Watch Dog Math

It was Thursday and the routine begins as usual, except for seeing two of my kiddos and their dad/uncle on the morning broadcast. This means that they will be visiting my classroom for the next hour. (I always hope they take the initiative to help the kids with their work and maintain classroom order...some think that hour is about them entertaining the class.) Luckily, this dad and uncle were on top of things. They made their way around the classroom helping students with their morning math problems. I told them I would be reviewing a lesson on transformations. They both looked at me puzzled..."I am good at math, but I don't know what you are talking about." I told them they could look at the chart we had created the day before to brush up.

When the lesson began, I had the kids remind the dad and uncle what each transformation meant (translation, reflection, rotation). The kids were loving this. They were so excited they knew something that these grown men did not. I stretched out the lesson as long as possible, having the kids wait to give answers until the dad/uncle had theirs as well. It was funny. The best part was when they would get an answer wrong. The kids had a great time and learned even more through explaining it to these dads...but in a more fun way than explaining it back to me.

Sometimes I'm annoyed with the dads that come to be Watch Dogs because they don't know how to interact with the kids and think it's just a day of playing with the kids, even when they are in the classroom during learning time. I don't mind having the dads that know how to make their way around the room helping kids and maintaining order.

I need the spray!

Richard is a "character" in my class that keeps me on my toes and thinking, "What will he say next?" Here are a few examples of today's randomness...

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Scenario #1:
We are at recess and I see Richard walking up with his arms out like Jesus and his wrists are clenched tightly.
Richard: "I NEED THE SPRAY!"
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Richard: "I AM BURNING!"
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Richard: (whispering in a pain-filled voice) "My back is sunburned."
Me: (looking at his shoulders)
Richard: (whisper again) "Other side!"
Me: "Okay, go to the nurse and get the spray."
Richard: (walks inside with his arm still stretched out and wrists clenched)

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Scenario #2
We are talking about transformations (math-->translation, rotation, reflection) and Richard was having a problem seeing the figures in the book as congruent. The key to the lesson was that the shapes had to be congruent to even be considered as a transformation.
Richard: "Ms. L, number 10 is not congruent."
Me: "I disagree. It is on a chart to show you it is congruent."
Class: "Yeah Richard...those are congruent."
Richard: "No! Look closely! This one is on the line and this one is barely right under the line. That means they aren't the same size. They aren't congruent, so they aren't any type of transformation."
Me: "No. It is on the graph paper. I see them both exactly on the line. Remember that I said if they were NOT congruent, you would be able to tell with a glance. The pictures will show a large enough difference in the size that it won't even be a doubt in your mind."
Richard: "But these aren't the same size. This one is right under the line and that one is on the line."
Me: "Richard! I promise you those are congruent shapes. They will not make the shapes a half of a millimeter smaller. It will be something you will notice immediately. You are staring at the picture too much. Look away and then look back and tell me if they are the same size."
Richard: "They aren't!!!!! This one is just a tiny tiny bit bigger than that one."
Me: "Okay! Take my word for it that they are congruent. What type of transformation is that??? Even if you don't agree that they are congruent, what transformation is it?"
Richard: "But it's not..."
Me: "Yes it is! Let's move on!"

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Scenario #3
I was doing a guided reading lesson during Explorer Time (aka intervention time), when Richard approached with something he HAD to tell me.
Richard: "Ms. L, this dice is a cheating dice." (No, he doesn't know it's called a die.)
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Richard: "This dice is a cheating dice. It only goes up to three."
Me: "I guess that's all the game needs...is three."
Richard: "But it's a cheating dice."
Me: "I still don't understand."
Richard: "If they get six, then I can only get three. It's a cheating dice."
Me: "I don't know how they will get six when the die only goes to three."
Richard: (begins walking away) "All I wanted to tell you is that this is a cheating dice. IT'S A CHEATING DICE!"
Me: "Okay."

Why would you do that?

A conversation I overhead during book clubs while I was working with another group:

Richard: "Why would you turn in your paper when you know that your answers are wrong?"
Elliot: "I don't know the answer."
Richard: "That doesn't mean you should turn in your paper with the wrong answers. Why don't you look through the book and find the right answers. I just don't see why you would turn it in knowing you have the wrong answers. That's not very smart."
Elliot: (looks at Richard annoyingly)
Richard: "Why don't you try to get the right answers. Turning it in doesn't make sense. You're not trying."
Elliot: (still sitting in silence and staring at Richard very annoyed at this point) "I'm just going to turn it in."
Richard: "WHY????"
Elliot: "Cause I can't do it. I don't know the answer."
Richard: "Well, get your paper and look in your book. You shouldn't just turn in your paper because you don't know. You're not trying."
Elliot: (goes to turn in his paper)
Richard: "That's not very smart. You shouldn't do that."

