I had a half day of work set up for today, so I went to bed at 10:00 last night and taped the finale of LOST, thinking I'd only have a few hours of work and then be able to watch it in the afternoon.
NOT!
About an hour into the day, the office manager called and asked if I could stay all day because the teacher who I was subbing for had an issue that was going to keep her out longer than she expected. Naturally, I agreed. I couldn't really say "no." Well, I guess technically I could, but I want to look good for this district and with summer coming I need all the cash I can get, so LOST was going to have to wait a few more hours.
Does time ever go slower than when you are looking forward to something?
The class was incorrigible in their chattiness. Nothing quieted them down. Not rewards, not punishment, nothing. Added to the problem was that I didn't have a full lesson plan for the afternoon, only the instructions that the teacher gave the office manager over the phone. And when I tried to teach, most of it was stuff the kids had already done. Oy vey.
We got through it. I stopped and did two read-aloud breaks, reading two stories for each break, and assigned a writing project rather than giving the kids free time. If I'm learning anything from subbing, it's how to improvise.
And so, I finally got home to my LOST. Wow! Was it ever worth the wait!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Best. Class. Ever!
Wow! I had an amazing group of first graders today! They cooperated. They listened. They controlled their talking and worked quietly when it was time to do so. I didn't have to referee any fighting, and get this.....
NO TATTLING!
All day! Nobody tattled on anyone else. These kids just got along. I'm not really sure the day actually happened. I may have just dreamed it...
NO TATTLING!
All day! Nobody tattled on anyone else. These kids just got along. I'm not really sure the day actually happened. I may have just dreamed it...
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Never A Dull Moment
When four first grade girls get in trouble for knocking down a boy who is the size of two of them, you think you may have just seen it all.
This happened on the playground, and I wasn't on duty, but the kids were all in my class. I'd already ID'd the ringleader of this merry band of female mini-mercenaries when she very sweetly asked me if I would tell their teacher if they were bad. She spent most of the day whispering to the girl next to her and eyeballing me, so I had my eyeball on her.
Anyway, when I went out to pick up the kids, the duty teacher told me the four girls had knocked down this boy and started hitting and kicking him because he refused to chase them. In her words, it was "unprecedented" at the school and she was sending the matter directly to the principal. Fine with me.
The principal pulled them out of class, and told them to return to her office during afternoon recess to write apologies to the boy. The girls reminded me several times that they had this punishment to suffer. The interesting thing about first graders is that they recognize their duty to do the time for the crime. Not one of them played games with me about it or try to ditch it like older kids would.
This happened on the playground, and I wasn't on duty, but the kids were all in my class. I'd already ID'd the ringleader of this merry band of female mini-mercenaries when she very sweetly asked me if I would tell their teacher if they were bad. She spent most of the day whispering to the girl next to her and eyeballing me, so I had my eyeball on her.
Anyway, when I went out to pick up the kids, the duty teacher told me the four girls had knocked down this boy and started hitting and kicking him because he refused to chase them. In her words, it was "unprecedented" at the school and she was sending the matter directly to the principal. Fine with me.
The principal pulled them out of class, and told them to return to her office during afternoon recess to write apologies to the boy. The girls reminded me several times that they had this punishment to suffer. The interesting thing about first graders is that they recognize their duty to do the time for the crime. Not one of them played games with me about it or try to ditch it like older kids would.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Toddlers and Tiaras
Toddlers and Tiaras...have you ever seen this show? It's about all of these people who put their young daughters in beauty pageants. They spray tan them, make them wear tooth covers to disguise missing teeth, paint their little faces, dress them up in sparkles and tease their hair to within an inch of the ceiling. These people spend thousands of dollars on this and travel all over the region to these pageants.
It seems like a Southern thing, so maybe the relevance is lost on me out here on the Left Coast. Clearly it's all more about the mothers than the daughters, because often the kids protest and throw tantrums instead of smiling and flouncing around as expected. The most entertaining is the "Pageant Dad" and his wife who is so thrilled that Hubby is bonding with his little girl. Yes, he may be bonding, but I'm fully expecting the spin-off show called, "My Husband Just Revealed He's Gay."
