Tag Archives: teachers live at school

>In answer to the rhetorical question "How was your day?"

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>If I really described my workday in detail, it would be so jargon-filled that only small portions would be understandable by the greater public at large. Let’s try anyway.

It was benchmark day. With Title I and REACh funds, we formally benchmarked reading levels for each and every student in our school building. We’ll do it again in January and May. Today was my day to write sub plans, copy my word lists, and participate in benchmarking my class.
How’s that so far? Not bad, eh? Let’s go on.
My sub would need the multimedia cart to show a Safari piece for science. He’d also be teaching a make-words vocabulary activity and a personal narrative lesson in taking brainstorming sessions and focusing on one seed moment.
Meanwhile, I reviewed the differences in Rigby benchmarks vs. Fountas and Pinnell and how that would affect my levelled reading program in fiction and informational. We discussed formulas for calculating error rate, self-correct rate, WPM speed, fluency, comprehension rate, and instructional vs. independent levels. Then the bell rang, and we were on.

I pulled the benchmark kit out of the reading specialist’s office, organized my workspace in a corner of the instrumental music room, and called my first kiddo to read for me. Using the intermediate kit and the adaptive calculator for reading rate, I benched her, sent her back, then calculated the data I needed while she and the next student walked the halls. Error rates, meaning based or visual, all were important tools for planning instruction. That’s the heart of assessment, isn’t it? But I digress.

I finished the second student and then sent him out for recess. I was on my way to ask the Title I Reading teacher about comparing comprehension and fluency rates in an when the 6th grade teacher almost ran past me. “Georgia’s going to Starbucks. Do you want anything? Of course you do!”

I reached the Title teacher in her cubby within the library and asked her about satisfactory vs. excellent comprehension scores, extending rather than literal comprehension, and what counts and what doesn’t as additional information in the retell. Text to self connections and the less common text to text connections are the best options for extending the retell beyond the literal. Then she redirected me into the speech/ language room because the SLP (not the PSL) was going to Erbert and Gerberts to pick up lunch. Would I like anything? I’d brought a lunch, but this sounded better, and I could add up the cost without analyzing fluency, so I said yes, please, and I’ll take the avocado on top.

With lunch on the way, I was momentarily distracted by the library media specialist having trouble with the large Monovision monitor that attached to our computers. She and I troubleshooted (troubleshot?) and found out that we needed to reset the screen resolution and one other display option before it would work. Then we rebooted, observed, and shouted woo-hoo! so loudly that the kids coming back in from outside heard us and stared. I can just imagine: “There they go, bouncing around the computer monitors again. What is this, some kind of celebration dance?” If they only knew.

My day? Pretty good, all in all. Unique, to say the least. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

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>I’ll pass the test, Mr. President, but give me a chance.

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>Dear President Obama;

I’m worried. My state, like many others, is in a budget crisis, and it’s affecting education. Wisconsin is one of many who covet a piece of the economic stimulus pie. To stand a chance, however, we’d have to change laws. Important laws. Laws that govern how I do my job – and how to evaluate if I’m doing it right.

Mr. President, in order to be eligible for stimulus money, test scores must be used as part of teacher evaluations. That’s where I get nervous.

You see, Mr. Obama, I teach in a unique neighborhood. The gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots is huge. You name it, I teach kids who’ve lived it. Poverty. Homelessness. Abuse, physical and otherwise. English Language Learners who read at a kindergarten level – in fourth grade. Transient families who move at least twice each year. Families who care about their children and want them to learn, but struggle to pay the rent and put food on the table, with no energy left for homework assistance, no money for books.

This is a great school with a great staff. We’re not shy about accountability. Sit in on a staff meeting and you’ll hear us discuss ways to do more with less- less money, less time, less respect.

However, we can’t control our raw product. If I were producing paper and received an inferior load of pulpwood, I’d refuse to accept it. If I ran a restaurant and my supplier brought me poor quality meat, I’d send it back. I can’t control my class list; I have to teach them all, reach them all. That challenge is a part of the joy of my work.

I speak for many teachers when I say we want all children to succeed. We continue to work with each child, finding time when there is none, motivating those who are incredibly behind to make as much progress as possible. I’d love to see the child who reads like a second grader improve to a fifth grade level on my watch. I’ll work toward that goal every minute that this young person is in my class. But if this child fails a state test one day, a test mandated by the folks in some faraway city, should it hurt my career? My paycheck? My job security? My reputation?

If the child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder runs out of medicine the day of the test, please don’t blame me for the way her scores drop when she can’t focus. I want her to succeed even more than she does. When the bipolar student hits a major depression, let me help him get counseling and medical care; don’t force me to force him to fill in the bubbles on a high-stakes exam.

President Obama, please rethink this part of your program. Instead of No Teacher Left Untested, let’s apply stimulus money toward leaving no child behind.

