I can't believe I've been teaching for a whole semester. I was soooo nervous when I first began this venture some four months ago. I wasn't sure if teaching was indeed the profession for me. After making irreplacable bonds with students and a very few select colleagues, witnessing students make small, but significant academic gains, resolving conflicts with students who have behavior issues, personally mentoring some female students, and having not-so-good days, but still just as eager to return the next day, I am absolutely, positively sure that I have chosen the right profession.
During the first semester we studied Poetry, Dictionary Skills, Literature Circles, Letter Writing, and Main Idea. Towards the end of the quarter, students completed a poster project in which they had to choose one of the units we studied, create a poster with all the elements they learned, and teach it to me as if I'm the student. I even called the students by their last names and allowed them to call me Ashley. They had to get comfortable with teaching and me impersonating them. I was quite pleased with the results. Students were very comfortable after a while. We're still finishing up the posters, but we will be done by Friday.
After that, we're going to implement an intense 6 part Vocabulary Strategy into our regular curriculumn. I am overwhelmingly excited.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Monday, December 3, 2007
The following is a poem I wrote after reflection about my school. I don't think it is offensive, but let me know what you think...
Who Matters
I don’t understand it
Maybe it’s because I’m new
You keep complaining as
If this is really about you
Are you conceited or consumed
With the ideal MSIP room?
You're looking for check marks
Meanwhile your kids are checking out
When are you going to figure it out?
Am I being naïve?
Or too new, too fresh?
I’m never too proud to pay respects
And I humble myself to the death
But I look at the man in the mirror
Knowing that I can’t be in fear of
Observations and walk throughs
'Cause I walked through my kid’s lives
To find out the media ain’t lying
So I made my own MAP test
Starting now, starting here
Headed north
Towards Persevere Avenue
To make a right on Brand New Attitude
Keep straight on Never Lose
Might seem like a maze,
But I promise we’ll never lose
Sooner or later the
Yellow Brick Road turns to solid gold.
I don’t understand it
Maybe it’s because I’m new
You keep complaining as
If this is really about you
Are you conceited or consumed
With the ideal MSIP room?
You're looking for check marks
Meanwhile your kids are checking out
When are you going to figure it out?
Am I being naïve?
Or too new, too fresh?
I’m never too proud to pay respects
And I humble myself to the death
But I look at the man in the mirror
Knowing that I can’t be in fear of
Observations and walk throughs
'Cause I walked through my kid’s lives
To find out the media ain’t lying
So I made my own MAP test
Starting now, starting here
Headed north
Towards Persevere Avenue
To make a right on Brand New Attitude
Keep straight on Never Lose
Might seem like a maze,
But I promise we’ll never lose
Sooner or later the
Yellow Brick Road turns to solid gold.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Short Days and Long Nights
I don't have anything in particular to blog about at this time, so I will share a few snippets of scenarios that my days short and the evenings away from my kids long.
Finally, I have two computers working in my room. I love it and so do my kids. So far, we've typed Business Letters and played on FunBrain.com. Having the working computers helps my classroom management because it gives those students who finish early something constructive to partake in. Best of all, the family atmosphere is strong and my kids are disciplined enough to work two at a time on the computer. In my highest tiered group, a few students are able to work three at a time. Things are really coming together.
Also, I just had a screen for my projector installed. It has really enhanced my instruction. Now, there is so much more marker to paper action with the entire class involved. However, I did realize with the installation of the screen, that I made it work before the screen. I never jeopardized my kids' education because of lack of resources. Like any sincere educator, I always did whatever I needed to for my kids to understand. The same applies to the computers. Now that I have them, they're a great asset to my classroom management, but I never had any major issues with management anyway. Complaints were more like fantasies in my mind: even though they were incredibly wonderful, I knew the reality of them was far in the distance and that I needed to take care of the present to move further.
