Be all that you can be. Find your future--as a teacher.

Take Me Back!

2010-07-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that I am no longer unemployed! This is a somewhat delayed response, as I've been busy enjoying my summer and not so busy updating my blog. Ironically, I found out that I was being rehired exactly a month (to the day!) after being told I was laid off.

The one caveat with being rehired is that I will no longer be in Kindergarten. Instead, I will be the new 4th grade teacher! I am quite excited to have students who can write their names, zip up their pants and (hopefully) refrain from having accidents in their pants. On the other hand, I will most definitely miss my daily hugs, carefully colored pictures and status as 20 kindergartners' "best friend."

I am excited about the challenge of a new grade. I'm also nervous because I know that, in many ways, I will feel like a first year teacher all over again. I know some things to expect and then I know there are other things that I am unprepared for. Stay tuned to find out about my adventures in 4th grade. I'm sure they will provide for some definite entertainment!

From Filing Permanent Records to Filing for Unemployment

2010-06-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

The school year is finally over and instead of beginning a relaxing summer, I find myself starting the job search process. Due to the economy, my school has struggled this past year and anticipates that they will continue to struggle next year. Therefore, us "new" teachers (I thought I might be safe with two years under my belt!) were told we would not have jobs again next year.

Which leaves me here- once again jobless and filing for unemployment. I'm relatively confident that I will be able to find something by fall, however, it is highly probable that I will have to move to a new area. It's been discouraging because after two years, I feel like I'm finally hitting my stride. I've gotten to the point where I feel comfortable with all the staff and I truly feel like I fit in. I now feel that I know the majority of students and families at my school. I finally feel like I truly know what to expect during the course of a year with five year olds. However, it's time to start ALL over again...potentially in a area, possibly in a new school, and probably in a new grade. I can't quite get a grasp on what emotion I feel most- it seems to vary by day. I'm disappointed and discouraged that I won't be in Kindergarten again and it is not due to my own choosing. I'm nervous about trying out a new school or a new grade and feeling like a "new" teacher all over again. I'm excited about what may be ahead because I did not intend on ending up at my current school and I've turned out loving it. All in all, I'm not sure what I think or what to think.

So for now, I'm crossing my fingers (oh, and filling out quite a few applications, too) that life will work out the way it's supposed to. It's possible that the next time you read this blog, I'll have a whole new grade to tell you about!

A Little Humor Makes Up for a Lot of Hassles...

2010-05-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

There is never a dull moment in Kindergarten. Today was a day where I found myself "collecting" a lot of my students' quotes. I thought maybe it would be a good time to share a light-hearted post with my readers and fellow teachers. (A little humor is needed at this point in the year- I think the kids and teachers are eagerly anticipating summer vacation!)

My students often have comments to make about my appearance. They are brutally honest, so I never lack for feedback on anything new I may try with my hair/make-up/outfits. Today, I tried out a new lavendar eye-shadow (which, if I may say so, I thought looked rather nice). The minute one of my little boys walked in, he looked at me and said, "Do you have polish on your eyes? They're pink!"

Oddly enough, it seems my little boys have the most to say about my appearance (go figure). My kids are quite sweet and like to shower me with notes daily (which means they are writing independently-yay!) Today, I received a note from a little boy that said, "I love you. You are pretty." I receieved a note last week that said, "Your a good tchr. You r pruty." My job's on the line this year- do you think I could use that note to support my teaching efficacy?

While my students' notes provide endless smiles, their actions tend to provide giggles, gasps and groans. Yesterday, we switched seats for the last time of the year. A few students were absent and I had some overly eager kids volunteer to clean out the desks of those students. One unlucky volunteer discovered the value of organization while cleaning out a desk. After pulling out multiple papers, loose markers, and four half-empty raisin boxes, she discovered a magnificent treasure- a "fuzzy" apple! Yes, dear readers, I had a student store an apple core in the back of her desk. You can give me your best guess as to how long this apple had been molding in the back of her desk...obviously more than a day or two from the green mold that covered the entirety of the apple. Once again, this is something that was never covered in any of my education classes. I now know that I need to specifically remind students not to store extra snacks inside their desks...

I'll leave you with one last tidbit for the night. As I've said before, kids are brutally honest. As I'm sure you also know, students come in all shapes and sizes. I have tiny students, short students, tall students, and a few students who could probably share clothes with me... I overheard one student say to another student today, "Your tummy feels like jello!" Thankfully, in addition to brutal honesty, kids are also still blissfully ignorant and unaware of our society's views on size. Both students seemed to find this remark hilarious and I, personally, enjoyed the complete truthfulness of the statement. (Because honestly, a little extra chub DOES feel a little like jello!)

Oh, the joys of teaching!

Potty-Training Not a Pre-req?

2010-05-12T19:51:00.001-07:00

I'm on a roll tonight, so I'll throw in one more blog entry. I've got to share my latest complaint about Kindergarten: the bathroom. Somehow, in the midst of lesson planning, web quests, curriculum evaluations, and portfolio-creating, my college education failed to acknowledge a significant problem with Kindergartners: their inability to properly use the bathroom.

Now, I realize that this (hopefully) does not apply to teachers in other grades. But I spend a heck of a lot more time dealing with "bathroom issues" during the day than anything else and not once was this covered in my education classes. I feel that you should be warned that you will not have time to implement that creative, wonderful, ingenious lesson plan because you will be too busy cleaning pee off the bathroom floor or calling a custodian to your bathroom for the third time in one day. Seriously...I understand that I work with little children, but is it too much to ask for a day where no one pees on the bathroom floor?

As if dealing with pee on the bathroom floor isn't enough, I've had a repeat offender in the accident department. Unfortunately, he doesn't like to tell me when he's had an accident. I have to sniff him out. And even when asked, he won't admit what's happened. So, I spent a good deal of last week playing "investigator" to determine the "odor-offender" and then determine why he hadn't gone to the bathroom. It's difficult because I don't want to jump on students if there is a medical problem causing these accidents. However, I also don't want students to learn the behavior of waiting until the last minute to go to the bathroom and then having an accident. I seriously think it would have been useful to have a class that prepared you for the best way to discuss "your child's inability to make it through a school day without having a smelly accident" with parents. Alas, that was not offered at my college...

Perhaps one day, when I have exhausted myself as a classroom teacher, and desire to move onto different things, I will petition for more practical classes to be included in a college education. In addition to How-to-tell-a-parent-their-Kindergartner-MUST-be-potty-trained, I would like to see the class How-to-tell-a-parent-their-child-should-not-have-to-wake-them-up-in-order-to-get-to-school-on-time, How-to-find-time-to-teach-around-constant-mandated-assessments, and Be-Your-Own-Psychic: Predict-what-mundane-thing-parents-will-get-mad-at.

All jokes aside, there is quite a lot to be said for experience and the practical knowledge you gain from teaching that you cannot prepare for by reading a book. And while I must occasionally complain about the pitfalls of teaching, there are quite a few rewarding moments as well. All I can say is...by the time I get around to having my own children, I think I will have learned all the ways NOT TO and TO parent...I'll be prepared!

The future of reading: Literacy Centers?

2010-05-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've failed on my promise to maintain regular updates. Once again, it's almost the end of the year and I've barely updated about my class. But yet again, I'll leave you with a quick blurb and hope to update before another three (or four, or five) months go by.

While I have quite a few topics I'd love to elaborate on, I must narrow it down to one. So tonight, I'd like to mention my school's recent "discovery" of literacy centers. With a new principal and a new county superintendent, there have been lots of changes within our school this year. One of our principal's goals was to re-vamp the way we teach reading. We are currently using a Harourt series which has some good information, but we could definitely add something to our reading program.

At a county-wide meeting, we discovered another school had implemented "literacy centers" in their Kindergarten classroom. I suppose the idea of literacy centers is not a new one, however, the idea of trying something this independent with Kindergartners scared me. Literacy centers seemed like the answer to my dilemma of "how do I keep all my students engaged in activities that are individually challenging?" As a Kindergarten teacher, I have found it incredibly difficult to break lessons down and give students assignments that are appropriate for their skill level when they are unable to read directions, unable to remember more than two directions at once, and generally unable to work independently. However, the teachers that implemented literacy centers said that after a few rough weeks of learning the routine, their classrooms had adjusted nicely and were doing well with literacy centers. Fortunately, our principal let us go observe these teachers to truly see how literacy centers looked. I was amazed at how quiet, calm, and focused these students were!

I am excited to possibly try literacy centers in my classroom next year, yet I am still skeptical. I am rarely able to get all my students completely quiet. I have tried, and tried, and TRIED to teach them the importance of listening at the appropriate times and being quiet at the appropriate times, but it seems impossible. I'm still not sure how much of this is due to the "chattiness" of my students and how much of it is due to my need for more classroom mangagement experience...hopefully, either way, I'll luck out with a well-behaved class next year (a girl can hope, right! :) )

I'm interested to hear from others who have tried literacy centers in K. How have they worked for you? What lessons have you used? How did you teach the routines? What are your rules and routines? Also, on a whole different tangent, how did you fund your supplies? We have no extra money at our school to buy supplies for literacy centers...so I'm curious what alternative methods are out there. Donorschoose.org seems like an interesting site and I'd like to learn more about.

That's all for tonight! I'd love to hear your thoughts on literacy centers...share them all!:)

The Great Debate

2010-01-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

I realize that this will be my second entry in one night, but considering this may be a long post, I thought it warranted an entirely different entry.

Within my county and my school, there has been a lot of turn-over during the last year. We began this school year with a new principal and new assistant principal. Our new principal has begun to look over the way we currently have been doing things to see what can be improved. She has decided that our school reading program needs an "overhaul" and has taken to testing all of our students to determine their reading level. There are quite a few sceptics in the school who believe this is not the best route for our school. Being a new teacher, I still have loosely-formed opinions and I'm interested to see how this program will work out. I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'm also interested in what other people have to say. Our new "reading program" has a strong emphasis on students learning Dolch words. I've been told that educational philosophies change in the same way a pendulum moves. In this case, the "new" reading philosphy that encourages Dolch words was also popular (so I'm told) quite a while ago.

