by practicing the following skills---information processing, problem solving, civic participation, time and chronology use, reading maps, globes, graphics, and charts.

Sequence of Study: In fourth grade, students begin the formal study of United States history. At this grade, the four strands of history, geography, civics, and economics are fully integrated. Students begin their study of United States history with the development of Native American cultures and conclude with the antebellum period ending in 1860. The georgraphy strand emphasizes the influence of geography in early United States history. The civics strand emphasizes concepts, and rights during the formation of our government. The economic strand uses materials from the historical strand to futher understand economic concepts.

First 9-weeks (August-October): American Regions, Native Americans, Age of Exploration, and Early Colonies

Second 9-weeks (October-December): Colonization in America, American Revolution, Map Skills

Third 9-weeks (January-March): Constitution/American Government, Westward Movement, Civil War

Fourth 9-weeks (March-May): CRCT Review, Reconstruction, Big Business/Immigration

Textbook: Title (Publisher). Students are encouraged to keep the textbook in their book bag at all times so they can read during free moments. Students are highly advised to read at least one sub-section of the current chapter each night as a tool for success.

Textbooks, trade books, and other chapter books are furnished without cost to the student. The textbooks are the property of ______ School System. Students and their parents are held accountable for all that are lost or damaged. The school system must be reimbursed for lost or damaged books.

Student Requirements: Students should bring their book bag, agenda, textbook, social studies folder, pencils, and paper as well as any other items as assigned.

Agenda-Agendas will be provided to students to record homework assignments, long-term assignments, test dates, due dates for various assignments, and school events such as PTO. Students will find information posted each day in class to be written in the agenda. The first activity in social studies each day will be writing the posted “Agenda Notes” down. Agendas will be reviewed and signed by the teacher each day. Parents should go over the items listed in the Agenda each day to make sure every item is completed. Students are required to have their agenda at school each day. Agenda pages should remain in the agenda at all times. Replacement agendas are $5.00.

Notebook-Trapper Keeper/Zip-up type notebooks DO NOT work well with the types of assignments students will be given. Each student is required to have one (1) 3-prong/2-pocket folder for their Social Studies notebook. Students will be instructed regarding the maintenance of their folders. At NO TIME should anything be thrown away unless instructed to do so by the teacher. Students will be taking notes in class and completing various assignments. Everything will stay in the notebook. On test days students will turn in their notebooks for grading. A grading rubric is attached for student/parent review. Notebooks will NOT be accepted for grading unless they are housed in a 3-prong/2-pocket folder.

Are your eyes glazed over yet? Look for the rest of my syllabus tomorrow….

Related posts you might enjoy:

Keeping a Notebook: Elementaryhistoryteacher Style
The Moment
Interruptions: Do They Matter?

Name Calling

As I get older I find that I can’t remember names like I used to. Seating charts and assignned seats help, but when you make the August transformation from the serenity of your home cave to the rowdiness and confusion of the first few days of school it’s difficult to get a fix on five different groups of kids.

No matter how how I try I always end up saying things like,
“Hey, you….Hey kid…..you…you there in the yellow shirt…” or “Yo, blonde girl…”, or my personal favorite name calling fiasco…

“Jim, will you answer number 3?”

“Jim?”

“Jim, what about three?

“Yo! Jim?”

“Earth to Jim…”

I finally walk over to Jim. Jim looks up. “Jim, now that we have your attention, can you answer number three for us?”

“Sure, Mrs. EHT, but my name’s not Jim.”

I barely get out the word “Oh”as I slink back over to my stool amidst titters and downright guffaws.

How cold and cruel can they be? Somebody had to know his name wasn’t Jim. I know I have a Jim around here somewhere.....Why didn't he speak up? Is it May yet?

Well, my fine young charges had drawn a line in the …..carpet…..and I couldn’t let them continue to get the best of me.

While we finished going over our lesson questions I just pointed to students as I called on them and mentally hatched out my plot. I vowed to never forget a name as long as the school year lasted, or until I die, whichever should occur first.