And, although the show seems to focus on children under the age of five, this has to go on to older ages. I can't help but wonder what it's like to try to teach these little girls. What are they like? Is school valued in these homes? And what is the pre-teen beauty queen like? That age is fabulously self-absorbed in a normal situation, but what about the girl trained all her life to put her entire focus on her appearance?
Just wondering.
It seems like a Southern thing, so maybe the relevance is lost on me out here on the Left Coast. Clearly it's all more about the mothers than the daughters, because often the kids protest and throw tantrums instead of smiling and flouncing around as expected. The most entertaining is the "Pageant Dad" and his wife who is so thrilled that Hubby is bonding with his little girl. Yes, he may be bonding, but I'm fully expecting the spin-off show called, "My Husband Just Revealed He's Gay."
And, although the show seems to focus on children under the age of five, this has to go on to older ages. I can't help but wonder what it's like to try to teach these little girls. What are they like? Is school valued in these homes? And what is the pre-teen beauty queen like? That age is fabulously self-absorbed in a normal situation, but what about the girl trained all her life to put her entire focus on her appearance?
Just wondering.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Spoke too soon
I had an absolutely wonderful group of third graders today. They were fantastic! They listened. They raised their hands to speak. They didn't fight with each other. We got through the morning work so quickly that we had a half hour before lunch, so we played silent speed ball. I did have one incident with the game. One kid got irate when he was "out" because he felt I'd let someone else continue for the same violation, but I reminded him arguing with the ref was grounds for being out anyway.
So...because they were so wonderful, I wrote the "teacher note" at lunchtime, thinking I could get out of there right at 3pm and not be stuck writing a note after school.
Mistake.
We got through math with measurably more chatter than we'd had in the morning, but it was still okay.
We went out to PE, where I had the kids playing "Steal the Bacon." They were having a fantastic time, boys vs girls, screaming encouragement for their teams, when a teacher came out and yelled at them for their screaming. Honestly? They're out on the basketball courts at PE, playing a game! The kids said that that teacher is always "mean," but I let them do one more round. They couldn't not cheer, so I decided it would be better just to give them free play for the remaining 15 minutes, since they had recess right after that.
This was where it fell apart. One kid was throwing freshly-mowed grass at a group of kids, who naturally had to come and tell me about it. I walked over and broke them up. By then, another teacher had come out for recess duty, so I went inside. Then, there's a knock at the classroom door. It's one of the kids from the grass-throwing incident to tell me that the same kid who was throwing grass hit her. I briefly considered telling her to tell the teacher who was on duty, but Grass Thrower/Hitter was right there. He said she'd hit him also. So, I told both of them they were benched until the end of recess. They protested, but I told them to march over and go sit down. For some reason, they went together, arguing the whole way. Then, on my way to the restroom, another one of the girls involved in the grass throwing incident told her mother, who had come to pick up a younger sibling, that the boy was throwing grass. I told her he was already in trouble and being punished.
Then, I went back and tore up my letter and re-wrote it.
Well, the first 2/3 of the day was excellent, anyway.
So...because they were so wonderful, I wrote the "teacher note" at lunchtime, thinking I could get out of there right at 3pm and not be stuck writing a note after school.
Mistake.
We got through math with measurably more chatter than we'd had in the morning, but it was still okay.
We went out to PE, where I had the kids playing "Steal the Bacon." They were having a fantastic time, boys vs girls, screaming encouragement for their teams, when a teacher came out and yelled at them for their screaming. Honestly? They're out on the basketball courts at PE, playing a game! The kids said that that teacher is always "mean," but I let them do one more round. They couldn't not cheer, so I decided it would be better just to give them free play for the remaining 15 minutes, since they had recess right after that.
This was where it fell apart. One kid was throwing freshly-mowed grass at a group of kids, who naturally had to come and tell me about it. I walked over and broke them up. By then, another teacher had come out for recess duty, so I went inside. Then, there's a knock at the classroom door. It's one of the kids from the grass-throwing incident to tell me that the same kid who was throwing grass hit her. I briefly considered telling her to tell the teacher who was on duty, but Grass Thrower/Hitter was right there. He said she'd hit him also. So, I told both of them they were benched until the end of recess. They protested, but I told them to march over and go sit down. For some reason, they went together, arguing the whole way. Then, on my way to the restroom, another one of the girls involved in the grass throwing incident told her mother, who had come to pick up a younger sibling, that the boy was throwing grass. I told her he was already in trouble and being punished.