I don't doubt that learning Dolch words is important. Learning sight words is an integral part of the process of learning to read. However, I am slightly concerned about the volume of words our Kindergartners will now be expected to read. Until this point, our students were expected to know approximately 45 sight words at the end of the Kindergarten year. Now, our students will be expected to read Pre-Primer, Primer and First Grade words by the end of Kindergarten. According to my calculations (if my sources and calculations are correct), our students will now need to read 133 words at the end of Kindergarten. I am intrigued to see what our students will be able to do. I think some students will achieve this goal. However, I'm concerned for many others. If you've followed my blog, you may remember that I had quite a few students up for retention last year. These students could barely read ten sight words. What will happen to students like that? They were overwhelmed at the prospect of reading 45 words. What will they do when we try to tell them that they need to read twice as many?

I'm curious to hear about the reading programs that other schools use. The program my student-teaching school used was very different, however, I was never given a formal explanation of the program, so I'm not necessarily sure what it would be classified as. Any advice, thoughts, etc. on this reading program or on a reading program that has been implemented and worked well would be greatly appreciated!

No Snow and No School

2010-01-25T20:13:00.000-08:00

It's our fourth week back to school since Winter Break and we've yet to go a whole week! I thought this would be the week where we would go five, full days, but I got a call at six this the morning telling me school was closed due to heavy rain. I have a secret to admit: I LOVE getting those phone calls! I love them even more when school is closed and it turns out to be a BEAUTIFUL day. I was able to run in the gorgeous sunshine (instead of in the dark, like a normal school day) and I was able to go out and do all my errands. Is it bad that I'm crossing my fingers for a delay tomorrow?

On a different note, it appears that I will soon have a high school "observer." The high school next to my elementary school has a program for students who are interested in becoming teachers. As part of this program, the students observe in a classroom and then eventually teach a few lessons. I was surprised when I received the email asking if I would like to be a mentor for a student. I would love to help out a high school student who is interested in becoming a teacher. However, I still feel like I'm learning a lot myself- am I really ready to help prepare someone else for the teaching profession? I wrote back to the coordinating teacher and explained that I would be more than happy to have a student observe in my room, but I lacked experience. She didn't seem concerned, so it appears soon I will not only be teaching Kindergartners, but I'll also be teaching someone else how to teach. I'm hoping that I know more than I realize, because I certainly don't feel as knowledgeable as the mentors I have had in the past...

Report Cards and Vomit: Oh, How I Dislike Thee...

2010-01-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Quick thoughts only tonight. In an attempt to present both sides, I'm going to find a positive to each of my complaints.

Complaint # 1: Report Cards
I dislike report cards for a few reasons. The first reason is that the report card is a very inaccurate measure of my students. Some students who struggle in class appear to be doing well on a report card. Sometimes a student may go from identifying 0/15 letters to 10/15 letters, but when calculated for a report card, both scores are "N" for "Needs Improvement." The second reason I dislike report cards is that they are overly time-consuming. They require quite a lot of unneccessary work. First, we test students and record what they can and can't do on a skill sheet. I then calculate whether the student receives a "S"- Successful, a "P"- Progressing, or a "N"- Needs Improvement. I record these grades on a paper copy of the report card. Finally, I record each score on an electronic report card. I find all these steps seem rather redundant.

On the bright side, almost all of my students mastered all of the skills they were supposed to learn this six weeks. It makes me very excited to be able to mark so many "S" 's !!

Complaint # 2: Vomit
Well, this really can't be helped. However, it is one aspect of teaching that I may always cringe to think about. A stomach bug must be going around right now, because I had one student get sick on our carpet today while we were singing a song. This is not the first time my carpet has been the unfortuante recipient of a poor, sick kindergartner. I wonder how many kids will get sick on my carpet before the school deems it too germy to endure another year? (With the current budget cuts, my guess is quite a few more kids...)

On the bright side, my student who got sick was in the front row. Which may not seem like a blessing, until you realize that the whole situation would have been MUCH worse if another student had been the unlucky recipient of the throw-up.

I promise next time, I will share happy stories about Kindergarten!

My Favorite Part of the Day

2010-01-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I have two favorite parts of the day: the very beginning of the day and the very end of the day. I love these few moments each day where the classroom is still calm and I have just a few children in the room. This is the only part of the day where I really have time to talk and listen to the students and hear whatever story or tidbit they have to share. I feel as if I'm constantly having to tell my kids, "we're not talking about that right now" any time they want to share something off subject. I hate having to do that, but with my loquacious Kindergartners, we'd never get past calendar time if I let them share it all!

I particularly love the end of the day because I have the ability to silently observe my students. My school has two bus "loads." The majority of my students leave first and then I have about 5 students that stay in my room for another ten minutes or so until their buses are called. My "second load kids" have taken up "playing school" all on their own. It is incredibily amusing to watch them reinact what we've done all day. I struggle to get these kids to sit still all day, but as soon as they are "playing" school, they sit as still as can be! It was intriguing to watch them today because I never realized how much they absorb. They like to pretend they are teaching calendar time. My one student who had decided to be teacher was holding up sight words, just as I do in the morning. The words coming out of her mouth were the exact same words I say! She held up the card and asked one of the other children what it said. He wasn't sure, so she said, "Do you want to ask a friend for help?" When the friend didn't know the word, she said, "Let's sound the word out together" and she proceeded to help sound the word out.

I enjoy this afternoon routine for a few reasons. Number one being that it simply makes me smile to watch my students play school. Number two being that all this time I've thought they weren't paying attention! Little did I know, my Kindergarteners are very skilled at appearing way more interested in their hair, their neighbor, or their shoelaces, when in fact, they are actually listening!! Amazing...and one of those moments that makes me smile and reminds me why I love children and why I love teaching:)

Return to the Blogosphere!

2010-01-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

Although I vowed to make a better effort to document my year on this blog, once again I've failed due to the fact that teaching requires a great deal of time and energy (and this blog is right around last on my priority list of things related to school that I need to complete). However, I recently received some comments on a blog post that reminded me a few people out there do read my blog and maybe I should update more than once every year!

For tonight, I just want to do a quick update on my year. There are quite a few issues I'd like to tackle in posts later down the road, but I figure I should minimize confusion and keep to one topic.

So, year one is down. Year two is halfway through. Thankfully, year two is somewhat easier. (I had hoped and prayed that it would be!) I did not realize it at the time, but I had two extremes in my class last year. Half my class was relatively high academically and the other half was extremely low. As a first year teacher, this was very difficult because half of my class was unable to master our skills each grading period. This year has proved significantly easier because my class is not so divided. The gap between my highest-achieving students and lowest-achieving students is much smaller. I'd like to think that the experience of the past year have also helped to make this year easier. Having a year of experience "under my belt" definitely gives me more confidence.

With the past year behind me, I think it would be a good time to share some things I learned/wish I had known at the beginning. Along the same lines, I'd love to hear from others who have been teaching more than two years (I know there are lots of you out there!) who can share things they wish they had known at the beginning of their career.

1. Before you start teaching, write down why you want to teach and why you love kids. Post it in a prominent place.
I look back at things I'd written before I started teaching and I was so optimistic! I truly do love children and I truly wanted a profession where I knew I would make a significant impact on others' lives. However, it is very easy to lose sight of that goal when day after day you are constantly reminding kids to be quiet, to listen, to stop touching their neighbors, to use the bathroom before it is an emergency and on and on and on. I have days sometimes where I think, "why, oh, why did I choose this job?" And then I think back to why and it definitely puts things in perspective. (That and remembering that I have summer and Winter Break and Spring Break and snow days....:))

2. SAVE everything you do
Hopefully this goes without saying, but save your lesson plans, your form notes to parents, etc. I thought I would remember everything, but when August of year two rolled around, I barely remembered what I had done the year before.

3. Come up with a good organization system
It was difficult for me to organize things at the beginning of last year because I didn't really know what I had, what I needed, or how I would be using things. At the end of last school year, I did some organizing and it makes a huge difference. I'm constantly working to become more organized, but the sooner you can do it, the better! I misplaced so many papers last year because I didn't have the specific place to put them. Finding an organization system that works for you is definitely key!

4. You don't need to save everything that someone gives you
Please read carefully because I realize this contradicts my advice in #2. Do save things electronically. Use careful judgement when saving material things. Teachers are incredibly generous. As a new teacher at my school, I was given tons and tons of supplies. Other teachers gave me posters and books and art supplies as they cleaned out their room. The only problem: my classroom isn't very big. I'm a big saver and I hate to waste things. But I'm already completely out of space in my classroom. I've realized that I might need to be a little more selective when accepting (or deciding to keep) items from generous donators. Think about how easy an item might be to replace. That stack of magazines I've been saving on top of my file cabinet? They're getting pretty dusty and I'd say there's a fantastic chance that if I recycled them all and decided I needed more, I could get a stack donated in a jiffy.

5. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT have students line up near your deak.
In fact, if you can blockade your desk from students with bookshelves and tables, go for it. My desk had the misfortune of receiving two vomit blasts last year. Not only is this disgusting, but it's a big problem if you keep anything important on your desk. I threw away everything on my desk after the second vomit-incident and there was no sorting through it to determine if it was important! I've rearranged my classroom this year to put a little more of a buffer between my desk and my kids. I love them, but I don't love throw-up.

6. Make sure you know how students are supposed to go home everyday...if you fail to send them home the right way, it can result in tears from the teacher/parent/student. Realize that parents frequently change the way their child should come home from school. Realize also that 5 year olds can barely remember their last name, much less a change in how they will go home. They definitely can not remember how they are supposed to go home unless you tell them 5 times as they walk out the door.