We had a few minutes of time left before the end of class so I dove into my closet and pulled out my box of old, used file folders and the brand, spanking new boxes of Crayolas I had unpacked during pre-planning. I really hated to pull those Crayons out because I knew in mere seconds I would never see the boxes again, and the poor stubby sticks of color would wind up in the huge bin of forlorn and broken crayon pieces in the back of the room.

It was my mental health or the integrity of my Crayolas. My mental health won....

The kids, of course, erupted into choruses of “Hey, EHT, what cha’ doin’?” Some of the more antsey ones were already up on their knees trying to get a better view. Then the guessing began.

“I bet we’re gonna draw.”

“What are we gonna color?”

“Can we do it the way we want?”

“Are these going in the hall?”

“Do we have to draw?”

I grabbed a pair of scissors and began to cut each side of the file folders into neatly trimmed rectangles while they continued to throw out guesses. Finally, I sat on my stool…mainly to see if they remembered one of the quiet signals I had gone over earlier. Within seconds they were quiet, and I picked up a rectangle and began to tell them what we were going to do.

Yep…..we made deskplates, and here are the results….

I tell students they can keep them in the pocket of their folders, and at the end of every nine weeks those students that still have their nameplates will receive an ice cream on me from the cafeteria. Many still have them at the end of the year. They think they are smart because they manage to get four free ice creams out of me, but I like to think I’m the smart one because I don’t have to say, “Hey….Hey you…..!”

13 Episodes I Handled Today..Can You Figure Out Why I Had a Good Cry?

As soon as the last student left my room today I grabbed my things and escaped. I left before I should have. I left fifteen minutes early, but I had to leave. I could not stand the classroom one more minute. I sprinted to my car and got in, left the parking lot, and was well on my way home when I began to cry. It had been a very wacky, crazy, stressful day of testing, very little learning, and I had had my fair share of nine year old hormones to deal with. Here are 13 of the many, many episodes I handled today.

1. Before our last day of testing began I shooed kids to the restroom with the age old adage, “Go try!” I stood in the doorway so I was available to kids in each direction to keep everyone on track and calm. Unfortunately I had to duck back in the room to persuade one young lady to put her soccer ball in the back of the room. I had already asked three times. It’s amazing what proximity will do to urge a student to finally comply with a simple direction. As I went back to the doorway a young man returning from the restroom came to me, “Elementaryhistoryteacher, D. called me a N. (rhymes with digger).” That’s strange. The young man is white and the person using the word is black. “Ok, I’ll handle it,”I said. As the young lady was returning from the restroom I stopped her and spoke with her in the hallway. I said, “Do you know why I want to talk with you?” She told me she did and confirmed the reason. I like to do things this way so we don’t play the ‘no I didn’t do it’ game. She told me she doesn’t see anything wrong with it and she can say it at home. “How would you feel if one of these white kids around here called you that?” She told me she wouldn’t like it. “Exactly,” I told her, “He didn’t like it either.” The young man was just as offended. I explained to the young lady that she can use that word all she wants to at home if it is allowed, however, at school she has to abide by my rules and I don’t allow it to be spoken….EVER.

2. My loud talker talked more than normal today. I could hear him coming up the hall after breakfast. and at the end of the day I heard him all the back down the hall. He began his day in my room with two pennies. He thought it would so cool to take those pennies and flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip…..them on the table-top. I asked him to stop. Flip, flip, flip, flip, flip, flip. I asked him to stop again or I would have to take them. “You can’t take them, their mine. My Dad says so. You take anything of mine and you’ll have a problem.” Flip, flip, flip….I took them. They are on my desk as we speak. I hope Dad shows up.:)

3. You could tell it was the last day of testing. Everyone is tired of it and everyone is tired of a strange schedule. I had several finished within 20 minutes... a test that should at least take them 40 minutes to finish. Instead of reading after they finished most everyone opted for mouthing at a friend across the room while I constantly leaned down and told them stop, don’t, please don’t, you need to read, I’m not going to tell you again, no, stop, don’t, put it away……Heavy sigh.

