Graduates

Congrats, everyone!  I hope you'll continue to blog about your teaching adventures.  :)

Miss you all already,

Miss Neal

Reflections on Student Teaching

                Writing a one page reflection of a semester’s worth of work guarantees that things will be neglected and details lost.  How do I convey the elation I felt when J’s elusive smile showed itself or the adrenaline pumping through my system while being chased by a pack of third graders in a game of tag on the play ground?  What do I say about what I learned about preparation from the worst day ever in kindergarten, which was followed by the best day because I changed my game plan? 

Sure, I could tell you ambiguously about how my interdisciplinary pedagogy improved when I implemented differentiation based on Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.  I could reflect on the degree of success I observed in literacy programs in their attainment of Vygotsky’s ideal instruction in the zone of proximal development.  You’d have perfectly logical unintelligible edu-speak.  Somehow that doesn’t get across the sinking feeling I got when I. shut down without her meds or the heartbreaking resignation in D’s eyes when he said, “I’m dumb!” so angrily. 

           Textbooks will drone on about Piaget for fifty pages and show detailed diagrams of effective assessments, but never have I read a chapter about The Magic.  Don’t miss my point.  I am pro-Piaget and pro-assessment, but why, in the name of every educational theorist who has ever breathed, do they neglect The Magic?!  For something so sparkling and magnificent, I would have thought someone would have at least given me a handout.  I believe we have a strong education program, but in this area, I was wholly unprepared.  I was unprepared for The Magic of good morning hugs every day.  I was unprepared for The Magic of the almost breathtaking ferocity they cling to you with when you tell them you’re leaving soon.  No one told me when they clamor for you to swing on the swings at recess or give you their most highly prized zebra pen that your heart swells to bursting.  I had plenty of practice writing lesson plans and reflections, I just wish someone had prepared me for The Magic of teaching.  

Miss Neal

The beginning of the end!

Thursday

I want you to stand in the back and put your nose to the wall.  That's what she told him after asking him if he'd had his medication and then laying into him because she didn't think he was trying.  That sure sounds like some redemptive, child-centered discipline to me!  When I overhear conversations like that, I want to just say, "See here, teacher of the year from 1978, you need a vacation, a permanent one."  Kids wear on you, sure, and if they ever manage to wear away your patience, get out of the classroom.  I've done a lot of observation today.  I've seen lots of good things being done, literacy strategies, organization and parental involvement.  This incident was not one of those things.  I know this kid.  He's a mover, a fidgeter.  You have to keep those kids moving or fidgeting or else.  Or else they'll drive you crazy and disrupt your whole classroom.  Today we had a staff workshop about word walls.  It was really fun!

Friday

Today was my last day!  The kids and Mrs. T gave me a basket full of teacher tools and a book that they made.  The prompt was “My favorite moment with you was…”  It was fun to see what they said.  I have so many markers and index cards and pens now!  We even got an extra recess and popsicles!  I played four square with them.  The teacher across the hall even gave me a stack of Flat Stanley books!  Hurrah! 

Last Day!!

Folks,

We're (almost) done! I hope you all have an AMAZING last day!

-Miss I/Inkner/Easter/Nectar/Itcher/Itched-Er (the list gets longer and longer every day)

Last week!

Tuesday

Tuesdays are usually long and wretched, but today has been reasonably quick.  We are studying cause and effect in reading.  Cause: Miss Neal did not drink her usual cup of strong coffee this morning.  Effect: Miss Neal was fighting back the Sandman all morning.  Note to self - it's worth the time to make a cup of coffee!  I'm going to be doing some observations this week, which should be fun. 

Wednesday

Mrs. T was gone today, so we had a sub.  I didn’t stay in class much, as I observed in Mrs. H, Mrs. B and helped with writing conferences in Mrs. S’s class.  I loved doing writing conferencing.  It's cool to see kids express their ideas and help them sharpen their imagery and word choices.  It was neat to see the different ways teachers can be effective based on the natural ways they manage.  Also, I have yet to meet a sub that is both effective and nice.  One of my kids brought me a bag of teacher loot today.  I got a teacher bag that’s YELLOW!  I also got some fun sticky notes and pens!  

Ups and downs of teaching

Oh today.  Wow.  Well, I had the kids for the morning because Mrs. T was at staff development for some computer program.  My voice was sore from raising it by the end of the morning.  They were loud, they were harassing each other.  We had two emotional blow-ups.  I sent a girl to the office and had another one sobbing on my chest.  It was a little intense.  I was emotionally exhausted by the end of the day.  I hate it when kids make decisions that require discipline.  It’s just not fun.  Sure, it’s for their good, but it’s hard.  My two great moments though were when one of the girls came up to me later and said, “Miss Neal, thank you for calming me down earlier”.  The other moment was when I read through a story one of my lower kids had written when we were talking about plot, and he GOT IT!  Mechanics were awful, but the content was there!!!  Hurrah!   