At this point, I step in and tell Elliot that Richard has a point and that I don't want any papers in the basket to be graded that you know are incorrect. The response of course is a grunt and a devilish stare...not at Richard, but at me. Come on...Richard was the one grilling you and giving you the third degree. It's because of him that I knew what was going on.

It's that time again...

...for the end of the 9 weeks awards ceremony. You all know that I have a class that is a bit sensitive. I don't even think "a bit sensitive" begins to describe how sensitive they really are. It's quite ridiculous. Ever since our first awards ceremony, I dread these days. It never fails that I have a student crying because they didn't get the awards they wanted or they didn't get any award at all.

Here goes the speech I give before or after each awards ceremony:
"I can tell that there are some people who are upset about the award they received or that they didn't receive any award at all. Remember that the last 9 weeks began on Monday. If you are unhappy, you have 9 weeks to prove that you deserve one of those awards. It's never too late. To show me that you deserve an award, you should be completing quality work, turning in ALL of your work and giving 100% effort. If you are doing all of those things, I can promise your efforts will be recognized in one way or another (honor roll or hustle award). Remember that the harder you work, the better your report card will be and the better chance you'll have at earning an award...and blah blah blah and so on, so on, so on!"

FYI: I had 3 criers.

Just change it!!!

It was Friday, which meant we were doing a reading passage to practice for TAKS. This can sometimes cause some drama when students don't get the 100 they are working for. This is especially true for Victor.

He brought his passage up for me to grade. (I grade these right away so the students can see where they made mistakes. Most of the time it was careless and they know the right answer.) I began grading and by the time I got to the second page, had already circled 3 for being wrong. I glanced at the rest of the paper and there were no more incorrect answers. He grabbed the paper from my hands and insanity ensued:

Victor: "No, these are right! Change them! They are right!"
Me: "I'm sorry, but they are not."
V: "Yes they are! Change them!!!"
Me: "Change them to what?"
V: "They are right, change them!"
Me: "What do you want me to do?" (He has now changed the answers to the correct choice.)
V: "Change these!!"
Me: "Okay, I will change them. You got them correct now."
V: "I want to start over!!!"
Me: "Do you want me to get you a new packet and you can do it again?"
V: "I just want to do it again."
Me: "Okay, I'll get another one. You can start over."
V: (gets my pen from my desk and scribbles out the marks I wrote on his paper)
Me: "Is that better?" ((Please keep in mind that the rest of the class is in the room and we are stacking and packing getting ready to head home for the weekend!))
V: "What's my grade? Give me a 100!"
Me: "I can't give you a 100." (Even though this would have probably made the whole situation go away, it would have set a president for the upcoming weeks of practice reading passages.)
V: "Give me a 100!"
Me: (I wrote 75 on the paper, crossed it out, and wrote 'corrected'.)
V: "NO!!!!!!!!! Give me a 100! I'm never going to pass TAKS!"
Me: "You will pass TAKS. You made a 75 on this. That is a passing grade. You would have passed TAKS with that grade."
V: "NOOOOO!!!! I'm never going to pass TAKS. This is not a good grade."
Me: "It's time to go. You have to go home now."
V: "I need a 100 first. I don't want to go. I want to get a 100."
Me: "I'm sorry. I have to go with the other kids. Ms. O will take you to your bus."

April Fool's!

As an April Fool's surprise for the kiddos at our school, our principal approved anyone who wanted to switch places. My portable mate and I jumped at the chance to change places with the PE coaches for a day. So we arrived at school in our athletic wear (one of the biggest perks of the day) and went to the gym, but instead of picking up our classes and heading to our rooms, we lingered. The kids weren't sure what was going on. We told them to just be patient (while the PE coaches finished up their morning duties). And so the spiel began...

"Ms. D, the principal, has decided that she is going to try a new program. She thinks it's important for teachers to be able to teach anything. Because of that, she made some changes. This is something that will stay this way for the rest of the year. Ms. H and Ms. L are now Coach H and Coach L and the coaches now teach 4th grade. You may also notice some other teachers that have been switched as well."

All was well for a while this morning. My portable mate and I were in the gym doing our thing, having so much fun, while I was hearing murmurs of what was happening in my classroom. I was hearing that my class already knew what the joke was. The PE coach in my room was set on them not knowing because it ruined the fun. So when he took them to specials, he told the art teacher that they had caught on. She made it perfectly clear that this was not a joke. What happened next? They all cried of course! "We love Ms. L! Bring her back!" "NO!!!!!! This isn't true!"

The news spread..."Who's class was crying because of the switch?" THAT WOULD BE MINE. In a way, I feel so loved that they cried at the thought of me not being their teacher anymore, but my immediate response was, "What a bunch of sissies!" Seriously...as 'Sparkles' put it, "Can't they take a joke?" Was I embarrassed that my class was the only class that couldn't take the joke that many other people in the school were doing as well...a little bit. But what really touched my heart was when I saw Victor in the hall and he said with a pitiful voice, "Ms. L, I miss you!"