7. Student teaching is nothing like real teaching.
While student teaching is a fantastic experience, it really doesn't give you the whole picture of teaching. You have very little to remember as a student teacher. You also come into a room that has a pre-existing infrastructure. As a real teacher, you discover some of the biggest challenges are creating a schedule, arranging a classroom, creating a classroom management plan, remembering what time you have lunch, remembering how all 18 children go home, remembering who needs to be reminded to use the bathroom 3 times a day....and on and on and on.

8. Ask, ask, ask for help.
I hope someone has already told you along the way that coworkers are wonderful for sharing ideas. They have experience and advice that (hopefully) they just can't wait to share. They are a fantastic resource for any and every question you encounter. (I've been lucky to have coworkers that put up with every little question I have!)

9. Utilize parent volunteers.
I spent many hours doing "busy-work" instead of things like lesson planning or working with students when I should have been asking parents for help. Lots of parents would love to help out in the classroom doing things like bulletin boards, hanging art projects, listening to kids read, or filing folders. I'm still perfecting
my ability to plan far enough ahead to actually recruit parents for the help I need, but I've learned that they can be a valuable commodity.

10. Take time for yourself.
Some may disagree, but I think it is very important to remember that you do have a life outside of teaching. You must take time for yourself so that you don't burn out. I have been blessed (or cursed, depending on your point of view) with the ability to leave things somewhat of a mess and somewhat unfinished. I would sleep at school if I needed to have a clean desk every night and have everything for the next week completely finished. Learn to prioritize. Get the things finished that you HAVE to finish and the rest of the things will fall into place. If your desk is a mess at the end of the day, the world will go on. You'll probably like your job more if you leave at 5:00 each day with a messy desk than if you leave at 7:00 with a clean desk.

With that, I end my advice! I'd love to hear words of wisdom from others!

"A Gift of Time or A Waste of Time?"

2009-06-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

I noticed the title for this post in a string of comments at TeAchnology that I've been reading in regards to Kindergarten retention. I thought the title sums up my confusion perfectly.

I've just completed my first year as a Kindergarten teacher. I know there are varying policies regarding retention in the school districts around mine, but my particular school district suggests retention for students who are unable to achieve certain academic goals by the end of Kindergarten. Each teacher made a list of students who we thought would benefit from Kindergarten retention. Since this was my first year, I met with all the other Kindergarten teachers and we looked over samples of each of my students' work. We then met as a committee that included all the Kindergarten teachers and our principal to decide which children would be recommended for retention. At our final conferences of the year, we presented our suggestion for retention to the parents of these children, but ultimately the decision was up to the parents. I was surprised how many parents disagreed with our suggestion. Knowing that there are conflicting opinions regarding retention in general, I've set out to look at some of the research to determine if I can come to some better conclusions about the efficacy of Kindergarten retention.

Regardless of the research, I must say I'm a little confused at the proposition that retention is always harmful. I have students who are still unable to identify numbers above six, who can't identify or write all their letters, and are unable to write any words phonetically. The students MUST have these skills when they enter first grade. Doesn't it intuitively seem that these students won't do well in first grade if they don't have these basic skills already? I can somewhat understand the rationalization if the argument is to promote a student who is academically ready but not developmentally ready. (i.e. the student possesses all the academic skills for the next grade, but may not be able to sit still or quietly or complete work without constant reminders to stay on task). But how can a student catch up in first grade if they are already behind at the end of Kindergarten? I understand the push for differentiation in the classroom and I agree that some level of differentiation is needed within a classroom. However, it is unreasonable to expect a teacher to be able to provide effective differentiation for students if they are on such different levels. That would be like expecting a teacher to effectively teach 20+ children that are on a K, 1, and 2nd grade level. In theory, differentiation is a wonderful idea. In practice, it is much more difficult to implement. Especially when you are teaching a younger grade and the students really aren't very independent. My K students can barely read and can't remember more that two or so directions at time, so they basically need me to help instruct them at all times.

So far, I've heard antecdotal evidence from my coworkers of the benefits of Kindergarten retention. However, I wanted to look at some of the current research to see if research backs up their evidence. I have not had a chance to fully read the journal articles that I have found, however, most of the abstracts suggested that Kindergarten retention is harmful.

Knowing that (some) research suggests Kindergarten retention is harmful, my question is this: Are there comparisons between cohorts of students who were recommended for retention and actually retained and those students who were recommended for retention and not retained? Because it seems to me and students who are retained are often at-risk to begin with. Therefore, I do not think it is surprising that these students would continue to perform poorly as they progress through school. We hope that another year in Kindergarten will help students to become confident learners, but we can't guarantee that. And how do these studies know that the extra year in Kindergarten did not help at all? It could be that after an extra year, a child still performs poorly in first grade. However, if that same child did not repeat Kindergarten s/he may have done even worse in first grade.

I realize that my post offers no actual opinions or decisions at this point. After reading some of the actual research, I will post again and hopefully have some more conclusive answers. I'd like to have antecdoctal evidence AND research-based evidence to present to parents next year if (or when) I have to suggest retention for their child. Are there other educators out there who can offer some advice on this dilemma? I'd especially like to hear from educators who have looked over research in this area.

N's are bad, P's are good

2009-05-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Who knew that we started judging grades in Kindergarten? I sure didn't. Until now, my kids had been oblivious on report card day. Probably part of that was my fault, because I never really made a big deal of it when report cards were to be sent home. I didn't think I needed to, because it seems to me that most of my students were working up to their potential and the report card was important to let parents know about their child's progress. But today, I happened to mention report cards were going home in folders. The way my students reacted, you would have thought I had just said, "Oh, by the way, you'll find $5 in your daily folders tonight." They were so excited!

As they packed up to go home, I caught multiple students pulling out their report cards. I didn't really understand this because a) they can barely read and b) do they really even understand what all those slashes and marks mean? My heart sank a little when I heard one student say "N's are bad." I hate that my students already have that mentality. I don't feel as if "N's should be considered bad" because all my students who received N's were trying their hardest. An N doesn't mean that you are bad and didn't pay attention. It just means that, for some reason, your brain works a little slower than some other people's and it's taking longer for you to learn your letters. I don't want my students to ALREADY be categorizing themselves according to grades.

Along those same lines, I don't want my students to think that "P's are good" and "because I got P's I'm good." Everything we learn seems to click naturally with a few of my students, but I get so frustrated when they do the bare minimum and don't apply themselves at all. When I tell my students to "journal and write two sentences or more", my bright and capable students will write two sentences and that is it. I can not convince them to write more, even if they are able. It frustrates me at times that classroom achievement is boiled down to a letter. (Although, I see why this is necessary, because I already spend WAY too much time on report cards...this system does make it as simple as possible.) It just seems discouraging when I fill in a report card with all N's, but the student has made tremendous progress in the past 6 weeks- just not enough to warrent a P. And I hate putting down all P's knowing a parent will read that and think, "My child's doing just fine, I don't need to encourage them to do any more".

This is probably an age-old complaint and I understand the need for some kind of standard. I guess I was just shocked at how quickly students absorb the implications of grades. Let's hope they don't take them too seriously yet...they have plenty of time in the future to be worrying about grades!

I can see the finish line!

2009-05-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I am a month away from completing my first year of teaching. This time last year, I was in the midst of filling out applications and contacting principals, wondering where my first teaching job would take me. I was hoping to find a job in a new town, with new opportunities. However, my plans did not work out the way I had hoped. I ended up returning to my home town (where I had only applied at the last minute as a "back-up") and it has turned out to be a wonderful first year experience.

I can't say enough good things about the school that I have ended up at. I have an incredible principal, who has supported me as I find my way this year. I have found wonderful colleagues who have patiently answered every question I've pestered them with. And, for the most part, I have had a great class that has helped me decide what I should (and shouldn't!) prepare for next year.

I've learned quite a lot from my first year. I always thought that the education field was unique in that you got real-world experience before you actually had a "real job." I've found that student teaching does give you a glimpse of what real teaching is like, but it is no where near the same thing.

For one, student teaching NEVER shows how many mundane, time-consuming things teachers have to complete every single day. I guess my cooperating teacher was kind and didn't bother me with every single email/card/miscellaneous faculty memo that was passed around. I SWEAR I spend so much time dealing with things that are urgent, but in no way important. For example, there is ALWAYS filing to be done: filing all the tardy slips, filing notes from parents, filing homework. In case you don't know, filing is really time consuming. (I think I could present a relatively well-backed argument proving that teachers need secretaries.) I don't understand how teachers keep their desks clean during the day, because there are so many things handed to me during the day that I can't look at while I'm teaching and I have to just set on my desk. At the end of the day, my desk is always piled high with papers. I try cleaning at the end of each day and in the mornings, but it never fails to pile high with papers again each day.

Another thing I've discovered with Kindergarten is the inordinate amount of time you can spend putting pictures on the wall and taking pictures down. Last week I spent an hour and a half just to put pictures on my wall. I'm frequently putting pictures up on our hall walls since we do so many crafts in Kindergarten, but I was required to put these pictures up because of an art show. I love to display my students' art, but when my time is limited, it seems like I am wasting time when I have to spend hours putting art up when I could be working on lesson plans. I now know that next year I will need to utilize parent volunteers much more. Since I will know what events are coming up and what to expect from them, I will be able to enlist parent volunteers to help me out with things like putting pictures on the wall, so that I don't have to try to do it all.

Another thing that you never think about in student teaching is how difficult it is to set up a classroom from scratch. It is a challenge in itself to figure out how to arrange your room within the space you are given and using the furniture you have. It is difficult setting things up before you've ever taught in that classroom, because you can't predict exactly how you will come to use the room and how you will want things to be set up so that they work best for you and your class.

