Tag Archives: teachers live at school

>Breaking news: Teacher Cleans her Desk!

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>I told my friend the Reading Teacher that I planned to clean my desk. Really get it down to the desktop. She replied, “It really doesn’t look that bad, compared to some.” Well, “compared to some” was the key phrase. I wanted to be able to wipe down the entire surface to prevent further spread of – well, whatever might spread in an elementary classroom.

And when I got a little closer, it really did look that bad.

I attacked one pile after another. Filed. Corrected. Recorded. Returned. Sorted. Filed again. Recycled. But when I assessed the progress mid-day, it looked worse, not better.


But I was relentless. My gradebook got a workout. The kids’ mailboxes were full of completed work. My wastebasket was full, and the recycling bin rustled with papers I couldn’t reuse. Even (gasp) the pile to the left of the keyboard, the infamous Pile I Cannot Face, was organized into file fodder – er, file folders. And finally (drum roll):

The bell rang. And it was clean. And the poor little Girl Scout who came in after school with her fundraiser must have thought I was the nuttiest teacher ever, taking pictures of my desk!

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>The frugal and green teacher: room decor edition

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>One more sign of a frugal and green teacher: low- and no-cost room decor. First, train pictures illustrate our theme of “All Aboard the Fourth Grade Express!” The pictures are from an old calendar.

Demonstrate expectations like headings for written work and make a poster from the demo. Materials: two scraps of chart paper, a piece of leftover tagboard, and a blank flash card. Yes, I often use book characters as examples. It’s a literary and entertaining attention-getter.

And the fall foliage, large size, scavenged from the give-aways when another teacher retired. These are two-sided; they look great from the school’s front lawn.


Then there’s poster fun: using tagboard already in stock, an overhead projector, and clip art, a little creativity makes a world of difference and saves a bunch of money.

Is there more in the NaBloPoMo edition of the Frugal and Green Teacher? You’ll have to click back next Monday to find out.

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>A Tree with a History

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>This tree was tall. It was born as a hybrid, created to be a pulp tree for the paper industry. It grew quickly, spread its seeds quickly (we pulled out its descendants every spring), and reached for the sky amidst the other trees in our old, historic neighborhood. It fell not to a lumbering crew, but to an urban tree crew with chainsaws and ropes.


The scientist who once lived in the house across the street experimented with trees, combined the cottonwood and poplar, created a successful cross-breed for his industry and planted one in his front yard. That tree was a climber for the kids, a host for birds’ nests, and a favorite route for traveling squirrels. But in the last year or two, it was leaning, stooping like an elderly grandparent reluctant to use a walker. Every storm would drop a few branches in the yard or the street, and the family was nervous. What would it take to knock this once-stately old giant into a home? At its size, it could take two or three homes with it if it fell.


So the humans took it down before the winter winds could do it. In keeping with the legend and the memories, Chuck and I salvaged several pieces. Chuck sliced a few thin for me; I’ll take them into my classroom. My students can look at the rings, analyze the age of the tree, and imagine the history it has seen.


A teacher down the hall is an expert in forestry. She’s offered to look over the rings and help me interpret. In exchange, I’ll share the rich stories of the tree, its developers, and its fans.

It’s not Aldo Leopold’s old oak, but this tree is special. A few small pieces are on the woodpile, but there’s more than firewood in this gentle giant.

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>The frugal and green teacher: reading edition

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>Another sign of a frugal and green teacher: books procured through Paperbackswap.com. Our grade’s theme is trains, so I entered “trains” in the search box and clicked “children’s” for genre. I ordered ten books, all good quality literature, at a variety of reading levels. My students love them. This is a rare day; most of the time, these books are in someone’s desk.

The USA Pop-up books, however, were in the Target dollar aisle a few years ago. I bought five. Hmmm… I see four in the picture. One is in a desk somewhere, and I’m sure the kiddo is enjoying reading it!
Tune in next week for the next episode of The Frugal and Green Teacher, NaBloPoMo edition!

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>The frugal and green teacher

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>A sign of a teacher both frugal and green: provisioning, using repurposed and reused materials.

From left to right: coffee cans for ‘found’ writing utensils, wire basket (second hand) filled with notebook pages donated by last year’s class as they cleaned up in June, box of re-usable paper with one blank side (extra worksheets, memos, newletters), and junk mail envelopes (under the chunk of our state rock, red granite) for field trip slips and lunch money.