The day ended and I was worn out, but felt good because I had been so active all day. I'm seriously considering taking the PE certification test just to have on paper so that when I get tired of worrying about test scores, I can not worry about anything and teach PE. That job was a piece of cake...and if I taught PE and ran around all day, I could eat all the cake I ever wanted. Hmmmmm....(that's the sound of serious consideration)...

You're already thinking this way?

During math this morning, there was a bit of "downtime". This means the students were folding and gluing geometric figures and were allowed to be having their own conversations. While I was standing at one table helping a group, I overhead a conversation between my aide and a student. I invited myself into the conversation and it went something like this:

Ms. A: "My son is home sick today. He was throwing up all night."
Karen: "Why aren't you home?"
Ms. A: "My husband is home with him."
Karen: "You trust your husband to be home with him?"
Ms. A: "Of course!"
Karen: "I wouldn't leave him home with my husband. I would send him to daycare or stay home by myself. Or I would leave him with my Momma."
Ms. A: "Why would you marry him if you didn't trust him?"
Lauren: "That's right...you shouldn't marry a man you don't trust! You should marry someone you love AND trust!"
Me: "Right! I hope you marry someone that you trust and you love. If that's not true, then you shouldn't get married."
Karen: "Well, my aunt got married to a guy I didn't trust. I told her I didn't trust him, but she married him anyway. And you know what? He left her with the kids."
Me: "That is just one instance. That does not mean that you shouldn't say all men are untrustworthy."
Karen: "I don't trust men!"

You're kidding me right?!?!!? She is nine years old and already swearing all men are untrustworthy. And second...was I really having this conversation with a few nine year olds??? Maybe it wasn't the most conventional teacher-student conversation, but if she feels this way about men, is she going to get these feelings out at home where there are men?

The Cotton Boll

It was the day that my intern had to do a social studies lesson. We are currently talking about plantations and the invention of the cotton gin, so this was also the topic of her lesson. My portable mate and I team teach social studies, which meant that our interns taught their lessons to both classes...even a bigger challenge than teaching this type of lesson to just 22 kids...she had 40.

Here's the outline for the lesson:
- The class discussed how much cotton slaves were required to pick/seed every day -- 1 pound. 50 bolls = 1 pound
- The kids got to gin their own boll of cotton. (I had no idea there were so many seeds in one boll.)
- They had to write a journal entry as a slave who had been picking cotton all day.

The kids LOVED this lesson. I will definitely be repeating this lesson next year. The hands-on experience was great...they truly began to understand how hard it was to pick/seed the cotton every day. And while they were seeding the cotton, they were complaining that it was too hard. So, all of the teachers were walking around telling them that they if they didn't pick better and faster, they would be whipped (not literally of course) or they would have to pick even more cotton. They threatened to quit or run away...which meant they were asking for another whipping (not literally of course). The kids had a great time pretending during this lesson and really understood the objective.

Sparkles

There is one student I don't think I've ever written before...she doesn't necessarily fly under the radar, but she's close. Her academics are not the highest, but her attitude and personality more than make up for it. She also has a lot going against her at home. I'm not sure who she lives with and not sure who I would even contact if there were a problem, but she seems to forget all that when she's at school.

This students, who I'll name Brandi, is a very selfless person...the most selfless I've ever seen.
- She is the only kid who brought me a present on my birthday. I know that her home situation is not conducive to buying the teacher a present, but she still felt the need.
- She is also the child who helps ANYONE! She sees a friend in need of any kind of help and, without being asked, heads over to help.
- She is very observant and does things and notices things that others don't. "Ms. L, you had 3 of those candies already. Are you sure you want another?" "I already had 3, are you sure?"
- She picks up trash or volunteers to help with ANYTHING!
- She hears me talk to myself and does whatever I was telling myself to do.
- She knows how to take a joke and has a great sense of humor with her friends and teachers. She has a better sense of humor than most of the kids in my class.
- She brings me 5 goldfish each day for snack.
- She is always smiling! You could have told her that she just failed a test, but she will smile because she knows she did her best and that she'll work harder for next time.
- She smiles because she knows you're crazy.
- She smiles when I forget something and she is able to remind me.
- She is always willing to learn from a friend or me. And she loves teaching her friends when she knows something they don't.
- She never complains or cries!

Did I mention how much I love this kid?!?! She has the positive attitude that I wish every kid had.

Is that a caterpillar?

Yesterday we began a unit on life cycles. This unit kicked off with a classroom "pet" so we could see everything first hand. I am not really the kind of teacher who likes class pets of any sort, so this was a step for me. I actually didn't have that big of a problem with it because I knew the kids were going to LOVE it!!! And I was right...

Our class pet actually turned out to be class pets...meal worms. I know they aren't really a pet, but they're worse! I don't like creepy, crawly things. These things were just gross. Luckily, I had an intern for my portable-mate sort them for the other fourth grade teachers so that I didn't touch them. THANK GOODNESS!