I also found it a challenge to create things like my schedule and my classroom procedures and routines. I did not realize how frustrating it would be to come up with a schedule when half your day is already dictated based on the school's scheduling of your lunch period, resource times and computer times. And that isn't even taking into consideration trying to plan around student pull-outs for ESL, speech, guidance, or PALS.

Then there's creating your routines and procedures. We talked about the importance of routines and procedures in many of my college classes. We practiced creating routines and procedures for an imaginary classroom. I read books this summer that stressed the importance of routines and procedures. I remembered learning that the first week of school should focus on teaching the students your routines and procedures. However, I now strongly believe that it doesn't really matter how many classes you take on classroom management and routines and procedures, because when it comes to your first year of teaching, it's very hard to know exactly what your routines and procedures should be. Sure, I sat down and thought about what I wanted the students to do. But, you don't really know what to expect before the year starts. Starting out the year, my bathroom philosophy was that students should be allowed to go whenever they needed to. We have a bathroom in the classroom, I have Kindergarteners...I wanted to prevent accidents if at all possible. Well... I didn't realize how loud students would be when washing their hands after using the bathroom. I didn't realize that students would turn the sink on full-force, which is super loud, then get water all over the counter. I didn't realize that other students would spend 15 minutes wiping up that water around the sink, instead of returning to the floor where I was attempting to teach. I didn't realize that students would go into the bathroom and sing (or sometimes just scream), which was still very audible in the rest of the classroom. I didn't realize that my students would find it impossible to enter or exit the bathroom without talking/laughing/giggling/touching the next person in line. All in all, I didn't predict how disruptive my "use the bathroom whenever you need to go" policy would be during the times when I am trying hard to instruct my students (and maintain the focus of minds that take very little persuasion to be distracted!) I somewhat changed my procedure for using the bathroom halfway through the year, but because it hadn't been drilled into my students from Day 1, they still have trouble remembering the new rules. So, that's one thing I'll be prepared for when year 2 rolls around.

So, I'm definitely looking foward to the end of my first year. It's been an exciting year, but definitely different from what I expected. I am definitely ready for summer, but I'm also looking foward to beginning my second year of teaching. I believe that a summer break really is necessary for teachers, because it gives you time to rejuvenate and replenish your patience. I'm looking foward to next year, because there are already so many things I've learned from this year that I want to try to change, to improve for next year and I'm hoping that my second year will go more smoothly because of all the things I've learned in my first-year. Overall, it's been a great first year, but it will be awfully nice to not have to tell parents anymore that it's my "first year!"

How do I reach them all?

2009-01-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

Differentiation. It's one of those education "buzz words" that seems to constantly be floating around. Many of my curriculum and instruction classes focused on differentiation in the classroom. I thought I understood the concept; I thought I had a firm grasp on how to implement differentiation in my classroom.

However, I'm discovering that the real-world application of differentiation is very difficult. We just finished our third six-weeks' assessments with the kids. By this point in the year, I can almost predict what my students will be able to do. The majority of my kids are right where they are supposed to be, but then there are a few that have been struggling since the very beginning and keep falling farther behind. I want to do my best to help these students succeed. But I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'm just using this as an excuse, but it seems to be extra hard to create differentiation in a Kindergarten classroom. The difficulty is that my students are unable to do much independent work. If I give them directions for an activity, they can only remember one or two directions at a time. They can't read well enough for me to give any kind of directions on paper. So, I have difficulty finding time to work one on one or in small groups with these students that need extra help.

My students that need extra help are especially weak with their numbers. My students are supposed to be able to identify numbers 1-50 at this point. A few of my students still are unable to identify the numbers 1-10. I have some time to review with them during centers, but all the students look foward to centers so much that I hate to pull these kids out during centers and burn them out with extra review.

So, basically I'm at a loss for what to do to help these students have a chance to catch up in time to be ready for first grade. Any suggestions for real-world proven techniques that work in Kindergarten to help students?

Snow Day Without Snow?

2009-01-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

After five days away from school, it was finally time to return to the chaos of Kindergarten today. We had a wonderful four day weekend thanks to Lee-Jackson Day and MLK Jr. Day and then yesterday we had our first snow day of the year! I'm ashamed to admit that I was thrilled to find out school was cancelled. Being a teacher, I suppose I should be upset about missing days of school. I know the research that states how much children regress after just a few days away from school. But, the thrill of having an entire day free from responsibilities is just as exciting as a teacher as it was when I was a student! Interestingly enough, I didn't actually see any snow yesterday. The county I teach in is rather spread out and while some parts of the county received a "dusting" of snow, other parts (i.e. where I live) were completely clear. So, I survived my first snow day...even without the snow!

While I was not a happy camper when my alarm went off this morning, I was excited to return to my class. Believe it or not, I do start to miss my kids after being gone for so many days. One of my favorite things about Kindergarteners is their unfailing love for their teacher. (Yes, I realize it is pathetic that I need validation from 5 year olds, but it makes my day so much brighter!) While I have some regular "huggers" in my class (you know those students...the ones who hover next to you every ten minutes in anticipation of a hug?), today the whole class seemed to have gotten the "hug bug." I couldn't go more than five minutes without a child latching onto my back, middle, leg, arm, or whatever body part was closest to their reach. It makes me smile to see how many times they come up for hugs...however, I'm still trying to find the appropriate balance between letting students come up for hugs and keeping them in their seats long enough to learn something! Ah...the things I never realized I'd be contemplating....

While I'd love to muse a little more about my day's events, I must return to report cards. (I'm beginning to think that nine week grading periods are better than six week gradings periods solely for the reason that you would not spend as many hours entering report card grades!!!!) Hopefully next time I'll be able to share some more delightful stories from my students!

Return to Blogging!

2008-12-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

I had all but given up on continuing this blog. I began this blog over 2 years ago to fufill a requirement for one of my education classes. I found blogging a useful outlet for all my experiences and I also enjoyed the feedback that readers often left.

However, as my last year of college rolled around, I found that I had little time left for my blog. This scarcity of time continued through the summer as I went into desperate job-seeking mode. Fortunately, I was able to find a job (better late than never!), but the whirlwind of preparations, lesson plans, paperwork, cutting, gluing, and sending notes to parents hasn't slowed down since the day I was hired. As I approach Christmas Break, I'm finally beginning to feel as if I have things a little more under control. And thus, I think I finally have some free time to reflect on my past four months as a first-year teacher.

Let me back up and quickly review the past year. In May, I graduated from my beloved college and entered into the "real world." I was still under the assumption that "teachers are needed everywhere" and I wouldn't have a problem finding a job. Despite many interviews over the summer, August came and I still didn't have a job. Thankfully, through a series of unexpected events, I got an interview at a school close to my home. I was offered a job teaching Kindergarten and after a weekend considering my options (teach Kindergarten in my home town or stay jobless), I enthusiastically agreed to teach Kindergarten.

The first few weeks seemed to drag by, but after I made it through September, the months seemed to pass quickly. I'm finally to the point where I feel that I sort of know what to expect each day and I'm beginning to see progress with many of my students. So far, I'm loving Kindergarten and I'm looking foward to the rest of the year with my students!

So, there's the synopsis of my life after my year-long hiatus from blogging! I plan to post again on some of my experiences in Kindergarten (because, boy, are there some interesting stories I can tell!!!), but I'll leave that all for another night!

The waiting game is no fun...

2008-04-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

I'm smack-dab in the middle of the job-search process. I had been forewarned that most counties don't hire until summer, but it is still frustrating to realize how true that is! I've had a few principal interviews, which is encouraging, but they've all been in the same county. I'm still waiting to hear back from the other counties that I've filled out applications for...

Does anyone have any particular tips on how to really make yourself stand out during this process? I feel like I'm doing everything I can, but I just can't help but be afraid that I'll blend in with all the other candidates...

I LOVE children's books!

2007-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

So I spent part of my afternoon today braving the last minute Christmas-shopping crowds. My dad had a few last minute items to buy and I decided to tag along for a few things. We ventured into Barnes and Noble where he was looking for a specific book. Seeing as I wasn't planning on buying anything (since I'd much rather just check out a book from the library...), I decided to wander over to the Children's book section.

Let me just say- I LOVE children's books. Since I was little, I have always loved reading (although being forced to read textbooks has made me realize I don't love ALL reading). I believe a large reason that I love reading is due to all the children's books that I read as a child. This is the one part of teaching that I absolutely can not WAIT to do! I am so excited to build up a classroom library, and so excited to read to my students, and so excited to share my enthusiasm for reading with them and so excited to watch each of my students (hopefully!) "catch" some enthusiasm for reading.

I spent some time skimming through some different children's books and found a few I really liked! I personally love the humorous children's books, although I really appreciate the more serious ones as well. There was one book, in particular, that cracked me up today. Walter the Farting Dog was probably one of the funniest books I have read in a while. Unfortunately, I think this book may border on slightly inappropriate for classroom use (I can just IMAGINE trying to settle down a group of kids after reading THAT at storytime!), but I think it's books like this that can be helpful in encouraging kids to read. I can see this story being one that a parent would buy for a child who hates reading, only to discover that the child would sit down and try to read this book...because it's just so funny that you WANT to try to read it. (I realize that's extremely over-optimisitic, but I'd like to think that maybe somewhere, with some child, it would work out that way:))

Besides Walter the Farting Dog, I was also able to read a few other quality books. I read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! The Pigeon books always make me smile, so I enjoyed reading this one. However, I still love Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! the best!

