In our data driven, common core aligned curriculum where do you allow students the opportunity to reflect on school experiences? 

 Students and teachers are all acutely aware that the end of the current school year is approaching.  This is the point where I like to use ELA time to guide my students' writing through the reflection process.  I have two different projects that allows them to be creative and create a memory book of the school year.  I have had students come back years later and tell me that they still have their memory project and they enjoy looking at it from time to time. 

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-School-Year-Memory-BagBook-1858715


Take time out from all the hectic demands to sit down, reflect and relax.
 

Take Time to Listen to Your Students

It's Monday Morning...and as always the weekend went by too fast.  I truly had good intentions to finish a lot of work.  I had curriculum to write as well as lesson plans.  I don't even want to mention the numerous house cleaning projects that needed major attention. There was definately plenty of work to do inside but then there was this...

 

 Tulips! Tons of tulips in the park were beckoning me to take in their rainbow of colors and so began my Sunday dilema. The  temperature had actually climbed to 70 degrees after months of frigid cold which served to add to my spring fever. I really wanted to be outside in the fresh air and feel the sun's energy.   However, I had so much work to do and  I really needed to focus my energy on work, not the park.   I wrestled with my choices.  I knew what I needed to do but it really was not what I wanted to do.  I thought about all the times we force students to do their classwork and yet sometimes it is about more then that. How many times do we overlook the emotional needs of students that are clearly not of the mindset to do classwork.  Do we ignore the red flags they send up because we are so pressured to raise test scores?  We have students who have no room in their head for math because their mind is filled with trauma from the night before.

  Today one of my students walked in my room with the greeting "Did you watch the news?'  I said I had and asked him why.  He answered, "Oh, it was nothing, never mind".  I was busy trying to get the morning started and would have been very easy to just let it go but I didn't.  I sensed what it was about and asked him if there had been a shooting.  "Yes, right in front of my house," he replied softly.  I asked him what his address was and Goggled search the incident.  There was a brief paragraph stating a 27 year male had been shot and killed while sitting in his car.  I showed him the article and he nodded.  "Was it drugs," I asked.  He shook his head no.  "Gangs?"  and again another shake of his head indicating no.  "Was it a boyfriend/girlfriend problem?" He very silently nodded yes.  It was like he was afraid to verbalize yes or no, maybe fearful somehow of being called a snitch. I acknowledged his answer with, "I am sorry."  Then he sighed deeply and went to his desk, now  ready to work.  I think he felt the incident and his feelings had been validated by the fact I took out the extra 5 minutes to look it up for him.  I was glad I took the time to do what he needed and started the math lesson 5 minutes late but right on time as a teacher.  .                                                                                                                                                    

I am also glad I decided to put my work on hold Sunday and take that walk through the park  instead of working the day away on paper work.  I needed that break.  I have no regrets that I choose to walk down the bridge into the park surrounded by lush green, calling birds and brilliantly colored flowers instead of surrounding myself with 4 walls, a pile of papers and a blinking computer. 

 



Little "For-Get-Me-Nots" from the School Week

Through the chilly un-April like week I was awed to find my little blue for-get-me-nots had begun to bloom in my garden.  It reminded my of the little blooms I witnessed this school week through the less then optimum teaching conditions during the week of  Badger Exam standardized testing.  My memorable bright spots(for-get-me-nots) for the week included:
          *I actually was able to hold my 8th grade math class twice this week and I am starting to see some progress with attitudes and mastery.  After we reviewed 2-digit multiplication I began see everyone improving their accuracy when calculating volume of cylinders, cones and triangular prisms.  This success finally helped improve their confidence in their ability to solve math problems,  which is critical for motivation in math.
          *One of my 8th grade students has an extremely difficult time with anger management.  When he is mad he verbally lashes out on anyone who dares to talk or look at him He does this to peers as well as adults.  He  has resisted all attempts to redirect his anger and feels justified to behave as he does.  Monday I tried to model and suggest appropriate verbal  responses to use when he was mad.  As usual he acted like he was ignoring me however later that day when he was very mad I spoke calmly to him and waited for his usual verbal blast.  He scowled and gave me those angry eyes then opened his mouth...and stopped.  In amazement I watched his expression change from anger to calm and he responded with "I don't want to talk right now".  I said I would respect that and walked away while inside I was thinking "I don't believe it! He  did exactly what I had been prompting him  to do for months.  I decided it might just be a randomn response and really didn't expect to hear that again anytime soon.  The next day I went into his reading class and found him sitting sullenly and  unengaged with the class work. I walked up to him   and quietely ask him why he wasn't working.  He looked up angrily and I waited to hear his  tirade.  He paused and then softly said, "I really don't feel like talkin right now."  Wow, two days in a roll and he used the appropriate strategies both times.  I thought I would never hear this type of response from him.
This progress confirms my belief  in the importance of building positive relationships with students.  It is critical for academic progress and social/ emotional growth.  It has taken half the school year to build up trust in this angry student however consistent calm patience has paid off.  I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping this behavior will continue next week.
         *This "for-get-me-not" is a personal success.  It is a struggle to develop and create teaching materials. As a special education teacher I have had to create my own materials to differentiate instruction for my students.  It is a really a plus when these materials are engaging for all students in the classroom.    When I develop interactive materials that motivate and provide learning opportunities for all students I like to post them in my TPT store.  One of my most successful writing activities involves the use of a simple brown lunch bag.  I call it my "in the bag" writing.
 After hours of work I finally finished 3 writing packets into one bundle.   It's full of activities that are creative, hands on and highly engaging for students as they learn how to; write a research paper, write a persuasive essay, and write an expository essay. 
                                 