The kids got sooooooo excited about the meal worms. They were unable to contain their excitement or disgust for the meal worms. And the thought of them growing into beetles only increased their excitement. I had a few kids who wanted to stare into the plastic box the entire class period. I had others who cringed when I brought the meal worms near. As the ones cringed in their seats, I reminded myself that I was being brave holding the meal worm box because of the kids who were so engaged. They could probably get me to do just about anything because I love them so much! I guess meal worms are just the beginning...luckily there are only 9 weeks of school left...

The Big Return

Today was the first day back from Spring Break...

I had a wonderful Spring Break, but in a weird way, I was definitely looking forward to today. I love my class and was really starting to miss them. And for good reason...

- First thing this morning, Victor sees me in the hallway and starts questioning me immediately about knowing about his mouth surgery. I realized how much I missed him!
- Lauren gives me a present she bought me on Spring Break in San Antonio...a key chain with my name on it.
- They said I looked pretty in my clothes and looked like I had a great Spring Break!
- They loved the Jack Hanna book I bought on break with them in mind.
- They were ready to learn again immediately...and showed me through poems they wrote about enjoying school during writing time.
- They were just very happy to be at school all day...no complaints of being tired or not wanting to do anything.

Hopefully these wonderful kiddos will generate some great blogs in the coming days/weeks/remaining months of the school year...only 49 more days!

You can do it!

This past week has been trying on everyone in portable 4B. I've had so many kids need me to be there for them emotionally. Forget the academics, they needed a self-esteem boost. I've never been around so many kids who were so unsure of themselves in all aspects of their lives.

I had one kid write a whole page worth of, "I'm a failure and worthless to everyone." Another continue to say, "I suck! I hate myself." And then there was one who continued to bang and throw things because he would get upset with himself.

So, what to do with these kids...??? I found myself keep repeating the phrase, "I see how hard you are working. Keep it up and know that I believe in you. I need you to believe in you too." I've never given so much verbal praise in such a short amount of time. I know that verbal praise is a necessity in life, however, I was drained of it this week. I couldn't bring myself to give one more, "you can do it!" I need these kids to come back from Spring Break with a renewed confidence and energy to tackle the remainder of the year. I need them to do that so that I can fulfill my end of the deal and teach them something, rather than be sole emotional supporter...although that is what I will do if needed.

Slew of pictures that I've been meaning to share...

These pictures go along with blogs I've already written...I'm just now getting around to posting.

Writing Camp shirts -- sweat shop!

Daily camp fire -- sing along and schedule overview.

The great spider hunt...notice that it took 8 kids to look for a brown house spider that I'm not sure even existed. I will post this picture once I can blot out faces when my iPhoto is working.

Received this note from a parent. I was confused as to how to interpret the signature..."Pops"

Ran out of space and the kids wanted it hung up...the ceiling works as well as anywhere else.

Pictionary

Today for science, we played Pictionary using our science vocabulary words about ecosystems. The kids were having a blast!!!! They were doing a great job guessing the words based on the pictures and most of the pictures were good enough to guess. Things were going smoothly, the teams were within a point of each other the entire game. Well, things WERE going smoothly.

JT was up to draw. He was supposed to draw "behavior". I told him he could draw a monkey in a tree because one of a monkeys behaviors is hanging in a tree. His picture was very good. The guessers however were not. They were unable to guess his word. He immediately began to cry because he was unable to draw well enough for his team to guess correctly.

Elliot was net. His word was "valley". This was probably one of the easiest words in the bunch to draw. BUT...Elliot drew some trees with giraffes, not a valley in sight. I even asked him to explain his drawing and he couldn't. He went to the back of his group to shed some tears.

Tara was close to next. (This all happened within a few turns.) I can't remember what word she had, but it was one that her team should have guessed. After her picture was left with incorrect guesses, she returned to her team in tears just like the others.

The count is now up to 3. And I didn't mention that during math (before Pictionary), William was crying. We were practicing finding the volume of rectangular prisms and he guessed incorrectly. My response to him was no different than the one to the correct answers, "How did you figure that out?" However, the kids did make a sound of disappointment, indicating that he had given the wrong answers. That was just enough to set him off.

I was for sure that my classroom would be tear-free today with the lessons I had planned. What I did learn is that I can't assume anything.

Does he know something I don't?

Victor: "When are you going to get a ring on your finger????"

I made it through!

OMG! (These are letters straight from the mouth of my students.) Today was the longest day of my life, also known as the Writing TAKS! It all began around 8:15 this morning and didn't end (in my classroom) until 2:15. I spent the day "actively monitoring" 18 students sit in their desks reading and writing. While following all 1,000 of the very strict guidelines of a test administrator, I became bored out of my mind. They don't teach you how to stare at a classroom full of kids for an entire day without talking or saying encouraging things while you're in teacher school.