The last book I read was the story of Owen and Mzee. You may have heard the story of this pair. Owen was a baby hippo that was separated from his pod in the Decemeber 2004 tsunami. After he was rescued, he was put it a wildlife refuge. Because he was so young, the caretakers at the refuge didn't want to put him in with the full-grown hippos, so they introduced him to an area with smaller, calmer animals. One of these animals was Mzee, a 130 year-old tortoise. Owen and Mzee have since formed an amazing friendship. They are seen "snuggling" together, playing together, eating together, and sleeping together. This was unexpected since tortoises aren't exactly known for their nurturing skills. Not to mention that fact that Mzee is a reptile and Owen is a mammal! I thought this book was an adorable story, complete with amazing pictures! This is one book that I loved, and thought could easily be incorportated into many classroom lessons.

These were only the first three books I picked up in the store, and I loved them all! I think I'm in trouble if I go to buy books for my classroom next year...

Seeing as I have yet to begin teaching and I am still getting acquainted with all the children's books, I'd love to hear any suggestions you have! What are your favorite children's books? What books do your students love? What books lend themselves well to lessons that you teach in the classroom? I'd love to hear any and all advice!

A more intelligent form of procrastination...

2007-12-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

It's about this time of year that monotonous tasks begin to seem more exciting. I'm in the midst of cramming for finals and after sitting in the same position for the last five hours reading psychology text, just about ANYTHING seems more exciting. While I typically resort to checking my email obsessively (just to find that-surprise!!- I've recieved more junk mail at 1:38 in the morning!) or simply checking facebook obsessively, I've decided it's time to come up with a more productive form of procrastination.

Therefore, I decided to actually read some of the blog entries that are currently noted as "new" on my Bloglines account. I set up my RSS feeds (I think that's correct use of the terms, but I could be wrong...) during a "Teaching with Technology" class a few semesters ago. My professor recommended a few educator blogs to add, which I did, but I've been quite lax in actually reading them.

So, I suppose, fittingly, the one blog post I actually have gotten around to reading today was a post by my professor, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach in her blog 21st Century Learning. She posted the most amazing videos from a grad student, Johnny Lee, on how to use a wii remote to make a smartboard! Now, I had a little trouble following the exact instructions, but the possibility of creating a technology tool THAT amazing with materials THAT cheap astounds me. It just further excites me about the possibilities and oppotunities that will literally be surrounding me when I begin to teach in less than a year.

That being said, I must return to actual schoolwork now. I resolve to be much better about reading other educators' blogs, as I do think it is important to keep up with all the current information that's out there (and by looking at the number of unread blog entries I have, that's a WHOLE lot of information!)

Until next time, I hope everyone is having a wonderful evening and a happy holiday season!

And the job search begins...

2007-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

As of tomorrow, I will be beginning the search for a teaching job. I'm going to my first job fair and I'm slightly nervous about it. I've done a mock interview, polished my resume, and reviewed my portfolio, but I still feel unprepared. I hate not knowing what to expect- I don't know if I ask the first questions, or if the interviewer will ask the first questions....

Anyways, hopefully things will go fine. Does anyone have any other specific advice regarding the job search process? Any advice would be greatly appreciated:)

Summer Camp = Summer Fun

2007-06-28T19:29:00.001-07:00

Just some quick thoughts tonight...

After skimming some other blogs tonight, I realize how inadequate I feel when typing in this blog. Some people are so eloquent with their words, where as I feel that mine just spew and spill out without even making sense. So, bear with me if my blogs seem confusing, tangential, or just plain juvenille.

I wanted to post some quick reflections on my summer job thus far. I'm spending the summer working at summer camp (essentially a daycare kind of program) for the second summer in a row. With the completion of my student teaching last semester, I'm coming back with a slightly different perspective from last year. I think I always assumed that working with children, regardless of the setting, required the same set of skills. I've realized that summer camp and teaching require two completely different personas from me.

Until student teaching, most of the time I spent with kids was probably 80% friend role and 20% adult/authoritarian/disciplinarian role. I love goofing off with kids, playing games with them, talking to them about their likes and dislikes, and just hanging out with them in general. Between Bible School, Sunday School, Church Nursery, Babysitting, and summer camp, I thought that I was pretty well prepared to handle a classroom of students. As a leader in each of these roles, I had to maintain authority over the children, but in retrospect it was a very different kind of authority and relationship in general then the relationship I built with each of my students.

When student teaching finished up last semester, I realized that I didn't know my students that well. Sure, I knew a lot about each of my students because I spent all day discussing them with my cooperating teacher, but I was shocked at how little I really knew about each of their lives. I rarely had time to listen to students share their little ramblings about what their sibling said last night, where they lost their shoe, or how much they liked "Flushed Away." With my camp kids, I hear things like this all the time.

In a way, it makes me sad because I feel like, as a teacher, you don't get to know your students as well as you would like. In a classroom setting, you are one teacher with at least 15 kids. Your main goal is to help each student grow academically, and in order to do this, you have to sacrifice some of this personal time with students. I guess this is one thing I'll have to get used to as a teacher.

Another difference I noticed was my "classroom management" style. It makes me sad how picky you have to be about children's behavior in a classroom to keep that many students in order. I've come to understand how important classroom management is when trying to run a classroom efficiently, but it's so different from all the other "management styles" I'm used to. It seems unnatural sometimes to have students constantly following so many detailed directions...

Hopefully I'll be able to find my stride once I have my own classroom. I really hope that I can find time to "get to know my students" without sacrificing academic time. I also know that I will strive to have classroom management without constantly dictating every movement my students make. Until then, I supposs I'll continue enjoying my summer of essentially playing at camp!

VRA and Praxis Preparation

2007-06-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Since I figured summer would be slower-paced than the school year, I've signed up to take the VRA and Praxis this summer. From what I've heard, the tests aren't too rigorous, but I still want to prepare. Any suggestions for studying/etc for these tests?

Choices have consequences; make wise choices.

2007-04-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

My middle school motto said it best, "Choices have consequences; make wise choices."

As a student teacher, I came into the classroom midway through the year. I naturally assumed the same behavior management system as my cooperating teacher in order to provide continuity for my students. She had been big on "self-regulation" and helping students to understand that their choices all have consequences, good and bad.

This logic seems to simple. You make good decisions and good things will happen. You make bad choices and bad things will happen. Yet, it seems so difficult for first graders to remember. But should I be surprised? How often to I hear directions and not pay attention. How often do I blatantly disregard a rule or law?

Classroom and behavior management have been my biggest challenges thus far. Before teaching, I saw classroom management as a minor part of teaching. Now I realize that it is ever-present and one of the most challenging parts of teaching to grasp.

Coming up with a behavior management system is challenging. I want something that will motivate the kids, without rewarding them unnecessarily and too frequently. I want something that is achievable for all students, yet still rewards the students who make more frequent "good choices." And eventually, I want students to make ke good choices without the bribe of a reward.

So what's the best choice? So far, I've used a few things. I'm continuing my teacher's "marble system." Anytime the students are exceptionally good, do something exceptionally well, etc, they are rewarded a certain number of marbles. Once the marbles fill up the jar, the students get a party. The marble jar is used sporatically, but students are motivated to behave with the thought of getting marbles.

I also began a new system once I took over full time. I segmented the day into three parts, so that students have three chances to redeem themselves. The first time I call down a students during the day, their names goes on the board for that time period. So, if a student gets their name on the board in the morning, they still have the opportunity to keep their name off the board for two more period of the day. Each period that you keep your name off the board is worth a ticket. When students get five tickets, they recieve a sticker. This has worked ok. It's time consuming to put stickers in all the students bags and then count to see who has five. I think there's probably a better system that I"ll try once I have my own classroom.

Just my thoughts and struggles on behavior management for the time being...any suggestions?

Seamless Integration?

2007-04-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is my first post of the semester, as I've found myself in the midst of student teaching and insanely busy.

With a class specifically focusing on technology last semester, I found it easy to focus on technology in the classroom. However, now that I'm teaching, I realize that technology has fallen by the wayside. As a teacher, I use technology frequently. The internet is my lifesaver. I use it to find lesson ideas, worksheets, collaborate with other teachers, communicate with my cooperating teacher, etc, etc. But, I've found that my students rarely use technology IN the classroom.

I am in a first grade classroom and we have four computers. The computers are connected to the internet; however, the connection is rather slow. About once a week, there is a volunteer that comes into the classroom and helps students on the computers and they get about 15 minutes to play games on the computer. Other than that, we rarely use technology in the classroom.

I'd love to have a projector to project my computer screen on the board, but that's anot feasible. I'm not really sure of other ways to use technology in the classroom right now. I know that blogs are an option, but with only four computers and just me in the classroom...I'm not sure how to manage this.

Any suggestions from lower elementary school teachers of "best technology practices" in your classrooms?

Photostory = Amazing!

2006-12-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a family friend who is a teacher (and wonderful about sharing tips with me!), I discovered the program Photostory! I'm so excited about the possibilities with this program!

Essentially, Photostory creates a slideshow of your pictures. You can easily add music, text, and narraration. When I first read about it, it sounded similar to something you could do in Powerpoint. But, once I checked it out, I realized how much better it was! Photostory easily compiles all these elements for you.

The teacher who introduced Photostory to me said that she uses it in her Kindergarden class for show and tell. She takes pictures of the children with their belongings and then will post the Photostory on her class webpage. This allows the parents to see their children in school! This is especially good for parents who don't have the time to come into the classroom, because they are still able to see their children in school!

I've just downloaded the program, so I haven't had much of a chance to explore it, but I already have a project I'd like to attempt. I think Photostory would be a wonderful way to create a "virtual field trip." For a field trip lesson plan I had to create last semester, I went to Jamestown. While I was there, I took a ton of pictures. I think I could easily create a "virtual field trip" with these pictures. I could add my own narraration, and tailor the information to meet the SOLs. This would be a wonderful way for students to experience areas that are too far away for a field trip. And it is way more exciting than reading from a textbook!

Yay technology. I'm really excited to be able to try this out in my own classroom.

Don't have high expectations, and you won't ever be let down.