It was Turkey day Long on Tuesday. The Gentlemen's Club prepared dinner for the staff. The guys were super excited. Even though all of them are 8th graders, most of them know me through their mentor, Mr. Bryant. (I digress) The guys come to my room during the middle of 7th grade lunch and inquire in an innocent face, which completely contrasts their normal behavior (I still love them), and say, "Ms. Crawford how come you ain't came to eat yet?" I told them my normal potluck response, "I'll be there in a minute." Normally, I wouldn't have eaten at all, but I couldn't turn the GC's down. Then one of them said, "We'll watch your class for you." I said, "No thank you Tony," with a chuckle and then "Can't you see I'm reading with my babies." It warmed my heart like never before when these guys who pretended to be anything, but innocent sat down amongst my kids and chimed in on our reading and discussion, in the middle of their big day. After about 7 minutes they said, "Ms. Crawford we gotta go now, Mr. Bryant probably looking for us." Then one of my students shouted, "Yeah go so you can leave her babies alone." All of sudden, Tony turns around and responsds, "I'm her baby too, I just don't need as much attention as yall." His peer Marcus says, "Yep, yep." This is what makes time away from school long. I love them like they are my own.
Finally, I have two computers working in my room. I love it and so do my kids. So far, we've typed Business Letters and played on FunBrain.com. Having the working computers helps my classroom management because it gives those students who finish early something constructive to partake in. Best of all, the family atmosphere is strong and my kids are disciplined enough to work two at a time on the computer. In my highest tiered group, a few students are able to work three at a time. Things are really coming together.
Also, I just had a screen for my projector installed. It has really enhanced my instruction. Now, there is so much more marker to paper action with the entire class involved. However, I did realize with the installation of the screen, that I made it work before the screen. I never jeopardized my kids' education because of lack of resources. Like any sincere educator, I always did whatever I needed to for my kids to understand. The same applies to the computers. Now that I have them, they're a great asset to my classroom management, but I never had any major issues with management anyway. Complaints were more like fantasies in my mind: even though they were incredibly wonderful, I knew the reality of them was far in the distance and that I needed to take care of the present to move further.
It was Turkey day Long on Tuesday. The Gentlemen's Club prepared dinner for the staff. The guys were super excited. Even though all of them are 8th graders, most of them know me through their mentor, Mr. Bryant. (I digress) The guys come to my room during the middle of 7th grade lunch and inquire in an innocent face, which completely contrasts their normal behavior (I still love them), and say, "Ms. Crawford how come you ain't came to eat yet?" I told them my normal potluck response, "I'll be there in a minute." Normally, I wouldn't have eaten at all, but I couldn't turn the GC's down. Then one of them said, "We'll watch your class for you." I said, "No thank you Tony," with a chuckle and then "Can't you see I'm reading with my babies." It warmed my heart like never before when these guys who pretended to be anything, but innocent sat down amongst my kids and chimed in on our reading and discussion, in the middle of their big day. After about 7 minutes they said, "Ms. Crawford we gotta go now, Mr. Bryant probably looking for us." Then one of my students shouted, "Yeah go so you can leave her babies alone." All of sudden, Tony turns around and responsds, "I'm her baby too, I just don't need as much attention as yall." His peer Marcus says, "Yep, yep." This is what makes time away from school long. I love them like they are my own.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sound Bites
Last Wednesday my students and I were going over our letter writing exam. Some kind of way I stumbled upon two vocabulary strategies. They both rely heavily on rthym. The first one simply involves students spelling the word as they clap to each letter. When we do this strategy, we usually only do 8-10 words. I think it works so well because we don't many words and so it's easier for students to remember, at least an estimate, of how many times they clapped to each word. It's like memorizing anything else. For instance, if you read song lyrics, you are less likely to remember them and than if you hear song lyrics on top of a rythm. We match the rythm and the way the music sounds with the word pattern. Think about it. You hear a song on the radio for the first time and you learn the words. In fact, even if you don't care for the words or the song, the lyrics or at least some parts of them, become a part of your memory because the beat makes it catchy and so memorable. Then the next time you hear the song, you find yourself singing the words you remember without knowing you remembered them, and making up the most appropriate words for the parts you don't remember. This is what happens when we clap to the spelling of words. Students remember how it sounded to clap off the word and approximately how long it took. This helps them remember most words or most parts of the words and it easier to fill in the blanks of the letters you can't remember. Hence, The Alphabet Song.