I know how bored I was and I also understand how bored kids were that finished before the others. I had one student using goldfish (the snack crackers) to write out names of every student in the class. He asked if he could take a picture of them even, too bad we were testing, cause I totally would have. The best part of it was that the letters in each person's name he made with the crackers looked like his handwriting.

One high point of today was that I sat with them at lunch. This is something that doesn't happen very often and I enjoy it when I get the chance. Although I'm not eager enough to sit with them every day...once a while in nice. Instead of being the teacher, we get to talk about non-school stuff. I find out what things they like (the vegetable sticks from the cafeteria) and what they don't like (the boys when they act weird). I found out that: one kid only likes fish sticks, but not any other kind of fish (very similar to when I was a kid); they all love strawberries and cantaloupe; one kid is tired of selling Girl Scout cookies; they love being in my class; one kid has an adorable little brother that is going to have a birthday soon; and the boys have a group called "The Boys' Club".

All in all, I'm so glad tomorrow is back to regular teaching. I get to teach volume, ecosystems, the Underground Railroad, book clubs, and no more of this writing to the prompt. I don't know if I've ever been so excited about poetry. :)

I taught them to think!

It's almost here...TAKS that is. I've never been so nervous. Today we had a relaxing kind of day so the kids wouldn't get too stressed out about tomorrow. I know for a fact that I am definitely more stressed out than most of them. Not to forget about the test completely, we read a book this afternoon and talked about strategies for tomorrow.

We started off reading Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss (it also happens to be his birthday). It's a story about a school that does everything fun and interesting. In fact, all they know is interesting, colorful, different, and fun. The principal comes in saying that they will have a test, and so will every school in the town. If they don't pass, the school will be closed and everyone will have to go another school in town that is black and white. And by black and white, I mean boring, no talking, nothing interesting or different. The kids begin to worry. The teachers don't. The teachers explain that they may have not taught them all the information on the test, but they have taught them how to think. It turns out that the kids do more amazing than the principal expected.

My kids loved this story. The immediately related it to me teaching them to think, even if I haven't taught them the exact prompt they will receive tomorrow. I have taught them how to brainstorm ideas, how to plan their writing, and how to revise to make improvements. I am fully confident in how they have been prepared and what they have shown me. However, this doesn't calm my nerve at all. I am still a nervous wreck. I am frightened that they will forget what I taught them. They will forget how to think. This scares the living daylights out of me. I know they are capable, but will they show they are capable?!?!

S'mores are Dangerous!

Our writing camp campfire was in full swing. S'mores were being made and compositions were being shared. Things were going well and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, parents included. And then...

I hear screaming and see crying. It's Victor. "It popped out. Just put it back in the hole. Fix it!" I then realize he's talking about the wire that goes in the back bracket of his braces. Apparently, the wire is now poking in his gum. I take him outside to see if there is anything I can do for him. NOTHING! He begins to scream, "Call 911! Call the police! Call somebody and tell them I need help! You need to fix this! Just put it back in the hole. HELP ME! Do something! Call 911, they will help me. Call my dentist." (Please remember that I have an aide and parents in my room at this time...the kids were not left unattended.)

The PE coach hears the yelling and comes over to help. We take him to the nurse's office against his will and find out that she can't do anything either (which I knew), but he was not happy with that response. He continued to scream, "Call 911! Call the doctor! Call my mom and tell her that I need help! I need the nurse to just fix it!" He continues to scream, cry, act like a baby laying on my lap, and making impossible demands for another 20 minutes or so. I finally decide that I need to go back to my room and trade duties with the aide. This is because I can't take any more of the screaming.

I return to my room to calm the kids back down, fill them in on Victor's status and have them group share a piece of their compositions. Even with the drama, the campfire was nice and I think the parents enjoyed hearing their children read the compositions that they have been working on. (I will share a few compositions and pictures from writing camp tomorrow.)

Teamwork!

Last week was emotionally eventful for one of my students. Sarah was the student who "broken" by receiving the 1 on her first writing camp composition. Helping her work through this was probably one of the hardest things I've done as a teacher, but the good news is that she did finish a 2+ or 3 composition by Friday.

The second hardest part of her week was the spider she did not invite to hang out in her desk. Here's how it went down...

I looked across the room when everyone was supposed to be writing and I see Sarah crying. I also see Juan huddled around her desk with a few other students. A kid comes up to tell me, "Sarah's crying." Within seconds, at least 6 kids join the crowd around the desk. I go over to get the status on the situation. I lean over the desk to look inside to see what the crowd is staring at. To my surprise, they were staring at nothing. The desk was empty. All of Sarah's belongings were on the floor below her desk. As some kids are still staring in the desk, a few others have an animal encyclopedia and they are trying to figure out what type of spider it is. They talk about how big it was, the color, its leg length, and what its body looked like. As they flip through the pages, I suggest, "Maybe it was a tarantula?!" The other kids thought it was funny, but Sarah did not. I think they determined it was a brown house spider or a daddy long leg. I tell them they need to pick up the mess on the floor and return it to Sarah's desk. Before doing that, the 8 students that are now gathered around the desk, give the desk another few stares before moving. (I will post a picture of the gathered students staring in an empty desk tomorrow...it was funny to watch.)