2006-12-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

I want to have high expectations.

Ever since I started school, I have adored playing the part of the teacher. I set up an entire school room in my basement and scoured Goodwills for old textbooks. I begged my siblings to sit still for more hours of "school" after they got home from "real school" and even had a treasure box to reward those especially good students!

As I've gotten older and come to realize the other considerations that play into a career choice, I've debated the teaching profession. The salary, (sometimes) lack of prestige, never-ending work, and persnickety parents were all factors that led me to reconsider. But, I couldn't envision myself truly waking up excited for any of the other jobs.

So, naturally, I have high expectations for the path I've chosen. I expect that I'll wake up every morning thrilled to be in the classroom. I expect that my students will always make me laugh, giggle, and be excited to learn. I expect that I'll have fun at school everyday, something that is impossible in any other job I could have chosen.

And I'm scared that I'm wrong. This semester I've been in the school about three days a week. I'm starting to get a good feel for what it's all about, and it's not quite living up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying it, but I'm just scared it won't be exactly as I've envisioned teaching.

Next semester, I'll student teach. I'm not going to lie. I'm petrified about student teaching. How will I ever be excited to teach every day if I'm starting out petrified? I'm scared the kids won't learn anything, I'll completely lose control of the classroom, my teacher will think I'm completely incompetent, I'll loose a student somewhere between homeroom and the cafeteria, or I'll simply burn out before I even graduate.

I'm excited, but the petrified feeling has pretty much taken over as I'm closely approaching student teaching. Why? I know I have the potential to do it, but somewhere along the way, I've lost my confidence.

I'm hoping that student teaching will be scary for a little bit, but end up reaffirming my desire to teach. I think of myself as an optimist, so I'd rather not go into this with low expectations. I want to go in with high expectations for myself, my class, my chosen profession.

The vulnerability scares me.

But it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Dress to Impress

2006-12-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

"As pre-service teachers participating in practica and student teaching experiences in the schools, the SOE students are expected to meet or exceed the schools' expectations of appearance and behavior. Unkempt clothing, shorts, sandals, mini-skirts, bare midriffs, excessive body piercings, t-shirts, bare shoulders...are oftentimes unacceptable for school teachers. Students should dress professionally at all times in the schools, typified by slacks, skirts, collared shirts, ties, closed toed shoes, and the like." excerpt from Student Teaching Handbook

So don't get me wrong. I love sweatpants. I recently told my roomate that I sincerely believed sweatpants should become acceptable as daily casual wear. I'm a big fan of comfort.

But, I'm also a big fan of looking professional. Last semester, we had a long introduction to the School of Education. Somewhere in between testing requirements and evaluation forms, there was mention of appropriate dress. Being the eager student I was, I listened carefully and began mentally planning outfits for my first few visits to the school. Now, maybe I'm just excited to play teacher and dress the part, but I've noticed some slacking in the dress code department at my school.

Elementary school doesn't necessarily lend itself to high fashion. Kids throw up, wet their pants, wave magic markers and wipe their noses on the nearest adult. So naturally, I'm not expecting to see people in their most fabulous outfits. But I do expect to see slacks and a button up shirt,or something along those lines. I've surprised by the number of jeans that I've seen teachers and other faculty wearing. I've seen jean shorts, and even occasionally sweatpants!

Personally, I think we should try to hold ourselves to slightly higher standards. Although we are working with children (who can be more than messy at times), as teachers we are still professionals. By dressing the part, I feel you will demand more respect, and also expect more from yourself.

We've all heard the saying where you know a Mom has given up when you only see her in sweats. It's essentially the same thing when you see a teacher constantly dressing down.

So, here's to a challenge for all the teachers (and student teachers!)- don't forget that you are a professional as well! Dress the part!

" A Silent Voice"

2006-12-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, I was skimming through "People" while working out. I noticed an article about something called "School on Wheels" and decided to see what it was all about. The article described a school for homeless children, founded by Agnes Stevens.

When I searched for more information on Agnes Stevens, a newsclip came up on YouTube.

This videoclip gave more information about her program and interviewed a few of the children that had been helped by her program. I'm in awe of this undertaking. I've seen the challenge teaching brings when in a structured classroom. Knowing that, I'm extremely impressed by the volunteers who run this program. It's wonderful to know that there are programs like this out there for students who easily "fall through the cracks" in public schools. Hopefully this is a program that will grow enough to branch out into other cities.

A friendly look, a kindly smile, one good act, and life's worthwhile.

2006-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

Just a quick comment for the day. I went into my practicum classroom today to discover that my cooperating teacher was out with the stomach flu. Needless to say, there was a sub there in her place. While I talked to the sub for a few minutes and she seemed like a nice-enough woman, I didn't see her smile the entire time I was there.

Maybe it's just me, but smiles sure brighten up the classroom. I'm pretty sure kids can sense a teachers' mood and if a teacher isn't happy to be at school, can you complain if kids aren't happy to be there either?

A Bump in the Road

2006-11-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of planning my third lesson out of four for a unit in the spring. I needed to take a break, so I decided to write a bit in my blog. These first two lesson plans have been slightly discouraging. I know I didn't put full effort into the first one, but I thought my second one was really good. Never the less, when I got them back from my professor, my grade was horrible for both of them. I know that I'm still learning and I realize my mistakes once they were pointed out, but it's still discouraging.

Is lesson planning something that gets easier the longer you teach? I sure hope so. And I hope it doesn't take too long to catch on because right now it takes me about 5 times longer to create a lesson plan than it does to actually teach the same lesson.

Reflections on Technology

2006-11-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

All the educational resources available via Web 2.0 are almost overwhelming. Prof Nussbaum-Beach has introduced my class to so many resources. We've tried out TappedIn, blogger, Flickr, wikis...tons of things that I'd never heard of before. I'm excited about all the new possibilities but I'm scared that 1. I'll forget about these resources 2. That they won't work out realistically when I get my own classroom.

It's reassuring to see examples of classrooms that have been able to incorporate technology effectively (for collaboration and communication!). One example is of Anne Davis's class of fifth graders. I explored their blogs recently and it was quite interesting to see what they had to say. Most of the students only had about 3 entries so far. The first entry was just a short introduction of themselves, the second was a poem, and the third seemed to be a response to an article of their choosing. While these entries didn't seem to have any information overwhelmingly special, I was able to see the importance of using blogs with these students. Benefits I noted:
1. Prepares them for the real world
There's no denying the fact that computers rule society. If we don't teach these students the technology while they're in school, they are in BIG trouble when they try to enter the workforce. Blogging gives students a meaningful task to practice computer-skills. Not to mention, it's great typing practice. I guess typing skills probably come more naturally for students these days, but wish I had been able to have that kind of typing practice instead of forced typing games.
2. Excites them
I'm not going to lie- I usually check my blog just to see if I got comments. Usually, they're just from Prof Nussbaum-Beach, but none the less, I'm thrilled to know someone is reading my writing. If nothing else, I'm encouraged to write more, just to get more comments. What better motivation could you give emerging writers?
3. Gives them a different mode for publishing
If students are taught like the students in my practicum school, then they've been writing and writing and writing and writing....forever. Handwriting gets old. This is an exciting new way to publish their writing. Not to mention a great way to share it with audiences that otherwise would never have the opportunity to read it.
4. Encourages them to work on their own
If students have access to computers at home, they can add to their blog whenever they feel like it. I know when I was a kid, I wrote tons of short stories. If I had been able to post them to a blog that would have been amazing! It would also help to give the teacher an idea of how much (or how little) students enjoy writing and creating stories, and how they are progressing.

Logistically, I'm curious how blogging works in the classroom. Would this be a daily task? Weekly? Monthly? I know that my students have computer lab once every 6 days, but the computer teacher usually has a lesson assigned. There are 2 sets of laptops available, but this would seem to be a hassle if blogging were a frequent activity. My classroom has about five computers..maybe it could be set up as an "in class" centers activity.

Just some thoughts. I'm glad that I'll continually have the blogging world and the entire internet to use as resources once I get out into the teaching world. It's amazing how much easier and quicker the internet has made life!

First two lessons EVER!

2006-11-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I taught my two first lessons. Ever.
Due to the way the schedule is set up, I ended up teaching my lessons back to back. This was slightly nerve-racking, as I was afraid that if I bombed the first lesson, there would be no hope for the second lesson.

My first lesson was taught during the children's computer centers time. I had planned a webquest for my students and then a worksheet on Kidspiration if they finished the webquest in time. Since I'm in a first grade class and some of the students are still struggling with reading, I decided to create podcasts for the entire webpage. I had a little difficulty finding a way to create a podcast, so I ended up using Xanga to create and audio file and then copied the html into into my html on questgarden.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the first graders and a webquest. I started the lesson by having all the students sit on the floor and we reviewed what they remembered from their field trip to Jamestown (the webquest was on the Powhatan Indians) and then I used the smartboard to go over a few things relating to the webquest. I explained to students that they should push the triangle button to hear the words read to them. I tried to explain the concept of clicking on a link and then clicking the back button to return to the main page.

All in all, it wasn't a disaster. It was pretty chaotic, though. I know that many teachers are wary of using webquests with children this young. As far as the material goes, I don't think my students had a problem at all. They understood how to click to listen to the audio bits, but overall I think the students needed a little more exposure to webpages before doing an independent webquest. Many of the students didn't understand the concept of scrolling down each page to make sure they had read all the information. Many of them got confused once they clicked on a link and did not know where to go from there.

I think that they seemed to enjoy the idea (especially the fact that there were games at the end they could play once they finished!), but next time I'll ease into the webquest gradually. Probably if I had done a webquest on the smartboard first and then in another lesson done something small about navigating webpages and I modeled and then students tried the same thing, then my lesson would have worked better.