4. This year it was someone’s great idea to allow them to have a little snack in the middle of the two test sections. Look up brain based learning and you’ll understand why. I’m not against it….it just doesn’t always work out like it should. My proctor and I had been so proactive in taking up all the test materials after the first section before handing out any food or drink. Today’s snack selection was a 10 ounce bottle of water, a few goldfish and a few animal crackers. After a few minutes I told them to finish up so we could get started on the second section of the test. I told students not to drink all the water in their bottle. They could cap it and place in their desk for later. On no, my direction makes too much sense. Nine year olds are not about what makes sense. Most turned up their bottles and guzzled them down. Except for two young men who decided they would hold their water in their mouths and then spit it at each other just when I happened to walk by. Ick was what I thought when I felt a big, warm splash of water mixed with spit on my foot. Reminder to self…..shower immediately upon entering the house.

5. Once all of the water bottles were empty we had quite a little chorus going on of water bottle orchestra. Seems once they were empty the bottles made “cute” little crinkly noises. Yes, YES, let’s all try. Ms. Procter and I couldn’t get the trash can around fast enough. Crinkle, pop, crinkle, pop, crinkle, pop, crinkle, pop, crinkle, po, crinkle, p, crink, cri, c, finally silence……for about 20 seconds.

6. About midway through the second section of the test I noticed many of the kids were squirming in their seats. Knees were moving in and out, legs were jiggling, and some had tortured looks on their faces. You guessed it…..10 ounces of water in and some will want to flow back out. Nope….can’t go. We are testing. Sorry. Cross your legs. Finish up. Sorry. I can’t let you out yet. We were finally done and after taking “the tests” up to the office so they could be under lock and key I allowed my students out of the room one at a time so they could finally get rid of their 10 ounces of water. It was too early and I was chancing a much dreaded TESTING VIOLATION, but when ya’ gotta go…..ya’ gotta go.

7. About 10 minutes into the second section I positioned myself over by my classroom door. We are required to walk the room during testing and try not to hover, but I mean really……the kids feel our presence. I tend to lean on my stool some and walk the room some as well. The test police be damned. I was standing close to my door in order to peer across the hallway into another fourth grade room to see where they were at the process. Were we ahead of them or were we behind the group? Suddenly, a person appeared at my door. That’s unusual because no one is allowed in the hallways during testing. It was a mom, though I didn’t recognize which one. I try but I don’t see them that often and there are 85 of them. She beckoned for me to open the door. I waved my hands back and forth and mouthed “NO, WE ARE TESTING.” I pointed to the door where a huge sign was there for all to see. In fact, she had passed large orange cones at the entrance to our hallway with signs posted on them, and every door she passed had a testing sign. She finally went away. Our younger grades do not test science and social studies so they were not testing today. Seems a mom was taking medicine to her little one and thought she would swing by and say hi to her older one in my room. I later found out this mom was told several times not walk down 4th and 5th grade hallway because of testing and it would be a violation of the integrity of the test. What does she do? Exactly what she wanted to and the request be damned. Makes you kind of understand where the kids get this type of attitude. Rules and procedures? Oh, they are for that other guy. Not me. I shudder to think what kind of internal paperwork I would have had to fill out if I hadn’t been by my door to stop her from knocking or coming on in. We are constantly told each and every little procedure has to be complied with or we could possibly loose our certification. I mean we are talking about state and federal laws here….they govern the test. I will be expressing my opinions about this matter to school officials at a later time….believe me.

8. One of my mothers came to have lunch with her son today. She came on out to the playground with us and we exchanged pleasantries. Finally she told me what was on her mind. Seems her son…..a well parented, straight-laced type of young man, had been getting love letters and mom was shocked. She said she had several that her son had given her. I asked her to make a copy of one and return it to me and I would handle things on my end. Seems the young lady was writing some explicit things that the young man didn’t understand. She thought he was “hot sexy” and “wanted to to do the night thing” with him. Apparently "the night thing" is some type of song lyric...I wouldn't know. Reminder here……..I teach students who are NINE.