I could have handled this situation a bit differently, but allowed this disruption on the basis that these kids were showing caring towards Sarah, working together to get the spider taken care of, showed cooperation in each of their "jobs" in spider hunting, and it was fun to watch them take care of this. I also took this lesson from Philip Done who wrote 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny. He would have done the same thing. In fact, in a story very similar to one he wrote about, I also stopped teaching when a bee flew into the room. There are certain things that teaching must be put on hold for.

I broke her!

I'll start with the good news. This is part of an e-mail that I received from a parent today. To be specific, it was from Elliot's father. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I've had lots of trouble with Elliot's behavior. He's had emotional and angry outbursts, and often gets mad because I'm reminding him to work. Things have changed in the last few weeks and the message from his father confirms it. This message is referring to writing camp.

"Loved the Hobo stick. Interesting camping ideas.
Seems to have captivated his imagination and attention.
Keep up the good work. I heard him tell me that he LIKES the writing homework where he corrects sentences. Wow!!!"

This makes me feel good and know that all the hokey camp things we are doing this week are really changing attitudes about writing.
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On the other hand, today I passed back the compositions that were written yesterday. On the back of each composition, I wrote a compliment for their writing and something they need to work on, along with a score based on the TAKS rubric. Like I said yesterday, all but one kid passed. The one who didn't pass was an unusual case. I was very surprised to read her writing and knew that it wasn't reflective of her as a writer.

So I passed back the compositions and almost immediately, tears began flowing. I knew that she was very upset with her score. I tried talking to her about it and she said, "But I did stay on topic." I had to tell her that I was sorry and unfortunately the organization and intended meaning wasn't conveyed in her writing.

Off we went to lunch and recess and I was hoping she would begin to understand and get over the disappointment. I was wrong. She cried all afternoon. She didn't write a single word on a paper all afternoon. She used a whole box of Kleenex to dry her tears. Great...just what I need 4 days before TAKS...a kid shutting down who is capable and usually proves her excellence. What in the world was I going to do to help her get through this roadblock and begin writing again?!?!?

The wonderful teacher that I am took her outside for a heart-to-heart. We sat next to each other and talked about her fantastic writing in the past and what I knew she could do in the future. In fact, she's going to write at home tonight about whatever she wants and we're going to meet tomorrow to talk about the great things she did in that writing. She seemed okay with this idea. It is a non-stressful environment in which she can write anything and we'll boost her confidence again tomorrow by talking about the highlights of the writing. I've got Plan B and Plan C in store if this doesn't work out. I'll keep you updated on how this goes and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know...I need to fix her!

Lesson Learned: Never give a score point 1 back to a child. Lie about it and claim it's a barely 2 or just pretend you forgot to score it and talk to them about it later.

I'm so proud!

On day two of writing camp, all but one kid in my class finished their first composition. I was hopeful. This is the second to last practice composition before the real thing next week. We've learned so much about writing and come so far in our writing abilities. I've been worried in the past because they have learned so much and when we took a writing benchmark, they forgot everything!

When I read the compositions today, I smiled. I had no other response, but pure happiness. I read some great papers. I had kids write like they've never written before in a wonderfully fabulous way. According to my grading scale, I had all but one kid pass. And the one kid was unusual. She misinterpreted the prompt and just went in the wrong direction. Her normal writing is well above passing. In all other cases, I was glowing with excitement and telling everyone I could what a wonderful job my class was doing on their writing.

The biggest highlight of today was reading one of my student's composition. When I read the composition, I couldn't stop smiling. My response when I was finished was, "WOW!" I've not felt that very often. I have often described a 4 on the TAKS Writing as reading a paper that gets a "WOW!" when you're finished. It's also a paper that you are unable to find a place for revisions. This was how I felt. I did not have any kids in my class score a 4 last year, so that is my goal this year. When the thought of a kid writing a 4 came into my mind, it reminded me why I do this. I reminded me that I have taught them these writing skills. Most of them came to me with little to no personal narrative writing experience, and to see how much they've grown amazes me.

Today made me excited for next Tuesday. I'll still be terrified come Tuesday at 8am because I don't want them to throw all of their writing strategies out the window. I'll keep my fingers crossed and give as many reminders about what I expect as possible in the next three days.

Please stop singing!

To start off writing camp each day, we meet around the "pond" and "fire" in the middle of the classroom to sing our two writing camp songs. Today we started with "Write and Shine" sung to the tune of "Rise and Shine" (the church song). We attempted to sing the song and it was terrible. When the song was over, all I heard was...

"Ms. L, you ruined that. You shouldn't sing with us."
"Can we sing it without you next time?"
"You aren't singing the right tune."
"You just need to listen to us sing."