2006-10-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to create a Webquest for my first grade students today, but I've been having a lot of trouble. While I love the idea behind webquests, I'm not sure how to make the most out of them. I want to do a webquest with first graders and this raises a lot of concerns. First off, I know that I'll have to do them in groups, because there's no way that we'd get anything done if they were each at individual computers, so I'm not sure what to do with the students while they aren't at the computer. Some of my first graders can read pretty well, but most of them struggle through a sentence or two. Since being able to read the directions of a webquest is pretty critical, that means that I'll have to be with the group reading to them....so I'm not sure how to keep an eye on the rest of the students. I also want the groups to complete the webquests as independently as possible, but if I'm right there, I'm afraid that I'll give more direction than they need.

Any advice on logistics when using webquests with lower elementary?

2006-09-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

One of the things I LOVE about the education program is the excuse to read children's books. As a kid, I absolutely LOVED reading and actually got in trouble because I'd read too much (yeaaaa I'd take my book to the dinner table). So, needless to say, I was especially excited when one of our assignments was to read 19 different children's books. I've started reading a few, but the library here at school doesn't have a great selection.

At lunch during my practicum yesterday, the other teachers were talking about the Children's Lit classes they had taken. This class has been eliminaated from the education program here, which disappoints me. We're covering a little bit in another class, and it's surprising what you can learn about children's books.
1. It didn't occur to me that picture books could be used for older kids.
2. I never took pictures and how kids would react to them into account.

I was also surprised at some of the books that my fellow students hadn't heard of! I guess it just depends on which books you read as a little kid, but I was really surprised when some people hadn't heard of the hungry caterpillar!

This makes me wonder how well I'll keep up with books that the kids love. I know I have a huge list of favorites, and I'm crossing my fingers that my students will love them too! I'm wondering what some good resources for discovering new books are? Any suggestions? Comments on favorite children's books? Specifc ways to use them in lessons?

2006-09-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

For technology class this we, we were required to complete a "Technology Inventory." This basically forced us to discover the technology available in our schools, and it was really interesting what I found out.

The school I'm in now is fairly new (read: 6 years old and ALREAdy adding on), so you'd think that it might be more "up with technology" than some older schools. I can't say this is really the case.

I've visited the computer lab, and it does seem well equipped. There are plenty of new computers and a smart board for the computer teacher to use with students. Most classrooms have about 5 computers that students can use and have internet connections available. And, of course, each teacher has their own computer. The library has a relatively impressive selection of media to check out, such as digital video cameras, digital cameras, etc. The only application the school DIDN'T have was video conferencing.

After listing that, I suppose the school is rather well equipped. But, what surprised me was the lack of technology use in the school. I know that incorporating technology may be harder for teachers that have been around for a while, and it's harder to use with younger children, but still.

There is one student with disabilities in my classroom that uses the computer frequently to do learning excercises. But I haven't really seen my students use technology otherwise. My teacher didn't know much about the applications when I asked. She did know that she had web space available to create her own page, but she said she hadn't had time and that they had been given just quick instructions on how to create their own websites.

Another thing that surprised me at the school was that the morning announcements are still on the PA system. When I was in high school, we had morning announcements on TV and I know my little sister (who was in elem school at the time) also had the closed circuit broadcast announcements. The elem school she was at was definitely not brand new or in an especially affluent section, so it's interesting to see the differences in how some schools have this and others don't.

So, I didn't think that my school had exceptional technological resources when I started this post, but after rereading what I've written, I think I'm changing my mind. There are definitely plenty of resources available, but they aren't used to their potential. Teachers don't really know how to incorporate them seamlessly, if at all. Hopefully all the WONDERFUL advice I'm getting in class this year will help me to be better at integrating technology into the classroom.

2006-09-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

With a month of classes behind me, I'm in the midst of the education program and getting ready to start multiple lesson plans. After spending two hours of group debate and planning for one lesson, I'm beginning to appreciate the amount of time that goes into a single lesson plan. I was excited to read Miguel Guhlin's blog with a lesson plan for teaching poetry to second graders.

He promoted the use of ClassBlogmeister to publish 2nd graders poems online. This would enable other classrooms to read and comment on the poems posted. Without having an account on ClassBlogmeister, I haven't had a chance to see exactly how this works, but I'm excited about the concept. As I was reading Miguel's blog, I thought that he was simply going to photocopy the poems and distribute them to the students, but then I realized that they were going online. What a great way to make all the poems accessible to the entire class! Not to mention the excitment of actually seeing your poem online! This sounds like a wonderful way to share the poems, without wasting paper...and I like the fact that students get to read the other students' poems and analyze/critique/comment on them.

I'll have to look into this ClassBlogmeister for when I'm student teaching. Anyone else have experience/ideas with this tool?

2006-09-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to make this quick since I have about a million other things to get done, but I wanted to blog about this before I forgot about the incident.

Today, while I was at my practicum (in a first grade classroom), I overheard a conversation that totally shocked me. I was sitting on the side of the playground watching the kids play, with another little girl sitting next to me. One of the girls in my class came up to me and the little girl beside me and told us both that we were invited to her birthday party. A girl from one of the other classrooms overheard the invitation and asked if she could come too. The girl from my classroom responded, "No, I'm sorry but my parents said we couldn't have black people over. I'm only allowed to invite one." Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked to hear this come out of her mouth. I was baffled as to what to say. I didn't want to make a huge deal of it, if it wasn't necessary, but I also don't want children to go around with these ideals and I definitely don't want feelings to get hurt.

I talked to my cooperating teacher about the incident and she told me that this little girl IS known for saying things for shock value. She called the little girl aside and asked her what she had said earlier and if her parents had really told her this. She adamently agreed that they had, so my teacher said she would talk with the mother. So, after witnessing this, I'm curious of the best way to handle it. If these are the kind of ideas the parents are instilling in their child, I definitely disagree with them, but it makes me wonder what the place of the teacher is in this situation? I feel that she should be told to act a certain way in school, but is it really the teacher's place to overrule the parents' ideals overall? My cooperating teacher told the little girl not to tell other children in school what her parents said, so hopefully at least conflict is avoided for the time being.

I'm not sure exactly what topic to search in order to find more information about how to handle an issue like this, but I will be doing more research when I have more time. If anyone has any suggestions for the best way to handle an issue similar to this, I'd love comments.

2006-04-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

Education and Wellness

Recent research for an education paper and the culmination of a Wellness class have peaked my interest in the subject. We spend so much time debating what we can do to improve children's minds; meanwhile, their bodies are falling by the wayside. I understand that standardized tests put teachers under enormous pressure to cram in academics, but what happened to all the recess that children used to have?
In my practicum, kids have PE one day a week. If they are able to finish all their work, then they may get to play outside for a few minutes each day. While this is unrelated to fitness, I"m amazed that 3rd graders can stay focused for an entire day without any time to get their "wiggles" out. 6-6.5 hours is a long time to sit still! I observe for 5 hours/day and by the end of about 2 hours, I'm ready to jump, run, or at least stretch out.
But, despite the fact that it's nice to have a break, it's also crucial to children's health that good health habits are formed at an early age. Over 9 million children today are obese, and the government has decided that it's time to take action.
Action for Healthy Kids (http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/about.php) is an initiative that aims to combat obesity in the following three ways:
1.Increasing access to nutritious food choices in schools
2. Adding or continuing PE programs and extra curricular excercise activities
3. Educate administrators, teachers, parents and children

I think that this is an excellent initiative that is very necessary in our school systems today. Academics are so important, but bottom line is...obesity causes tons of health problems. Obesity leads to preventable deaths due to heart attacks, diabetes, etc. When it comes down to it, what good will it do if you're a genius, but your health is failing because you haven't taken care of your body?
Hopefully this will inspire schools to not push health and PE aside...children still need to know the importance of playing outside, having fun, eating healthily and taking care of their bodies. What's the possibility of including some standards for fitness? Or at least holding schools accountable for providing better options for fitness?

2006-04-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

We've been learning about special education in one of my classes and I have mixed feelings on the subject. I was talking to my dad, who is legally blind, about it the other weekend. He said it really frustrates him how his tax money goes towards helping some of these kids that are definately not going anywhere. And by this I mean the ones that need 24/7 medical attention and really can't learn much at all. I know there are many different types of disabilities serviced by special ed, but my dad said from his pov, he really thought that more of that money should be used for students who had a lot of potential.

I know it gets complicated, because it's not like you want to give up on students. But I am concerned that average to above average students will get left behind because so much attention is devoted to the special ed children. I was in an inclusion classroom in 5th grade and I remember kids crying ALL the time and the teacher had different colors used for the different groups of kids' assignments and I could never understand why my work was so much harder than theirs.

Do we have proponents of putting more into gifted/average than special ed? Or is that too taboo...I mean I know and completely understand all children need to have equal access. Any practical classroom experience with this?

2006-03-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

I've been a little delayed in getting this posted, but I wanted to share what I learned at Jonathon Kozol's lecture. I hadn't heard of Kozol before going to the lecture, but I thoroughly enjoyed what he had to say.

To begin, I'll just sum up a lot of what he said. It may or may not be new information for some of you, but for those of you who don't know much about Kozol, it may be helpful background information.

Kozol began by telling us how he was fired in the 60s for teaching Langston Hughes in his classroom. This was a 4th grade classroom (the very first classroom he ever taught in) and he was the 13th teacher of the school year. He told us that there was one little girl who didn't really seem interested in school at all and when he read Langston Hughes she came back and asked if she could borrow the book to take it home and show her parents.