The second stategy is simply a parody of an old call and response saying most popular in the hip-hop genre. It goes like, "When I say _____, you say _______. " If we're spelling the word signature, I will divide the room into two groups and group 1 will say: "When we say 'S', you say 'I'. Then group 1 says, "S" and group 2 replies "I". Then group 2 says, "When we say 'G', you say 'N'. Group 2 says, "G" and group 1 replies "N" and so on and so forth. This one works extremely well too. I think it has to do with the call and response nature of the activity.
What may be just as important as the fact that my kids are getting vocabulary quicker and easier, is what these two strategies have in common-rthymn based intsruction. As educators we must reflect on what we can take from this? The obvious- rythm impacts memorization and learning. What we really need to figure out is the unobvious? What is it specifally about music and rythmic sounds that causes humans to retain information better when presented in a rythmic form?
Until I figure it out, I will just go with what I know. So don't be surprised if you enter my classroom and we're singing away!
I almost forgot to mention...evidently I'm not the only person who thought it was a good strategy. My principal walked in to observe me and after school asked me if she could send another teacher in my room to observe direct instruction with vocabulary. What else can I say, but :))
The second stategy is simply a parody of an old call and response saying most popular in the hip-hop genre. It goes like, "When I say _____, you say _______. " If we're spelling the word signature, I will divide the room into two groups and group 1 will say: "When we say 'S', you say 'I'. Then group 1 says, "S" and group 2 replies "I". Then group 2 says, "When we say 'G', you say 'N'. Group 2 says, "G" and group 1 replies "N" and so on and so forth. This one works extremely well too. I think it has to do with the call and response nature of the activity.
What may be just as important as the fact that my kids are getting vocabulary quicker and easier, is what these two strategies have in common-rthymn based intsruction. As educators we must reflect on what we can take from this? The obvious- rythm impacts memorization and learning. What we really need to figure out is the unobvious? What is it specifally about music and rythmic sounds that causes humans to retain information better when presented in a rythmic form?
Until I figure it out, I will just go with what I know. So don't be surprised if you enter my classroom and we're singing away!
I almost forgot to mention...evidently I'm not the only person who thought it was a good strategy. My principal walked in to observe me and after school asked me if she could send another teacher in my room to observe direct instruction with vocabulary. What else can I say, but :))
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Why, Why, Why???
At MU I took two methods courses with Dr. Gilles. They were essentially the same course, but one focused on writing and the other course focused on reading. She once asked us, which course we preferred and later made the statement that most people have a preference. I never really understood how anyone could prefer reading to writing. As a good student and follower does, I have taken Dr. Gilles' advice and made sure I covered both adequately and alternately.
My students have opened the year with reading poetry, then we wrote poetry, then we read fiction, now we're writing fiction. Each time we write my students are completely enthralled in the experience (at least the majority of them). When we have to read, it's a completely different story.
For instance, we completed Literature Circles last week and my students were ascetic. I had four books going and two of the groups were a little more than mildly excited to read their books. The other two were heavily annoyed by the constant repetition and the fact that they had been assigned the school books which are in horrible shape (clumps of pages are missing in most of them and the binding is coming apart). Could it be a coincidence that the groups who were reading the brand new books I bought with my own money seemed to be having a more pleasurable experience? Just food for thought...that's another blog entry on another day.
Back to the matter at hand. After Lit. Circles, we began studying how to write Friendly Letters. We had a shortened week so I figured we could knock this out now. It's as if I teach two different classes. This week when we wrote our letters, I was reacquainted with the same students I taught when we wrote poetry. Today, their final drafts of their three paragraphs were due. I had students wanting to skip P.E. to finish writing their letters and address their envelopes. Skip gym; that's unheard of! Puzzling to me.
Why, why, why? Why do they prefer writing to reading. Reading seems to me the easier option. There is much less work and effort required. They read a book, discuss it, answer questions and on good days they draw something about the book. When we write in my class, my students produce an average of two rough drafts and I mark up their precious drafts. Writing always takes more explanation, instruction, and modeling on my part so I know it must require more physical and mental effort from my students.
Did they enjoy writing their letters because there is more freedom of expression? That's really the only thing I can think of. Let me know if you can offer any plausible explanations that explain why my students prefer the long, sometimes daunting task of the writing process.