Sincerely,

Daisy

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>Random thoughts and sights near my classroom

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>On top of my file cabinet, in front of the sub folders, evidence exists that I’m a fan of books and small cute animals. Underneath it all, I’m still a Green Bay Packers fan. That, and the top of the file cabinet is ugly as all get out, so I used the title towel to cover the worst of it.

The main train poster looks great in the hallway. With La Petite and Chuck (the man with the shoes) to advise me, I made this one myself.

The scene below was outside my classroom window one morning. The three fifth graders had a little trouble with a tangled rope on the flagpole, and the liaison officer stepped in to help. It’s such a great feeling to see kids getting a positive experience with a police officer – when many in our neighborhood see only the negative side of law enforcement.

The picture I didn’t take – the dead squirrel on the ground under a tree and the young girls surrounding it, looking for all the world like they were having a funeral. Some events don’t translate quite as well to the blog space. You’re welcome.

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>The first week of teaching — for a gardener

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>A week of teaching means little or no time in the garden. My poor tomatoes are gasping for breath, craving water. My beans are doing fine at the end of their growing season. Parsley looks good, and the bunnies are happy with that news. But the squash, you ask, the squash…


How did I miss these huge zucchini? Where did they come from? How did they get so, well, huge??


I didn’t plant any yellow squash this year. Who snuck in and cross- pollinated my greens with yellow? There are two more on this vine, even tinier than the two you see with the blossoms still on.

And last, but surely not least, the white pumpkins (if that’s indeed what they are) have been joined by what might be one of their orange counterparts. Maybe. Perhaps. I didn’t plant this, either.
Did someone or some thing sneak into my garden recently? It’s a mystery, all right.

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>Random thoughts on browsing the newspaper

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>A small feature in the state section notes that homeowners are using less water. The Public Service Commission found that we residential Wisconsinites are using 7% less water than we used to use. Maybe the rain barrel craze is helping with that number.

In the National section: For those without a job, Labor Day is just another day in the struggle. For laid off teachers and school paraprofessionals, it’s a reminder that the school year is starting without them. It’s not that they’re not necessary; the fact is that budgets are too tight to hire enough staff to fully meet student needs.

The editorial cartoon by Joe Heller reminded me of what I heard on NPR the other day: the H1N1 cases we know are just the tip of the iceberg.

Preparedness is a balancing act. I’m stocking the freezer and the medicine cabinet, washing my hands frequently, and in general taking all the precautions I can to prevent H1N1 from devastating my family. I’ll be prepared, but I’m not going to worry outright until it happens close to home.

One commentary writer put the Obama speech in perspective with a satirical column asking “How dare Obama urge kids to succeed?” Really, folks. How did this planned short speech take on such conspiratorial tones? It’s not a campaign, it’s not a dramatic town meeting on health care reform. Whether your family supports President Obama or not, it’s time to respect the office if not the man. Let’s teach our children to listen and think and interpret what they hear rather than to plug their ears and shut out the elected leader of the free world.

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>Back to school and Pondering Potter

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Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place.

What makes a book or series worth re-reading? A good story, believable and likable characters, a unique world so strange and splendid it can’t be imagined – unless described by a brilliant storyteller. Harry Potter is one such series.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has a special magic. The shortest of the seven, it introduces Harry and his readers to a whole new world: a world of magic. Witches, wizards, a sport played on flying broomsticks, owl post, powerful potions, and more incredible yet believable things exist in this parallel world. In The Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry first learns of his family and his wizard identity.

Readers can share his awe as he learns that his new school has its own train that leaves from platform Nine and Three Quarters at Kings Cross Station. Somewhere between platforms nine and ten, he encounters the Weasley family, asks them for help finding the train, befriends Ron, and the rest, as they say, is history. Mythology? Legend? Wizardry? Ghostology?

I enjoy rereading The Sorcerer’s Stone because of JK Rowling’s genius. The settings are magically unique, but she describes them in a matter of fact tone so that we readers know this is only the beginning of the mysteries to come. When she describes the staircases at Hogwarts’ School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, all 142 of them: “…wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday…” it’s simply in a paragraph about Harry attempting to learn his way to his classes.

And the classes! No Intro to British Lit here. Harry takes History of Magic (taught by a ghost), Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and the cursed (literally, but we don’t know that until a later book) Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The “strange and splendid place” in the first line is the Great Hall as Harry sees it on his arrival at Hogwarts. In his limited upbringing by his neglectful Muggle (non-magical) relatives, he had never even dared imagine a world so wonderful.

Thankfully for all readers, JK Rowling did imagine such a strange and splendid place – a world nearby, yet far different from our everyday Muggle existance. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone stands on its own as a wonderful story and sets up the reading world for an adventure that begins – and ends, several books later – on Platform Nine and Three Quarters at Kings Cross Station.