My students take to this like ducks to water. They even “play school” with some of the old worksheets! That box helps me empty my old files with much less guilt because there is much less waste. Those with messy desks often jump for the wire basket rather than dig into what resembles an archeology site.
Tune in next week for The Frugal and Green Teacher, NaBloPoMo edition.

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>You, too, could become a Ray of Hoe. Or at least a typo.

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>I read this typo in the boss’ weekly memo, and instead of automatically making it seem right, my brain started changing it around.
In the midst of an inspirational saying, she suggested we teachers might

“…become a ray of hoe in the life of a child.”

A ray of hoe? A row of hay? A hoe or a shovel? Or are we calling a spade a spade? A rake, perhaps? No, let’s just Leaf well enough alone.

Or maybe we should talk balloons. In the latest non-story, a local news report called the escaped balloon sans-child a “man-made” balloon. Um, wait a minute. Have you seen any balloons occurring naturally these days? I haven’t grown any in my garden, I know that much. If one came up, I’d probably be waiting for it to flower like my broccoli did.

I’ve got to stop working on Sundays. It makes me overtired, overstressed, and ridiculously punchy. All that and a Packers game, too — enough excitement for the weekend already.

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>Could be worse: at least it’s not H1N1

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>The table at my side holds tissues, the television remote control (off), my current pleasure reading choice (Knit Two by Kate Jacobs), and three, count ’em, three beverages.

Yes, I’m feeling under the weather. But it could be worse!

My class has been almost holding the record for most kids absent for the past few weeks. I thought missing 5 kids was a lot until the day I had 8 out and one more left by 9:30. My attendance sheet sounded like a laundry list of flu-like symptoms: Fever & cough, fever, fever, fever & cough, fever and headache, fever… you get the picture. In between cleaning like crazy (wiping down the computer lab with antibacterial wipes, among other chores) I’ve established a file of make-up work and another file (color coded in red because I use it so often) of homework lists for families able to pick them up. The workload has been increased, and I’ve had to modify instruction considerably to allow for reteaching as kids get back.

Meanwhile, I opened a fortune cookie that told me, “Good health will be yours for a long time!” While laughing out loud, I realized it could be worse. I’m sick on a weekend! Yes, that’s a pain in its own way, but it means I don’t have to call in sick or prepare sub plans. If I really had influenza, I’d be planning on a sub for a week, minimum. Most of the kids who have been sick have missed five days of school or more.

Chuck and Amigo are visiting La Petite for her college homecoming. We knew I’d be too busy to enjoy the festivities after a week of parent-teacher conferences, so I planned to stay home. That worked out well; I slept on the couch last night to prop up my aching, coughing chest. Between coughing jags, I napped. Really, it could be worse: I didn’t worry about waking anyone except the rabbit, and she (like a cat) never suffers from insomnia. She’ll catch up on her little furry beauty sleep.

So today I rest, stretched out on the couch with my laptop for a friend, beverages and comfort foods by my side. The cough is under control, only breaking out now and then, and I can nap all I wish while the Boys in the family are gone.

Seriously, it could be much worse.

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>Celebrating (Dis)Abilities

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>My community stages a celebration of sorts every year. They call it Celebrating Abilities. The weeklong project includes special events, concerts, presentations, and speakers to the tune of disability awareness.

And I got to thinking. Could I do that? Could I speak to groups about living as a hearing impaired professional? I don’t fit the stereotype of an under- or unemployed disabled person. I don’t sign, although I’ve considered learning. I get more use from strategic use of hearing aids and increasing lipreading skills.

When I taught at an elementary school that housed the program for deaf and hard of hearing students, I found myself in the position of role model. When I showed the class my hearing aids on the first day of school, my three hearing impaired students sat up straighter in their chairs; their teacher was one of them. The lone girl in the group was thrilled to see an adult woman with a hearing impairment – a college graduate and full time professional.

Many years later, I’m teaching in a different school – one where the families and teachers are less understanding of my disability. I’ve been thinking of designing an empathy style activity for students and staff where they get to sample and experience various disabilities.

The empathy piece is important. Children are often more accepting of differences than grownups. A teacher friend used a cane to support her as her MS progressed. She explained her condition to the students, reassured them that it wasn’t catching, and all was well. No one harrassed her for using the disabled parking space, for walking slowly in the hallways, or for using a cane in public.

One principal used to come in and talk to my class each year, cautioning them not to try to get around me because of my hearing. She compared that kind of behavior to knocking a wheelchair down the stairs or kicking the white cane out from in front of a blind person. She was credible: her word was law in the schoolyard and school building. I handled my share of student discipline, but they didn’t dare take advantage of my hearing loss.