9. While I was keeping one eye on a corner of the much too large playground full of too many children I kept up my conversation with the mother mentioned in episode 8. Suddenly two girls came up and mentioned that one student had left the playground to go after a first grader in order to “jack her up” (the girls’ words…not mine). Jack who up? What do you mean? I finally determine one of our fourth graders was upset with a first grader because the first grade little girl was mad at his sister. He had already slapped her on the playground and then followed her class off the field to “get her”. I found the young man’s teacher and alerted her. They finally located him and apparently he won’t be around for the rest of the week if you get my meaning. A breather……for him and us. We have a daily problem of some kind with him

10. I noticed four little girls kicking away at smart, heart-throb of a boy. He’s that kid in elementary school that ALL the girls LOVE. Whereas in my day we usually pined for the young man from afar little girls today are much more assertive. Heart-throb has been literally harassed all year by the girls. He finds a love letter in his desk at least once a day. Now it’s getting scary. Seems he finally had to tell one girl, “I don’t like you.” And she retaliated by instigating a kick fest with a few of her friends. The scary thing is they really feel they are justified to hurt this young man because he doesn’t return their feelings.

11. During lunch I found several papers on my floor. Some were filled with information for the ‘Push” game. The kids fold the paper in such a way and you choose a number to find out who you are going to marry, how many kids you are going to have, etc……I remember making them and playing with them. These papers were different. Instead of choices like marry, like, or date they are murder, stab and kidnap. Oh my……the names involved didn’t just include various students in the class, but my name was on the list as well as my high school aide. Oh my, oh my! We had a class meeting today and I hope I expressed to each and every student my disappointment and shock at these choices, and that I would prefer they not be played at school at all. I followed the proper procedures and turned the papers over to the counselor.

12 Once again I had some climbers in the boys restroom. We have a wall that divides the urinals from the stalls. The boys attempt to climb it so they can sit on the ledge. We have begged for something to be put on the top of this divider wall to encourage the young men NOT to sit up there. It might not seem like a big deal, but remember I am contracted to maintain the safety for these boys. All I need is one busted head....

13. Rat-a-tat-tat….Bam, bam, bam….thump, biddy, biddy, thump…rum, tum, tum, rum, tum, tum….tap, tap, tap, tappy, tap, tap. “Quit thumping and banging!” I beg again and again, and again throughout the day. Students, hands, fingers, and arms mixed with table tops equal little Ricky Ricardos and the bongos. I half expect to hear Ricky exclaim “Ba-ba-loo!” any minute.

It was a long day. I deserved a good cry and I took it. I get to teach tomorrow...really teach. We are going to back up now that the test is over and revisit the Louisiana Purchase more in depth. Perhaps I can replace some of the inappropriate behaviors with ones that involve learning. Two more days until the weekend. Twenty-two until the end of the year.

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Interruptions: Do They Matter?

Lately I’ve been concerned about classroom interruptions and their impact on learning. I’m wondering if these interruptions are having any real bearing on the scores of “those” tests that are looming right around the corner. I try to stay as postive as I possibly can around here, but it seems that in my corner of the education world the interruptions are becoming more frequent in number and it’s becoming extremely frustrating….mainly because I have no control over many of these situations.

Here are just some of the interruptions regarding the teaching and learning time in my classroom over the last two days…..

*One chair flew across the room yesterday as I had the audacity to ask a young man to read. I know…..we all know the statistics that many of our behavior problems stem from children classified as special education. This young man is not under that umbrella. In fact, he is one of the brightest students I have and has so much potential. However, he is my biggest baby and usually gets his way by pouting, crying, and pulling his coat up over his head. Sometimes he takes to sitting in the middle of the room during a lesson thinking I’ll give in and let him go to the media center or any other assortment of places he wants to visit to avoid what is going on in the classroom. Luckily I’ve trained the students to ignore pouty boy and eventually he gives up and joins in, but it can still be distracting.

*Last Friday within one hour I had six students check out. I was teaching a crucial lesson regarding five paragraph essays. I had already put the lesson off two days because of other afternoon interruptions or a high number of folks missing-in-action due to absent students, in-school suspension, or any other assorted reasons. For a few minutes during class I was interrupted by the intercom every other sentence. Students were being called to check out, students were being called to the office for medication, to visit the counselor, or for other reasons.