Then, I went back and tore up my letter and re-wrote it.
Well, the first 2/3 of the day was excellent, anyway.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Blogging vs Facebook
I get that blogging is supposed to be an interactive thing. People read my blog, I read their blog, we comment, yada, yada yada. I'm not too good at keeping up with other people's blogs. Come to think of it, I'm not too great at updating mine. There are days on end where I continually post, and weeks where I don't post anything.
Blame Facebook.
In the time that it takes me to read several paragraphs of someone's blog (or typing this entry), one of my friends could be posting even more pictures of her chihuahua dressed in pink doggie-clothes. Why would anyone miss that kind of canine torture? Or someone might post a Facebook update that they're popping open a beer and settling down for the Laker game. Being over here on blogger.com, I could miss it! Are the Lakers even playing tonight? I have no clue. I find these things out on Facebook.
Why am I rambling about Facebook on what is supposed to be a blog about teaching? Well...if I was really good, I'd be able to link the two. The truth is, I don't have anything constructive to say about teaching today. So, Facebook rambling it is!
Blame Facebook.
In the time that it takes me to read several paragraphs of someone's blog (or typing this entry), one of my friends could be posting even more pictures of her chihuahua dressed in pink doggie-clothes. Why would anyone miss that kind of canine torture? Or someone might post a Facebook update that they're popping open a beer and settling down for the Laker game. Being over here on blogger.com, I could miss it! Are the Lakers even playing tonight? I have no clue. I find these things out on Facebook.
Why am I rambling about Facebook on what is supposed to be a blog about teaching? Well...if I was really good, I'd be able to link the two. The truth is, I don't have anything constructive to say about teaching today. So, Facebook rambling it is!
Monday, May 10, 2010
UGH...Testing...
Last week I worked three half days. Today was the first Monday in a very long time that I haven't had an assignment. In looking at various school calendars, it appears that my districts are all doing testing over the first three weeks of May. Since so much rides on the magic results, no teacher is going to trust test administration to anyone else unless she absolutely must. I was hoping to really fill out the calendar with jobs over May and June. I don't have anything yet for summer, despite tossing applications out into the wind for everything I'm even remotely qualified to do. I'm getting discouraged.
So, unless there is an abnormal number of Pre-K or Kindergarten teachers out, it looks like the next two weeks are going to be slow going for me. I hope it's not signaling the end of jobs for the school year. To be honest, I didn't give the whole testing thing much weight. I knew it was coming up, but I really don't remember it as being quite so intense when I was a kid. I don't think we spent two whole weeks on it. I feel for the kids. There's so much pressure put on them over these scores. It isn't right. I get that we need some measurable accounting of success to placate the critics of public education, but I've been watching the ramp-up for this. Making kids feel like it's do or die if they don't get high scores...it's painful. And there is a lot of information. I wonder if the voters who criticize teachers and the system had to take these tests, would they even come close to passing? The 5th grade science test alone covers electricity, weather and geology among other things. It's a massive amount of information.
So...best of luck to all who are mired in testing this month!
So, unless there is an abnormal number of Pre-K or Kindergarten teachers out, it looks like the next two weeks are going to be slow going for me. I hope it's not signaling the end of jobs for the school year. To be honest, I didn't give the whole testing thing much weight. I knew it was coming up, but I really don't remember it as being quite so intense when I was a kid. I don't think we spent two whole weeks on it. I feel for the kids. There's so much pressure put on them over these scores. It isn't right. I get that we need some measurable accounting of success to placate the critics of public education, but I've been watching the ramp-up for this. Making kids feel like it's do or die if they don't get high scores...it's painful. And there is a lot of information. I wonder if the voters who criticize teachers and the system had to take these tests, would they even come close to passing? The 5th grade science test alone covers electricity, weather and geology among other things. It's a massive amount of information.
So...best of luck to all who are mired in testing this month!
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