An End and a Beginning

The great thing about the end of one semester and the beginning of a new one, separated by a 2 week break, is that you can change things that haven't worked and try new ideas. Some things I'm changing:

• Social Studies and Science interactive notebooks. The pace of our curriculum guide doesn't allow for extra days to be spent on topics. I felt I was overburdening my students to get a reflective piece for the left side of their notebook. Much better to just have them turn their work in and receive immediate feedback.
• Reading time. I'm still puzzling this one over. I need to find a way to do more whole group reading and also spend more targeted time on reteaching in small groups. What I'm doing is working, but just in an okay, formulaic sort of way.
  
• Free time for students. They have recess at the end of the day, but I dislike it. It should be about learning social skills and not about fighting for computer time. I'm considering instituting a board game day (Fridays, I'm thinking) where everyone must play a board game. I'll encourage students to bring in board games, too.
• I need to reward effort. Maybe with lunch with me (yuck--I need my time at lunch.) Maybe with public praise--a look who gave extra effort! kind of thing. Need to think this out.
  

That's it for tonight. I hope your year has been blessed and that next year is your best ever!

The Holidays

I hope my students are having a merry Christmas. Some, I'm sure will get everything desired. I worry about the ones who won't. For the first time in my teaching career, more than half of my class qualifies for the free/reduced price lunch program. One student has a new baby sibling and an out-of-work mom. Others have many siblings and only one parent. These kids ache with want--for a Nintendo DS, let alone an X-Box or Wii. I've heard this year of kids who "used to have one of those, but we had to sell/hock it".

So, to all of my students (but especially those who want), Merry Christmas. May all of your dreams be fulfilled. To my non-Christian student, I hope you're having a blast in Key West. Don't forget my shell!

We're Winners!

School's out; our final day was Friday. We always end semesters with a half day, and it's become a tradition at our school to let our students have a dodge ball tournament on half days. It's easy enough to do with just 2 grade levels at our school and it helps burn up the time!

My classes have, before this year, never won even one game in the tournament. The coach picked the teams and the rest of the students had to watch as the "lucky 12" competed. It sucked big time for the unchosen few.

This year, coach left the team picking to the teachers. I couldn't bring myself to exclude anyone, so I made sure that everyone had an opportunity to play. I rotated players in and out after each game--everyone got to play at least 3 games. My students were elated. Perhaps because they were so happy, they played unbelievably well. We actually won the tournament and are now the reigning 4th grade champs! Their joy was boundless. We ended up by celebrating with a whole class game, boys against the girls.

So, yay team! We've got bragging rights about something, even if it's not making the best benchmark scores!

Christmas wishes

I've been asking my students what they want for Christmas--I even invented a fictitious 10 year old male relative when my boys asked me, "Why are you asking? Are you going to get it for us?" To the majority of my students, I'm wealthy. They've expressed that I should bring snacks to school for them everyday. Dream on, I tell them.

Anyway, I've been asking about Christmas. I want to get to know them better and I thought this might be a way to do so. Yesterday, as we were waiting for the bus bell to ring, I asked Spunky Girl what she wanted for Christmas. "A metal detector, a game, . . ." she began. "Wait a sec," I interjected. "You want a metal detector?" Her reply absolutely floored me.

"Well, yeah, DUH."

Like it was the most natural thing on earth for a 9 year old girl to want.

Laughing, I asked Spunky Girl why she wanted a metal detector. "So I can find all of the stuff my brother has buried in the yard," she said.

Just when it was getting interesting, the bus bell rang and Spunky Girl and the rest of my class surged out of the building to the waiting buses. I think this is the only time this year I've hated to hear that bell. :)

Benchmarks

It's benchmark testing week for our district. Since benchmark scores are scrutinized even more than our state assessment because the data is readily available and making teachers feel bad about their scores is something Central Office seems to live for, it's a stressful week for teachers and students. I taught math twice today, during the sparse instructional time I had available, trying to cover the last 2 standards I hadn't yet taught (spent toooooo much time trying to get them proficient at multi-digit multiplication and finally gave up (for now) on teaching division by 2-digit divisors.) So today we took a picture walk through the plane geometry chapter and learned about common factors and multiples. My kids are mathed-out, but that's okay. They won't see anymore math until Friday. Tomorrow, I'll science them out and Thursday I'll social studies them to death.

All of this seems to be working: their reading benchmark scores were actually pretty good. I'm cautiously optimistic about this week. Stress "cautiously". I've been burned before!

Yet Another Parent-Teacher Conference

I attended a parent-teacher conference this morning. The parent expressed the agony of her heart as she watched her child, gifted with high ability, squander his opportunities for good grades by failing to turn in assignments. The student's grades were of the 100, 0, 0, 100, 0, 0, 0 variety. The teacher agreed, lamenting the fact that this student seemed unfazed by the lowering of grades as each missing assignment was recorded. The teacher stated that she had allowed the grade reach an F to see if this would provide a wake-up call to the student. The mother thanked her and assured her that the F, plus removal of the student's computer and phone privileges, had seemed to have a positive effect. It was a good meeting--neither party was angry or abusive of the other. Both parties had the student's best interests in mind. The teacher expressed a genuine regard for the student. The mother left the meeting armed with some information (assignment dates) to help her keep her child on track. I wish all parent meetings went so well, but I can't be the parent at all of them as I was at this one.

My son, my bright and funny and warm and so gifted with ability that he takes my breath away son, has been not doing his English homework. He has so much ability, but he's a little ADD and a little careless and totally accustomed to having someone (a teacher with a generous late policy) bail him out of sticky grade situations. His teacher does not accept late work. My son has become the Titanic to her iceberg of grade policy, but I think this is fair and something I want for my son. I want him to learn that work has a value, even if he doesn't want to do it because "it's boring". I, a teacher, want him to understand how onerous it is to have to grade late work and that he should respect his teacher enough to not burden her with that job. I don't think we're there yet, but as the restrictions he's under lengthen in time and severity, perhaps he's finally getting the idea. But maybe not.

His teacher has relented a bit and graded 2 late assignments and a late paper. My son's grade is now a low C, but with upcoming tests he should be able to make a low B. An A for the semester is possible if he aces the final. The mother half of my soul is feeling relieved; the teacher half is worried that this reprieve will, once again, send my son the message that there's always a safety net there, waiting for him.

A Thought

We are an assessment-driven district (to say the least) and last week, on the 2 days we were in attendance, common assessments were given. The common assessments were reassessing skills that our students, as a grade level, had failed to demonstrate mastery of on our last benchmark--in less academic language, they bombed these standards.

So, reteaching began. Thanks to my newly-reconstructed reading program, my students have had opportunities to finally learn just how the heck to answer these types of questions (cause and effect, fact and opinion, inferring, and drawing conclusions). What with my renewed efforts to fit in the teaching of these skills in order to give a specific quiz on the weekly skill, they greatly improved their scores. In fact, my inclusion class had the highest average score on the common assessment.

And to whom do I owe thanks for my newly-reconstructed reading program? That's right--Rotney's Educational Administrator. By her misbegotten effort to ensure that Rotney scored A's on the reading tests (i.e., obtaining the test book and teaching him the answers) I was forced to get creative. My class is benefiting. I'm working harder, but enjoying the results. So, thanks EA! I owe you one!