*Then there are the small annoying interruptions. Assorted students knocking on my door dragging coats, hats, and mittens asking, “Does this belong to any of your kids?” I don’t send my students on these types of forays. If a coat if left in my room I have a student hang it on one the coat hooks. Believe me, the owner will track it down. They always do.

And there’s more…

*A student withdraws….I stop to fill out papers….chaos erupts

*A new student arrives….I stop to introduce myself to the parent….chaos erupts.

*A student on our team has had a behavior issue in another classroom and is being sent to in-school suspension. I have to stop to gather assignments for the student. Chaos erupts.

*Today, during group time in Language Arts things are going great….too great if you know what I mean. Students are on task and I’m able to meet with several to discuss their last test result and to set some goals with them. Suddenly my accelerated group bursts through the door announcing they have been sent back to the room (they meet with the gifted teacher on Tuesdays) early. Early? Forty-five minutes is not early. It is a disaster. Suddenly I had to plug them into different activities and everyone’s rythm was off.

*Beginning tomorrow my second period social studies class won’t be meeting for the remainder of the week. Students will be attending a three-day seminar in the media center…..yes, you read that right….three class periods. The topic is Good Touch-Bad Touch, and before you think it let me state right here I’m all for the topic. It is a valid counseling session for the kids, but three class periods in crunch time leading up to high-stakes testing? Couldn’t this be scheduled for August or even May? No offense to the staff members who are given the task to schedule these things....sometimes they are at the mercy of others, however, we are mid-point in our look at the American Revolution. The other history teacher and I must become very flexible in order to add in our history content into an already packed language arts time. Two classess are disrupted instead of one.

And finally, this one takes the cake……

*In the middle of a discussion about the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill for us in the know) a student who is on the other team waltzed into my room with several bags of stuff without knocking. With no acknowledgement to me she made the rounds to several girls and giggled and carried on as she presented each little friend with a going-away gift. No…my students weren’t going away. The girl who interrupted my lesson had supposedly already gone away. She had withdrawn from our school three days before. She made the same rounds to each fourth grade room and interrupted each lesson in the same way. When I inquired with the office about her “visit” I was told she did have permission to come down to our hallway, but the person who allowed her to come did not realize she was bringing gifts to students. They thought she was just going to her homeroom teacher. Gee…….weren’t the twelve gift bags in her arms a clue?! Of course, my lesson was over. All the kids could think about was what was in the bags.

So, what kinds of interruptions are you experiencing? Do you think they have a negative effect on learning? Do you think they can have an impact on those all important test scores?

What a Week!

It's been one of those weeks.

Students have been very, shall we say, energetic to say the least. I don't normally have to call administration to help me with discipline matters but this week I called twice. Knowing that I don't call that often they came a runnin'. One young man decided to lay in the hallway when he learned that he would be staying in study hall instead of going out for recess. His offense? He head butted a classmate, he opened up the hand sanitizer and let it flow on my classroom carpet, he told me to shut the f- up, and call me crazy, but I can't allow students to lay in the hallway. Non teachers would probably say, "Oh let him...he'll eventually get tired and come in the room." It doesn't work that way. If I leave a student alone in the hallway and something happens I'm responsible. It was bad enough that he wouldn't get up....it was a definite write-up when he told me to shut up along with the f-word.

Earlier in the week another student decided I wasn't lining up for lunch fast enough and he wanted to leave the room. Out he goes with me saying, "Come back", "Stop", "Don't". Once he was three-fourths of the way down the hall I gave the ultimatim, "You've left me no chance. I'm calling." When I have a problem with kids I give them two choices---one choice is the behavior I want them to exhibit while the other is calling the AP or resource officer. Most of the time they choose the behavior I want because I'm consistent and they know I will call everytime. Well, this particular young man turned the corner and at that point I didn't know where he was. I called the office. Luckily he had decided to sit on the bench around the corner, but when the rest of the class and I reached his spot he still wouldn't go with me. The AP had reached us by then and he handled it from there. I really love that guy and I hate for other educators who don't have supportive administrators.