Meanwhile, I'm off to read a book.
My students have opened the year with reading poetry, then we wrote poetry, then we read fiction, now we're writing fiction. Each time we write my students are completely enthralled in the experience (at least the majority of them). When we have to read, it's a completely different story.
For instance, we completed Literature Circles last week and my students were ascetic. I had four books going and two of the groups were a little more than mildly excited to read their books. The other two were heavily annoyed by the constant repetition and the fact that they had been assigned the school books which are in horrible shape (clumps of pages are missing in most of them and the binding is coming apart). Could it be a coincidence that the groups who were reading the brand new books I bought with my own money seemed to be having a more pleasurable experience? Just food for thought...that's another blog entry on another day.
Back to the matter at hand. After Lit. Circles, we began studying how to write Friendly Letters. We had a shortened week so I figured we could knock this out now. It's as if I teach two different classes. This week when we wrote our letters, I was reacquainted with the same students I taught when we wrote poetry. Today, their final drafts of their three paragraphs were due. I had students wanting to skip P.E. to finish writing their letters and address their envelopes. Skip gym; that's unheard of! Puzzling to me.
Why, why, why? Why do they prefer writing to reading. Reading seems to me the easier option. There is much less work and effort required. They read a book, discuss it, answer questions and on good days they draw something about the book. When we write in my class, my students produce an average of two rough drafts and I mark up their precious drafts. Writing always takes more explanation, instruction, and modeling on my part so I know it must require more physical and mental effort from my students.
Did they enjoy writing their letters because there is more freedom of expression? That's really the only thing I can think of. Let me know if you can offer any plausible explanations that explain why my students prefer the long, sometimes daunting task of the writing process.
Meanwhile, I'm off to read a book.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tear Fest II
Today I cried. It wasn't a long, drawn out overly emotional and sappy cry. It lasted for almost a minute. It was a different kind of cry. It was sudden and slow and only three tears fell from my face. I'm not even sure of what was wrong or if anything was wrong. I'm just tired and extremely overwhelmed. My body just feels like it can't go on any longer. So I did it. I went to the bathroom, stared out of the window, and without warning, the tears came. Like I said, they were brief, but necessary.
The triumphant part about the situation is that during my daily mental reflection in rush hour traffic, I owned everything I felt. I thought to myself, "I'm taking on too much additional responsibilty." In actuallity, it's not really that much that I've taken on, it's just that my work load situtaion is so extreme this year, that extra tasks seem amplified. Anywho, I always ask myself on not so great days, was it soooo bad that I wouldn't return the next day if I had a choice? The answer was no. Even though I am incredibly exhausted, I couldn't bare the thought of not seeing my kids again. (Maybe I'm exaggering...I could bare the thought, but I REALLY wouldn't like to!)
I've wanted to quit some endeavors in life and some of them I have; just quit right in the middle of the whole thing. So if it's not bad enough to quit, it can't really be that bad at all.
So I'm beginning to pick up the pieces mentally and emotionally and prepare for a new day. I'll look into my kids eyes tomorrow and give lots of hugs and I know everything will be alright :))
PEACE
The triumphant part about the situation is that during my daily mental reflection in rush hour traffic, I owned everything I felt. I thought to myself, "I'm taking on too much additional responsibilty." In actuallity, it's not really that much that I've taken on, it's just that my work load situtaion is so extreme this year, that extra tasks seem amplified. Anywho, I always ask myself on not so great days, was it soooo bad that I wouldn't return the next day if I had a choice? The answer was no. Even though I am incredibly exhausted, I couldn't bare the thought of not seeing my kids again. (Maybe I'm exaggering...I could bare the thought, but I REALLY wouldn't like to!)
I've wanted to quit some endeavors in life and some of them I have; just quit right in the middle of the whole thing. So if it's not bad enough to quit, it can't really be that bad at all.