He went on to tell us about one of his students, Pineapple. Pineapple was very authoritative for her age...I want to say she was about 6 or 7. She even bossed around Hillary Clinton when she came to visit the classroom! Pineapple went to school somewhere in a very poor section of New York City. (Bronx, i think?) Kozol said that $11,000/ year was allotted for Pineapple's education, which is basically the lowest amount. As much as $22,000/student/year is spent in some places. The nicest public schools for high school spend as much as $40,000/year/student. Kozol pointed out the horrible condition of the school that Pineapple attended and said that, in his experience, if you want to find the worst of the worst schools, to look for one that is named after MLK, Jr., Rosa Parks, or Thurgood Marshall. He said that bad school conditions "animalize" people and aesthetics really do count. At one school that he visited in LA, half the kids in the high school had classes in trailers.

I'm not sure if it was at this same school, or another one, but he talked about a high school that he visited one year in that vicinity. The teacher handed the room over to Kozol when he came to visit, assuming he could teach the class something. Kozol described what the students told him during that visit. One girl, a sophomore was extremely upset because the school was forcing her to take hair styling 2, instead of allowing her to take an AP class. They also made her take sewing, which she said she had learned at home because her mother worked on an assembly line doing some sort of sewing and had taught her how to sew. This girl wanted so badly to rise above the profession that her mother had, but the school was limiting her by limiting the classes she could take.

Kozol also broached the subject of standardized tests. He said that schools were abolishing recess so that they would have more time to cram in drilling for exams. Kindergarten classrooms had kids taking scantron tests the very first weeks of school. He talked about the thousands of dollars that parents are now spending to prepare kids for kindergarten, which is only putting those that can't afford prekindergarten farther behind. He pointed out that the old saying, "Money can't buy everything," is very untrue when it comes to education...money can buy everything in the case of education.

He talked about the problem of keeping schools up to standards without something like NCLB, because of all the negative implications NCLB has had. Kozol proposed recruiting good teachers and sending them to terrible schools.

He also said that schools are getting segregated again-some in small cities, but especially in big cities. The number of black kids who attend segregated schools is the highest since MLK, Jr.

I'm not completely sure what to think about his lecture. I completely agree with all the problems he identified, but then again, I don't think anyone would dismiss them. My feeling, though is, some of the solutions don't seem to be as easy as he thinks.

The first thing that I'm confused about in his lecture is the amount of money spent on students. Now I know that the cost of living is much different in different places, but I remembered that the county I come from was very low for spending per student. I looked up the statistics (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:uqmd1wRe7KoJ:www.radford.edu/~junnever/educ.dis.htm+bedford+county,+va+money+spent+on+students&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5)
and discovered that my county is in the lowest 5 for spending per student in Virginia. We spend just $4,650 per student. I don't understand the discrepencies between this number and the number he quoted for Pineapple's education. I come from a rural/suburban, relatively middle class area...and that's still all that's allotted per student. Somehow I managed to come out just fine. Now, I know that I had a lot of advantages...I had parents that supported me, I did well in school in general, so I was encouraged to try harder, etc. But as far as class offerings, I really didn't have a plethera. The majority of my teachers were....just ok. My school was way overcrowded and they've been arguing for a good 10 years whether to renovate or just tear it down...neither of which will probably ever happen because they can't compromise. And when I was in ninth grade, the school was closed for three weeks because they found asbestos allll over the school. Before this, kids with allergies had transfered schools because they couldn't breathe in our school. So, I realize that these conditions probably aren't anything compared to the worse schools, but my point is...I didn't go to private school, I obviously didn't go to the best or even a good public school, and I (along with about 6 other people from my graduating class) made it to William and Mary.

I think Kozol focused too much on the gap between the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich. And when he put it like that, it did seem absolutely terrible. I think it owuld have beem more accuarate if he could have compared the middle class to the poorer class. I'm assuming that the majority of America attends public, middle class schools, not the elite, $40,000/year schools that he mentioned. When you have enough money to spend $40,000 year on education, then it is quite likely that your money can buy you just about everything. But when you attend public school, like most of the people I knew/know...money can't buy you everything. Sometimes it does just take hard work...but I guess I'm not considering the people that can easily slip through the cracks...they're probably the ones that are forgotten when you don't spend that much money.

Kozol's solution, in an ideal world would be great. Except, if we send all the good teachers to teach in the horrible schools, what will happen to the children in the middle class schools. It's like a catch 22, because in order to catch up and help the poorer schools, it sounds like the middle class schools will have to sacrifice and either way someone will lose. I thought it was interesting how he said that the children who are going to preschool 2 and 3 years before kindergarten have such an advantage over those who aren't able. But I know so many people who didn't attend preschool at all before kindergarten, and if they did, it was more of a babysitting service, not a kindergarten-preparation service. I do understand that there is a difference in kids beginning kindergarten whose parents take time to work with them on letters and numbers and whose parents don't, but I don't necessarily agree with the fact that just because you can't afford preschool dooms the rest of your education. I think Kozol put too much emphasis on the problems with the lack of money, when often the problem is more the lack of parents' concern.

And to be completely honest, I'm a little scared by Kozol's proposition to take all the great teachers and put them in the worse schools. I don't necessarily agree that this is our obligation as great teachers, because great teachers are needed everywhere. I truly respect the people that can go and teach in the schools, but to be honest, I'm not sure I could. I'm very intimidated by the idea. I'm scared I would be burn out after only a year and the rest of my career (and all the other kids I could help) would be ruined. I babysat for two challenging kids from a middle class home, and that in itself burned me out...I don't know if I could handle some of these classrooms. I don't think I'm assertive enough, and I'm not sure that's a personality characteristic that I could fake. I do agree that we need some good teachers to go teach these children, but I can't say that it is every single good teacher's responsibility to go to these schools. Maybe it's because I don't want to feel guilty because I really don't think I could handle it, but I truly believe that other children need wonderful educations as well. There will be needy children in most middle class areas and they need a good education as much as the other children.

So, I'm really not sure what the solution to all the problems are. I suppose Kozol's solution is a start and as time goes on, maybe we'll discover other, better solutions.

To close, Kozol had some quotes I really liked, so I thought that I'd include them for your enjoyment.:)

"6 year olds only have a theoretical connection with their chairs."
"Even in the worst of situations, the resilient souls of little children delight me."

...in response to letting children speak without correcting their grammer...
"Sometimes at the end of all those ands and buts, there's a hidden treasure"

Questions? Comments? Let me know what you think about Jonathon Kozol's ideas. I'd love to know!

2006-02-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

This is more of a reminder to myself to come back and elaborate later. I went to hear Jonathon Kozol speak tonight at the Kimball, as a requirement for Educ 310. He was an amazing speaker and I want to share what he said with my own commentary, but not tonight. So, I'll update soon on his lecture!

2006-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed skimming these education blogs a lot. It's AMAZING how much information is available...between the blogs and tappedin, it's reassuring to know I'll have these resources once I begin teaching!

In my skimming, I ran across an interesting article. http://letthelearningbegin.blogspot.com/ This teacher talked about the accomodations for one of her students with vision problems. This was actually really interesting to me because my Dad is legally blind, and uses something similar. One of the little boys in a classroom that I observed at home had some vision problems as well and it's interesting to see the options available now. I'm a little nervous about working with students who have difficulties in different areas, but it's helpful to know that I'll can get different info off the internet and from other teachers!

2006-02-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

So I just thought I'd mention that SIN has a job search site, and as of today they now have RSS feeds so you'll know when there's a new job. I thought it was pretty amazing that two weeks ago I would have had no clue what they were talking about, but now I'm excited because I know exactly what to do with that RSS feed!

2006-02-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

So I guess I'm not 100% sure exactly what I'm supposed to be writing in here, so I'll put some stuff down and hope it's right. It's been a really cool experience so far to learn about all the options I have as an elementary school teacher to use technology. I did a slightly random search of elementary education blogs last night and I got really really excited about teaching! I can't wait for my practicum to start and I can't wait to student teach next year!

One of the blogs that I've set as a feed was really interesting. http://community.livejournal.com/elem_ed/ It's a compilation of a lot of elementary ed majors and there are some really great ideas posted on there. I read the article about the Olympics and I was amazed at the great ideas that they came up with that incorporated learning with fun!! It really inspired me to think of all the fun things you can do that the kids can relate to (and learn from!). I think that's about all I have to say for now.

I think it'll be interesting to see what the practicums are like and how much they use technology. I LOVE the fact that the internet opens you up to thousands of mentors. I'm slightly more wary about having students use all the technology, simply because I'm not sure if the schools I'll be teaching in will be equipped. I think that's gonna be the biggest challenge, and I'm interested in seeing how schools around here address that.

I think that's all for now. I know I'll have lots more to comment on once I start my practicum. Yay!

2006-01-31T22:08:00.000-08:00

Let's see about my experiences with technology...I think the farthest back I remember is elementary school. I remember in second grade we had computers in the classroom and got to play this math/reading game where we'd collect numbers and have to answer math or reading questions and watch out for slime monsters. We had a computer lab at my elementary school, and we went and played some of the same games, but I don't really remember how often. I don't remember when we first got a computer at home. I know my dad had one for a while, but the first time I remember using it was in third grade when I got this Kidpix game for my birthday.

I also remember my dad had a seriously old laptop and he told me that he could set it up so I could write my stories on it. (I loved writing when I was little). I was so excited at the time to use it, but now thinking about it, it was really primitive, since all I would have been able to do was type.

I've never been a computer whiz, but at the same time I'm not completely incompetant either. Until high school, I pretty much just used the computer for playing games at home and typing up papers. In high school, though, I had a computer course sophomore year that introduced me to some things (like access) that I hadn't known before. Junior and senior year of high school I learned A LOT more about computers b/c I went to a governor's school where we had to use them. Before this, I really didn't even know how to use a disk (ah I can't think of what they're called) and then I learned about USB drives, and making webpages and all that... There was one point a while ago when I kinda dabbled at making a webpage after my dad showed me about html, but I never got it online, so I just had fun making links and adding music and doing stuff like that. For my junior research class in high school, I actually had to make a webpage for my project and then had to edit the school's website.