Well, this is my 2nd post

I am the worst blogger of all time. Just now, I updated my personal blog for the first time since August 23rd. Hopefully I'll get better at it.

I have officially reached burnout point. And it's not because of the kids- I just LOVE working with the Elementary kids (and I am still so surprised that I like it so much). It's the people that I work with. I am constantly around negative people, and it's gotten to the point to where I'll just eat my lunch alone in my classroom so I don't have to listen to it. I remember Dr. Bass always talking about the whiny teachers, and I figured that there would be a few of those at any school. But for whatever reason, all but 2 people that I work with are so negative.

Being around them has made me so aware of the fact that although we are called to teach in a classroom, we are also called to minister to our co-workers and be as Christ-like as possible. I think that God is trying to challenge me during these last few weeks. I have no desire to be around any of those people, but I realized that I might be the only person who will "show them Jesus" every day. So I'm going to do my best to just listen to the complaining, give an encouraging response, while keeping a smile on my face the entire time.

In other news, I have a job interview on Friday! Yay!

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you in a little over 2 weeks!!! We're SOOOO close, folks!

-Miss I/Ichter/Inkner/Nectar/Easter/Itcher/Eyekter (and the list goes on and on)

Swinging and sadness

Swinging is wonderful.  Today C, one of my adopted kids asked if I wanted to go swing.  The kids thought it was hilarious that Miss Neal was swinging with them.  C turned to me and said, “Dunnit feel good to be a kid?”  It was so cute.  D didn’t have his meds again today.  I didn’t realize this, but when he doesn’t have his meds, he has so much more personality!  I hate it that this medication helps him in some ways but destroys part of who he is.  I tried to help him with math, but he had a hard time staying with me because he was so fidgety.  It was so sad because he got really discouraged and said he was dumb.  I was so sad!

New post!

I haven't posted in two months... I've been indescribably busy. And I still am. Things are going okay. I'm alive. Barely, but I am.

That's all, folks. Bye. :)

HAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh the things that happen at school!  There was some noise coming from Mrs. S’s classroom so Mrs. T went to check on it.  Mrs. S. wasn’t there.  There were two kids who’d been put in charge because the teacher left and the sub wasn’t there yet.  HELLO!!??  They were playing a game, and were fine, but with that particular class of kids, I’m not sure how long that would have lasted.  Mrs. T asked me to sit with them for a little bit until the sub came.  We read for a little while, which they liked and listened well.  I didn’t really know what to do then, so I just taught them what I was teaching my class in science.  Mrs. St was in with me, so she yelled at the kids when they got loud.  At one point she leaned over to me and asked me if I really wanted to do this every day.  I told her that I really did.


Miss Neal 

WELL…I haven't written in a while but just thought I would say hello to you all! :) 3rd grade is VERY different than kindergarten and I realized very quickly that I thrive much better with the little bitties. I am doing a unit on rocks should be QUITE interesting. haha Things are a little too serious for me up on floor two. Let's go back to songs and dances and fingerplays!!!!

Luckily I have a job as a first grade teacher and can sing and dance it up everyday in my future! I am so happy! Hope you all are doing well!!!!

3rd grade

Whew.  Those days in 3^rd grade fly.  Yesterday we started reading The Westing Game for our before lunch read aloud.  I read it last summer, and loved it.  It’s a mystery, so I thought it would be a good change of pace from Winn-Dixie.  Yesterday we had a staff meeting with a webinar.  We conferenced with a reader’s workshop expert.  She works for the company where we get our curriculum.  It was interesting.  I really like how they emphasize meeting with your kids individually to talk about their reading and writing.  I haven’t seen the teachers do it, but I think it would be an effective way to improve literacy and writing, as well as meta-cognition.

Miss Neal  

Green green everywhere!

Better day today than yesterday.  I sat with the kids at lunch part of the time and went upstairs and got things done the second part.  Those kids are so funny!  I hate how they make them be so quiet at lunch.  It’s lunch!  It’s social time!  What’s a little noise?  Maybe I just feel that way because I’m a loud person.  Maybe not.  The teachers get so cranky when the kids talk, then they threaten them with “quiet time”.  Ick.  The teachers are talking and laughing away at their table.  Maybe I’m just being harsh.  I think the kids are ready for their science test tomorrow.  We did a little science war to help study for it, and they did pretty well.  We’ll see!  I got to help J with his math.  He said he didn’t want to take it home for homework, which made me think that maybe home isn’t a good place to do homework.  D came in with a green mohawk today.  I loved it.  I’m excited for Spring Break.  