So I'm beginning to pick up the pieces mentally and emotionally and prepare for a new day. I'll look into my kids eyes tomorrow and give lots of hugs and I know everything will be alright :))
PEACE
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Could It Be that I'm Falling In Love
So, I was doing some thinking about behavior and the general demeanor of each one of my class periods. If you're middle school and up, you know what I mean when I say that each class period has its own personality. So, if my had to describe the personality of each class starting with the last one first, it would go something like this:
8th Period- Fairly non-chalant, a group who believes they're more mature than they are; they have a special place in my heart bc we do a lot of things together that I don't do with my other classes bc they are the last period. As a result, they know my personality so well that within the first minute of class they can tell what kind of day I'm having and they adjust their behavior to my mood.
7th Period- This is the group that wants to learn; they have real potential all around, but they have to be pushed; they have a special place in my heart bc they are always ready to try!
6th Period- These people are hillarious. They often need help, but they have a special place in my heart because they always, always manage to put a smile on my face with their jokes, dances, and their twist on the way they perceive my instruction.
5th Period- My fifth period never ever stops! Stop what you ask? WHATEVER THEY ARE DOING, THEY JUST NEVER EVER EVER STOP. I've lost about 12 pounds since August and I'm pretty sure I have 5th hour to thank. They have a special place in my heart because they are almost single-handedly responsible for my growths as a teacher. 5th period keeps me going and forces me to explore the definition of authentic teaching and I am absolutely positively in love with them for it. I would never give up anyone in my 5th period.
3rd Hour- This is probably my most mature group. They know me very well because most of them are in my advisory and Reading Enrichment class. They rarely ever cause any problems and they love to learn. I usually talk to my 3rd period as if they are my colleagues rather than my students. Calm down. What I mean is that we have a lot of dialogue about emotional based feelings rather than conversation always stemming from academics. They are special because 3rd period warms me up for the rest of the day. They know what I like and they never stray from that.
As you can see, all of my classes are drastically different. The one thing that remains true for all of them is that I love them all dearly. Even though 5th hour NEVER STOPS, 6th period is full of comedians and my entire 8th hour is filled with adults in middle school bodies, the more I get to know them the harder it is to complete weekends without having to tell someone to begin their "Warm Up" or to "Please stop dancing", or "No, you can't borrow my shoes or braid my hair" and that, "I don't know if the double-cheeseburger at Jack-in-the-Box has a tomato on it."
Could it be that I'm falling in love?
8th Period- Fairly non-chalant, a group who believes they're more mature than they are; they have a special place in my heart bc we do a lot of things together that I don't do with my other classes bc they are the last period. As a result, they know my personality so well that within the first minute of class they can tell what kind of day I'm having and they adjust their behavior to my mood.
7th Period- This is the group that wants to learn; they have real potential all around, but they have to be pushed; they have a special place in my heart bc they are always ready to try!
6th Period- These people are hillarious. They often need help, but they have a special place in my heart because they always, always manage to put a smile on my face with their jokes, dances, and their twist on the way they perceive my instruction.
5th Period- My fifth period never ever stops! Stop what you ask? WHATEVER THEY ARE DOING, THEY JUST NEVER EVER EVER STOP. I've lost about 12 pounds since August and I'm pretty sure I have 5th hour to thank. They have a special place in my heart because they are almost single-handedly responsible for my growths as a teacher. 5th period keeps me going and forces me to explore the definition of authentic teaching and I am absolutely positively in love with them for it. I would never give up anyone in my 5th period.
3rd Hour- This is probably my most mature group. They know me very well because most of them are in my advisory and Reading Enrichment class. They rarely ever cause any problems and they love to learn. I usually talk to my 3rd period as if they are my colleagues rather than my students. Calm down. What I mean is that we have a lot of dialogue about emotional based feelings rather than conversation always stemming from academics. They are special because 3rd period warms me up for the rest of the day. They know what I like and they never stray from that.
As you can see, all of my classes are drastically different. The one thing that remains true for all of them is that I love them all dearly. Even though 5th hour NEVER STOPS, 6th period is full of comedians and my entire 8th hour is filled with adults in middle school bodies, the more I get to know them the harder it is to complete weekends without having to tell someone to begin their "Warm Up" or to "Please stop dancing", or "No, you can't borrow my shoes or braid my hair" and that, "I don't know if the double-cheeseburger at Jack-in-the-Box has a tomato on it."
Could it be that I'm falling in love?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