If you know me well, or at all, one thing you do know is that my class couldn't have been more right. I was ruining the song. When I allowed them to sing without me, the song was beautiful. They did tell me that I was allowed to do the rap song to the tune of "Ice, Ice Baby". The exact words: "Ms. L, you're allowed to rap because you're not bad, but you just can't sing with us."

If I were a teacher who didn't already know what a terrible singer I am or another person listening to my class tell a teacher this, I would be very upset. However, I am not that person. I like the fact that my kids know they can tell me that I shouldn't sing and know I won't get upset because I know it's true. The know that a comment like this is not crossing the line, but others not related to my singing might be. :)

Meet Your Match

William has met his match. In the past couple weeks, another cry baby has been developing her skills. Jessica is my newest student who joined us in early January. At first, I was so excited to have her. She fit right in was seemed to be up in her academics. I was thankful that I received this student instead of one like the many I received near the end of last year. Well...the honeymoon was soon over.

Jessica is a very emotional student. She often gets upset and cries because I ask her to try and solve problems on her own and also because I ask her to wait in line and take turns with everyone else. She gets upset easily, puts her head down on her desk, and gets teary-eyed. She gives me puppy dog eyes so that I'll see her and feel sorry for her and I don't. She is in fourth grade and needs to learn a little independence, responsibility, and patience.

For example, last week we were in the science lab doing a hands-on measurement assessment. There were stations set up that were only meant for one child at a time. I had the students who were not at stations sit at a table and work on other questions on their assessment that the equipment was not needed. I told Jessica to go to a station to start off with. In this particular stations, students were expected to measure a box and find it's area and perimeter. Keep in mind that this is an assessment and also that Jessica was not in our school when we first did measurement.
Jessica: "Ms. L, I don't know what to do."
Me: "What is it that you don't know what to do?"
J: "That."
Me: "What specifically is 'that'?"
J: "Find the area and perimeter."
Me: "Well, I know you learned that at your last school. You had to have. And I also know that you should have learned it in 3rd grade. I need you to really think about it and try to figure it out." (Jessica is starting to get very frustrated that I won't tell her how to solve the problem.)

Me: "Jessica, can you go sit at the table while you try to solve that problem. I need to let other friends use that station." (She moved aside without a problem, but still looking very upset because I wouldn't give her the answer.)

A few minutes later..."I need you, you, you, and you to go to those stations. I know you all haven't been to any station yet."
Jessica: "I haven't either."
Me: "You have been to one station, they haven't been to any."
J: "I haven't been to them either."
Me: "I need you to show patience and I will let you go to the next open station."
J: (starts tearing up because she's not getting to go to a station, even though she's already been to one and other kids haven't been to any)
Me: "Jessica, you may sit over here until you are ready to come back and work without being upset."
J: (full blown crying is taking place and I'm confused as to why there are so many tears)
Me: "Jessica, when you are ready, you may join us again. But you may not join us with your tears."

Come on now! I know I was a bit of a drama queen as a child, but do I really deserve having to put up with all these drama queens and kings?

SHOCKED!

I wavered on whether or not to write this blog...it's based a topic that can be private to most people, but because of the way it was brought up to me, it lost all privacy.

While we were standing in line getting lunches, Kristy walked up to me...
K: (fairly loud voice that all students can here) "Ms. L, when was the first time you got your period?"
Me: "Hmmmm, what? Uhhhhhhh. Well.... Hmmmmmmm...Uhhhhhhhhh. Well, why do you ask?"
K: "Because my stomach has been hurting a lot."
Me: "Where does it hurt?"
K: "Up here."
Me: "You're fine. Go eat lunch!"
K: "Okay, I was just wondering cause my sister got her's."
Me: "Go eat your lunch!!!!!"

Writing Camp Day 1

It was Day 1 of Writing Camp and what a fabulous day it was. The room was decked out with vines, a mosquito net tent, and cut out animals and bugs.. The kids were stoked. I made t-shirts and provided snacks and my aide bought some camp goodies...personalized water bottles, hobo sticks, pencils, and bugs to go in their snacks.

The kids were so excited about what this week is going to bring. The writing was the least of their concerns. But as the day went on, the writing progressed well. The editing practice in the morning was fabulous and the beginning of their compositions are promising. I am hopeful for what the rest of the week brings. Maybe I'll post some compositions as the week progresses.

Deciduous, Deciduous, Deciduous

Last week I was teaching a guided reading lesson. I was doing some vocabulary building in a book about ecosystems. Usually Victor isn't in my room during guided reading, but he was on that day because of schedule changes. Because of that, he was included in my group.

As I was introducing the vocabulary words, the group was doing great. Then we came to the word deciduous. None of the kids knew how to say it. We broke the word apart and talked about what combinations we knew. We finally got it! Then Victor began chanting it, "Deciduous! Deciduous! Deciduous! Deciduous! Deciduous!" It was quite funny. He wouldn't stop chanting it. I asked him to stop many times before he actually did. In the mean time...