We've had some wonderful lessons this week regarding Daniel Boone and the settlement of Kentucky and Tennessee. We've discussed the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. In order to review on Friday I drew an impromtu map on the board and labled the original 13 states, the Appalachian Mountains, the Northwest Territory, the Mississippi, and the Louisiana Purchase. I also indicated British Canada and Spanish territory in the west and Florida. As I reviewed the settlers crossing the mountains and spreading to the frontier I drew arrows showing their movement. As I reviewed the Louisiana Purchase I drew more arrows crossing the Mississippi. One young man commented, "Finally! Our map is beginning to look like the United States should."

My main focus of Friday's lesson was the Battle of Tippecanoe. So I asked students to look at the map and remind me about what was going on with Native Americans. They correctly stated that as settlers moved westward the Native Americans were forced to move westward and give up their land. This placed us at the starting point I wanted. I used the fact that some Native Americans got tired of being pushed around and they wanted to make a stand. Enter Tecumseh and the Prophet to our story.

I teach this battle because I can bring in the fact that many Americans felt the British Canadians encouraged Native Americans to fight the frontier settlers and provided weapons through trade. I asked students, "Why do you think the British were doing this?" I was very please when a large majority of them assumed that the British would like to get their hands back on the United States.

At any rate by bringing in the British interference with Native Americans I have set the stage to begin talking about the impressment of soldiers during the early 1800s and will set up the causes of the War of 1812....one of my favorites.

Thank goodness "Turn Off the TV" week is over. We are working on an author study using Roald Dahl books and as a kick off we had watched the first part of Matilda. Now maybe we can finish it. Student groups will begin this week working on The Twits, The Magic Finger, and George's Marvelous Medicine in small groups. They will read a few pages each day and draw a symbol to represent what they read. We will be comparing and contrasting the characters and themes. I am also reading The BFG aloud. Our chapter from Friday detailed what the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) drinks-----a fizzy drink called Frobscottle which is similar to Coke but instead of the bubbles doing up they go down in the glass and form foam in the bottom. As I read the chapter's description of how Frobscottle works on the body some of my smarties starting giggling. I love to look up and see those "Ah ha!" moments come across their faces. You see, the bubbles in Coke travel up so in the body and escape as burps. The bubbles in Frobscottle travel downward and escape through the.... well...let's just say you end up with fanny burps. The BFG has quite a way with words and calls the Frobscottle results "whizzpoppers". The kids talked about whizzpopping the rest of the day.

Yes, it's been quite a week.

The Moment

As a teacher of nine and ten year olds I understand the importance of gaining and holding attention in the classroom since this is the crux of a successful lesson. Unfortunately, classrooms are filled with many different kinds of attention stealers.

Students tune me out while they communicate with each other by covert note writing, facial contortions, hand movements, and blatant talking. There are noises in the hallway and outside the window. Special Education students who are emotionally disturbed mimic every word I say under their breath or speak out constantly. There are Johnny Jump-Ups who try to visit their book bag or approach me for passes to the nurse or restroom. Then we have the constant wigglers and the standers. Finally, there is the self-appointed Trashman in training who must throw away his/her collection of paper wads during my lesson instead of taking care of it as they go out the door.

Even with all of these interruptions there are moments, however fleeting, when I have them, ALL OF THEM, in the palm of my hand. The moment comes suddenly and with such force I am instantly rattled. Since I am used to doing up to ten things at a time during a lesson I carry on my lecture while I frantically make sense of the moment. My mind registers that the room is so still I can hear my own heartbeat. Can they hear it? Every child's eyes are on me. The shear responsibility of the moment is almost too much to bare. My mind tries to figure out what it is I said to grab everyone's attention. Maybe I can use it again.

The moment is both exhilarating and scary at the same time. This is my time to present the best nugget of content I can. It's time to step up the plate, be all that I can be, and aspire to other assorted cliches.

Suddenly the classroom phone rings. The Trashman is being called to the office for early check-out. The moment rapidly begins to unravel with frightening speed, and then it's gone leaving me in the chaos of my classroom once again.