If you are interested in more details just click on the TPT link on the right side at the top of this blog. My students have made some cool writing projects and I have found it engaging for reluctant writers too.
                                     

              

 

  

           *My  last "for-get-me not" of the week is related to a common problem in inner city schools, at least here. Monday morning before school started I was sitting at my desk sipping my Starbucks and organizing my day when a tiny brownish bug ran across my desk and hid under my Kleenex box. I got him with a tissue and was careful to leave him intact. The school's bug guy identified him as a German cockroach. Yuck! The school engineer gave me a roach motel that had a glue pad to see if this was a random critter or a member of a large family. Every morning I have been checking for occupants but so far the motel has thankfully been vacant. Truly hoping the roach motel remains customer free after the weekend so I can then assume my classroom is free of these unwelcome guests.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I will talk to you again on "Monday Morning"!

Monday Morning and Testing is Not Teaching

Testing is not Teaching

Monday Morning…it is dreary, drizzling and I am trying to work up enthusiasm for the day. It doesn’t help that today the standardized testing continues and my math lesson for 5^th grade and 8^th grade is not going to happen, again.    We had to test during math class last week and now we are continuing again this week.  That means we will not have had math class for a week and a half.  My students need math every day.  Stopping math for a week and a half to take a standardized ELA test and a standardized math test is not beneficial for my special education students and the struggling learners in school.  Actually, taking away major blocks of instruction time for testing doesn’t benefit any of our students .  We lose the progress they have made and then we have to reteach to get to the place we left off.  I recognize the importance of assessment in the teaching process however we will not receive these test results until the end of the school year.  How will this test data be relevant to impact how and what we teach?

 This situation is best summed up by the following quote:  "Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height." Robert Schaeffer.

My routine drive through Starbucks did little to improve my mood.  However thanks to a colleague my mood soon got a boost.  I firmly believe when all else fails try chocolate so imagine my delight when a student carried in a foil covered paper plate from one of our 7^th grade teachers.  I cautiously lifted the foil to find a confectionary delight, chocolate cheesecake! I have no idea what the reason was for this amazing treat but I was not about to waste time questioning the gift.   I quickly located a plastic fork in my desk drawer and took 3 bites.  That was all it took... I was newly energized and ready to make the best of the day with what I was given.

Thank goodness for chocolate!

 

                                                                      

 

 

 

Do you know what that is sticking out of the tree?  Hint...it's a sugar maple tree.  Answer, it is my feeble attempt at producing maple syrup.  I am not from Vermont so maybe that was some of the bad karma in my failed attempt, however this Wisconsin girl thought after a recent nature center trip I could actually create my own maple syrup. It all sounded so natural and easy as we walked through the forest and visited various stations that were set up and engaged in the maple syrup process.  At the last station they were boiling the sap over a fire just like pioneer times.  We even had a treat of pancakes with  freshly made maple syrup at the end, delicious.  In the nature center's gift shop they were selling a metal tap and a bag that could be hung up on the metal tap.  I purchased the maple syrup gear eagerly.  At home I have two large sugar maple trees in my yard which for years I felt would be perfect sugar maple sap donors.  At last I had my equiptment and I went home to begin the process.  The sap began to drip into the bag and I felt success was imminent.  I left the bag up overnight and envisioned finding a full bag of sap in the morning.  I got up early to get ready for school and looked out the window at the sugar maple tree.  No bag... I couldn't believe my eyes.  I went outside to look around and it was no where to be seen.  I figured some animal must of pulled it down.  Was it a racoon, fox, coyote or a bear??  There are no bears around here and I don't think the other animals would go after maple sap so the mystery was on.  Driving to school I spotted the bright blue sap collecting bag a block and half away from my house in a ditch.  I guess it was the wind that sent it on the journey but I vowed to try again.  Off and on attempts were repeatedly made at collecting sap and finally I managed to accumulate approximately a quart of male sap.  I joyfully poured the sap into a  pan and began the boiling down process on my stovetop.  It seemed to take for ever to boil down so I was not watching it as faithfully as I should have been.  My next peek into the pan revealed nothing but charred blackened syrup remains that were totally unfit for human consumption.  So the picture above reveals all that is left of my maple syrup venture and I am closed for the season, maybe next year.

On a brighter note I am making progress with my 8th grade math group.  We have had some excellent discussions regarding math and what they feel they need.  Math has ben interupted by standardized testing for the past two days but it is giving me a chance to work on my plan for this math group.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some pictures of our changes and progress.

Monday Night....Wild Violets

Interesting return from the break.  Students displayed a mixture of moods that ranged from happy smiling faces to angry sullen looks. Some reacted with sleepy heads down on desks.  The return from a break is an adjustment for everyone.
  My plans to redesign my 8th grade math group never materialized due to the Smarter Blance standardized test.  Although testing was scheduled for the morning it had to be moved to the afternoon(math time) because all the computers froze up.  I think everyone's feelings were best summarized by an angry student that I heard yelling out as I was walking down the hall, "I don't want to take a test! I am not ready for this!"

Driving home I noticed a patch of purple in my yard, the wild violets are back.  Nature restoring peace and beauty into my world.

It's Monday Morning

The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and the sun is shining.....and I am heading back to school. Spring Break is officially over, it's Monday Morning.

Actually I am a bit excited to go back but a bit overwhelmed when I think of the many goals to be accomplished before the school year comes to an end.  Unfortunately upon return to school we will launch right into the new standardized testing(Smarter Balance) so that will take away instruction time.  I am still wrestling with how I am going to change the framework of my 8th grade math group.  I like to have things like that planned in advance however this time I think I will just be spontaneously creative.  Stay posted, I will let you know what I come up with.