William began reading. He normally struggles with fluency even with more simple words/content. He came to a sentence that talked about a tree being deciduous. He didn't hesitate or stumble. I paused to congratulate him on how he read over the word without any struggle. He smiled and was proud of himself as well. I asked, "William, how did you know how to say that word without pausing to break it apart?" He replied, "Well, Victor said it enough times that I just remembered it."

Secret Admirer

On Day 1 of Kiss-o-Grams, a message was sent to a student in my class from "Anonymous". It's been tearing this girl apart trying to figure out who it is. She has been asking on a daily basis for hints, but I refuse to tell. If the boy wants her to know, he can tell her. I refuse to spill the secret. I also refuse to give any clues as to the person's identity.

On his side of things, he came to me today and asked for my "love" advice.
Richard: "Ms. L, I don't know what to do about this whole Claire thing."
Me: "Well, you can either tell her that you sent it because you're a good friend or you can just leave it as a secret."
Richard: "I don't know what to do."
Me: "You're going to have to make this decision by yourself."

Happy Valentine's Day!

It was the day I've been dreading for a week or so now. It was one of the day's allowed by the state for us to celebrate with all the sweets we could ever dream of. My class celebrated with ice cream sundaes and cupcakes that I made. Before the party could ever begin, we also had to take care of the last day of our 4th grade fundraiser.

It was Day 5 of Kiss-o-Gram sales. We ran out of kisses yesterday after we finished selling for the day and again today about 1 hour into sales. A parent had to run to the store and get more, and it turned out to be the perfect amount. Last year it amazed me, and again this year I was amazed. The funds raised were ridiculous! How we made so much money on Hershey kisses being sold for 10 cents each is amazing. We had kids buying $20 worth of kisses. I wanted to inform those kids that they could go to the store and buy multiple bags for $20, on the other hand, we wanted them to spend however much they wanted on kisses. Every grade level is jealous of how much money we make with this fundraiser, which is why we will never pass this one to another grade level, regardless of how crazy it can get throughout the week.

The ice cream party went well and I didn't realize how much kids like sprinkles. When I eat a sundae, I'm concerned about having whip cream and a cherry. These kids wanted ice cream, whip cream and tons of sprinkles. They all enjoyed the sundaes and got their sugar fills. This was also a fairly easy party seeing as that there weren't that many choices and it was easy to clean up. I'll definitely continue this party idea next Valentine's.

Please do not spread that rumor!

I was trying to get a few kids on track today, and as usual, Victor was one of them. When I went over to help him, he asked, "Ms. L, are you getting married?" This is a question I have answered many times before...and so the conversation continued...
Victor: "Who are you marrying?"
Lauren: (walks up) "You never know, she may marry a superstar!"
Victor: "You are getting married?"
Me: "No. But when I do, it may be to a superstar."
Other members of the class: "Ms. L, you are getting married?!?!?!?!"
Me: "I am not getting married. And I am not marrying a superstar...at this point in time."
Other kids that are just now catching on (basically the entire class): "You're getting married?"
Me: "No, please don't spread that rumor. I am NOT getting married."
Everyone: "Ms. Leining is going to marry a superstar!"
Me: "Not quite yet. Get back to work...all of you!"

Tests Can Kiss My Butt!

I was having a pretty good day. I spent the afternoon with the other fourth grade teachers and some instructional coaches rating some writing compositions. This was a great opportunity to let us share writing and have an outsider rate our kiddos. (It gets hard to rate your own class honestly after they've been writing and progressing all year in front of you.)

The scores weren't a surprise. I knew who still needed work and who was doing very well. A highlight of today was that each person who wrote a score, also gave a teaching point and a positive point about the composition. This is something that I will start on immediately. Well, all was satisfactory until...

I returned to my classroom to check my e-mail only to find our results from the TAKS practice test we took 2 weeks ago. Whenever we get these scores back, my whole day is ruined. The scores are rarely good. Our fourth graders don't do very well on these tests. I don't know what it is. I boggles my mind every time the results come in. I try to reflect on what I've done/not done and wonder what I am doing wrong. I feel like I'm doing a good job. I see my kiddos growing, emotionally and intellectually. I see them relating what they've learned to real-world concepts weeks after they were first taught.

How can a stupid test make me feel like such a crappy teacher? I know I do a good job. I of course know there are things I could do better, but this is still a learning process for me. However, I'm not the only one with the low scores, it's all of fourth grade.

The constant tests reminds me why I resented standardized testing when I was in school. Now I also realize how my kids feel. I, in no way, teach "to the test", but try to teach the concepts that they will need to know for the test in a hands-on, multiple learning experiences, "Best Practices" manner, but apparently that isn't working.

I'm stumped and frustrated to no end! I can't wait for the repercussions of the low scores on this test. Hmmm...where to go from here?!?!?!