My students won’t have wands, owls, or school robes. They’ll write their assignments with pen on paper or type them on computers, not ink and quill on parchment. One of my challenges, though, is to create a safe place for them to experiment, read, and write. Maybe one of them will create a strange and splendid story for another generation – some magical day in the future.

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>Before and After: the school poster story

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>Step one: I took all the posters out of the drawers, spread them out, sorted the collection. What a mess! To top it all off, I didn’t have anything that illustrated the theme for this year: trains, the Fourth Grade Express.
I attacked it the way I attacked the dearth of science posters a few years ago: with clip art and the overhead projector. Decidedly low tech, but also low or no cost, it worked for me. Luckily, my artistic daughter and my husband’s knowledge of trains provided the needed boost to make these posters come alive. Here’s the rough draft of the “Read” poster.

Here’s the big view of three posters above my students’ lockers.

Here is the final product of the “Read” poster. La Petite decorated the city, added a sunrise, and made all three passengers reading during their commute.


What would I do without family? No, don’t answer that. Family members who willingly help with a school project are truly priceless.

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>Questions on examining a Class List

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Is that Samantha, Sam, Sami, Sammie, or something entirely different?

How about Edward? Ed, Eddie, Ted, Teddy, Ward?

No, William, I won’t call you Squilliam, despite the SpongBob reference. Will, Bill, Willy, Billy, or anything like it will do. And Jake? No, “the Snake” is not an appropriate school nickname.

Does Dominic go by Dom, Nick, Nicky, or Domo? If Benjamin can be Benjie, I suppose Dom could be Domi.

Elizabeth is Ella, not Lizzy or Beth. Isabel is Izzy, and Christopher is Topher, not Chris.

How about Clayton and Carlton? Clay & Carl? Or not? Oh, wait, one of them goes by CJ.

How many Ashleys and Emilys can there be in one grade?

Then we get the creative spellings. I don’t even want to go there.

But after I master the name game, we’re good. I hope and plan that we’re ready for a good year.

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Teacher discount season – or not?

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I noticed a Walgreens store across town with a sign advertising teacher discounts on Wednesdays in August. I had a shopping list ready, so I decided to try out the store closest to my home, conveniently located on my route to and from school. First, I looked at their sign to see if they were advertising the discount deal.

Hmmm. Maybe not. Is this the advertising equivalent of the blank stare? So I waited a moment, and the sign changed – to this.


I took a chance, went in anyway, and filled my cart. Discount or not, there were many good advertised deals on my list. With a cart full of contact solutions, shampoos, hearing aid batteries, and buy-one get-one vitamins, I proceeded to the checkout with my teacher ID in hand and a question on the tip of my tongue: “I saw the sign on another store in town. Are you also offering the teacher discount?”
Remember the blank stare in the first picture? It was mirrored on her face. “Uh– I don’t know. I’ll call the manager.” She did, the manager said yes, so the clerk sent me to the correct register for specials like this and paged the other clerk, who joined the Blank Face Brigade as she started up her register. “Uh – I don’t know. I’ll call the manager.” This call included, “How do I ring this up?”
In the end, I did get the discount. Lack of knowledge aside, the store clerks were helpful and willing to ask, and the manager was willing to guide them through the process.
I didn’t mention the signs. I thought they had enough on their minds.
Update: It looks like Walgreens may be offering a similar deal to teachers during September. Watch for it in your locals!

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>Back to school – a teacher prepares

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>Teaching is challenging, no doubt about it. Getting ready for a new school year is a process not just for children! I was skimming the usual “get your kids ready for school” articles in the local paper and I had to acknowledge that my own Back to School Routine isn’t all that different from theirs.
Getting my room ready is one big item with its own to-do list. More important than the room, however, is my motivation. Moving from summer to fall means adjusting from being able to budget and apply my time according to my own devices to living by a set of bells. It’s a big change best made gradually.
One Step: start getting up on time. I’ve kept myself to a 7:00 wake-up time for much of the summer, but it’s been easier and easier to sleep in past 8 lately. Consider that I wake up at 5:30 AM on a regular school day from September through June, and I have a lot of adjusting to do with my body clock.
Another Step: school supply shopping. My students represent all socio-economic levels. More than half qualify for free or reduced lunch, meaning they’re either below, at, or close to the poverty line for their family size. Job losses and economic struggles hit these families harder than most. With that in mind, I used a small part of my class budget to stock up on crayons, color pencils, and more while the supplies are on sale.
Yet another step: make sure the family has enough clothing to skip weekend laundry if needed. Everyone has enough underwear and socks; as long as they have drawers in their drawers, they can wear their pants a second and third day if necessary.
One more step: review the new math curriculum. I picked up all my manuals and support materials. I signed up for a day-long training session later this week. That means I’ll have to make myself wake up and be alert and concentrate all day: see Step One.
One last step to get through these final preparation weeks: Grind the coffee!

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