I hope that the next generation of students won’t even think twice about taking advantage of a disabled person, teacher or not. I hope that the children I teach now will take it in stride when they know someone with a disability, whether they be a teacher, coworker, neighbor, or relative. Familiarity in this case builds comfort, and comfort builds respect.

If respect for each other increases as a result of celebrating abilities, it’s all right with me.

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>Be careful what you dream; it might come true.

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>I was tired the night before the field trip. I thought “Good. I’ll sleep well, be rested for the trip.” I didn’t think, “To sleep, perchance to dream.”

In my dream, we were on a trip to the state capitol for a tour. We had plenty of adults along, so I slipped out to get Starbucks for the teachers. Somehow, I got lost on the way to the coffee shop or on the way back. I’m not sure which. When I finally found the others, I was missing my jacket and my shoes. I was freezing and damp; rainy weather.

In real life:
We took a field trip to the state capitol for a tour.
We had plenty of adults around; most were excellent chaperones.
I didn’t slip out for coffee – for myself or the other teachers.
I waited for a student to run back to the bathroom for something she lost or forgot. When she got back, we got disoriented under the Capitol’s dome and ended up going out the wrong door. We walked around Capitol Square and eventually made our way to the museum, our next stop. The classes hadn’t gotten there yet, so we waited outside for the rest. The girl understood why we didn’t go back to circle Capitol Square; she knew we could end up circling and circling while they did the same.
It was breezy and cool, but neither of us lost a jacket. One girl misplaced her jacket on the bus, but found it later. To my knowledge, no one lost a shoe.

Maybe I’ll pull an all-nighter the night before the next field trip. I’m a little afraid of what I might dream before we go to the Civil War reenactment!

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>The Daisy Reality show: The one featuring the good and not-so-good day

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>Director: Now get a close-up of the lunch bag.
Assistant: You must be kidding. A brown bag lunch? That’s not exactly dramatic TV.
Director: It’s not just any brown bag lunch. Daisy usually takes a lunch with reusable containers, flatware, and cloth napkins. Today she can’t because she’s going on a field trip. She’s compensating by re-using a bag from Atlanta Bread. The sandwich is peanut butter and homemade apple butter. The apple is from the farmers’ market. Leave the pretzels out; they have no meaningful back story.
Assistant: So?
Director: Back story, kid, back story. Gotta have it.
Assistant: I’m just glad the day’s over.
Me: YOU’RE glad it’s over? You only had to watch!!

I arrived at school early (as usual), without coffee (not usual), because I was headed out to a full-day class/training session. The district had acquired funding for teacher training, and I jumped at the chance to sign up. It meant writing sub plans for class days (extra work and worry) but meant I didn’t have to arrange for quite as much after-school care for Amigo. The trade-off was worthwhile. So…back to the story.
Early arrival at school: good. No coffee: not so good, but okay. My plan was to drive through Jo to Go between school and class. A 16 oz. hazelnut was calling my name.
Checked my mailbox in the office: not so good. Maintenance guy was mopping the office floor, and I slid. No injury, but a tense back from the near fall.
At my desk, finished and printed sub plans, gathered big monitor and hooked it up for science video: good. Ready in advance of sub: good. Time to get a few other things done.
Breakfast bell rang: sub hadn’t arrived yet. Not good.
Called office: am I on the subfinder list? Yes: Good. Anyone we know? No: not so good. Hope it’s not a rookie. The minute the sub arrived, I planned to hightail it out for coffee and class.
Sub arrived with about 8 minutes to spare: not good. I ran down to the office with a few papers, gave sub a chance to skim plans. On the way up, I confirmed volunteer arrangements with regarding a high-needs student: good.
RING!! Kids came in shouting “Eric and Derek are fighting!” Need you ask? Bad. I separated the bully and victim: good. But bad, too; another delay. I needed to write this up for the principal. Bullying doesn’t wait; this incident needed immediate follow-up.
Finally, I was off – but late. No time to stop for coffee.

Director: So now that you’re in class, the day starts. We’ll get the camera set up and the microphone on you.
Me: Starts? I already had a day’s worth of drama. Did you miss it?!
Assistant: Daisy, you look kinda wired. I don’t think you really need coffee. Uh, Daisy?
Me: (pounding head on table)

To cover everything that happened between the start of my training class (sans coffee) and the end of evening tasks (making my lunch for morning), it would take another episode of the Daisy Reality Show. Stay tuned!! Or not – this bumbling assistant might not be so far off. The class itself, while a fascinating piece of teacher training, would make rather dull TV. And that, my friends, is good.

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