Case study kid?

I may have found my case study kid.  I need to look back over the rubric to make sure of what would qualify, but this may be it.  His name is D and he is not dumb.  He might not get good grades, but it’s not for lack of ability.  He just can’t focus and get his work done.  When I sit with him and walk him through it, he’s fine.  At lunch today, the special ed teacher was there and they were talking about getting him tested and put in special ed.  THAT’S NOT WHAT THAT KID NEEDS!  Hello.  He just needs a little extra help.  I think putting him in special ed would just make him get behind and discourage him.  Bah.  We'll see what happens. 

Miss Neal  

School on a... Saturday?

All I could think all day was that being at school on a Saturday is wrong! In all seriousness, the day turned out to be much better than I thought it would be, even if we did have to get there earlier than usual. The theme was “Benchmark Boot Camp,” and everyone wore camo! We started out with a Benchmark pep rally where the kids sang songs about doing their best to pass the test. Then two men from the Army National Guard came and spoke to the students and allowed them to ask questions. They also let the kids crawl around inside their hummer. After a tour of the new “green” high school, lunch, recess, and snow cones, the classes went around to different learning centers where they participated in educational activities. I was really surprised at how many students actually came to school today. I think after having so much fun today, they will all be coming back the next time we have Saturday school! Too bad we only got a one-day weekend...

C building girls in our camo/army green!

-Miss Moore

My heart is still in kindergarten...

(This post is from yesterday, my first day in third grade.)

Today I moved up to third grade. To be honest, I really was not looking forward to it. As I drove up in the parking lot, it hit me that I will be walking into a different building from now on. I did not expect to feel so sad about not being with “my” kindergarteners. Although I am glad that there are no more snotty noses, untied shoes, and stinky pants, I will miss all the quotes, hugs, and smiles that I got to experience each day in kindergarten. I thought about Mrs. A’s class all throughout the day. :(

Mrs. N was very helpful all day as she informed me about pretty much everything I need to know about how things work in the third grade. Their schedule was a little off today because they were doing their TLI tests, which is a practice test for the Benchmark. I went with Mrs. P and watched her administer the test to a small group, as I would be doing the same thing later in the day. I also got to make two trips over to the administration office to deliver the tests so they could be scanned. The ladies over there are so nice! It is going to be such a big adjustment going from kindergarten, where they do not really take “grades,” to third grade where they have all these standardized tests. I will also have to learn twice as many names and remember whose homeroom they are in! All in all, it was a pretty long and boring day. Third grade just does not measure up to kindergarten in my book.

-Miss Moore

3rd grade... whaaaa?

Day 1, complete.  It was so weird!  There was no snot, no shoe tying, no centers, no ten minute lessons and no SMART Board!  The lessons were so much longer than in kindergarten, and they did so much more independent work.  The chill factor here, compared with Mrs. C’s class is huge.  Mrs. T is very laid back and doesn’t do much talking (or happy yelling like Mrs. C.).  These kids write pages, do their work at their desks, and are huge.  It’s also pretty boring.  I will definitely be spicing up this class with a few of the things I picked up in Mrs. C’s room.  I don’t think it’s Mrs. T who’s boring, mostly the curriculum.  Overall, the day was a success.  

Last Day in Kindergarten :(

Quote of the day: J- (singing) “Takin’ care of biscuits!” S- “Uh, I think you mean business.”

Today was my last day in kindergarten! For the final day of Read Across America week, we wore bright colors in honor of Dr. Seuss’ book entitled My Many Colored Days. I wore my tie-dye Ouachita shirt. In addition, we made green eggs and ham. The kids loved it! It seemed to be a pretty normal day until after lunch. Mrs. A sent me to the lounge to make some copies, and when I came back, all the kids were seated in a circle on the carpet and they yelled “Surprise!” There were also gifts, cake, and ice cream waiting for me! One student’s mom had even sent me candy and balloons, and Mrs. A gave me a big box full of teacher stuff. I was so surprised! Tears came to my eyes, but I pulled it together because I did not want the kids to see me cry. They even sang me an impromptu song called “We Will Miss You” to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” After we ate cake and ice cream, I gave Mrs. A the gift I had gotten her: a 6-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper, a box of Wheat Thins, and a big jar of M&M’s. (These are all her favorite things.) At the end of the day, Mrs. A had the students raise their hands and say their favorite thing they did while I was in their class. It was really neat listening to the things they remembered from the past six weeks. I will never forget all the sweet words and hugs I received from the kids as they were getting ready to go home. I am really going to miss the kids and teachers that I have had the privilege of working with this rotation. Because of them, my heart has been truly blessed.

Green eggs and ham!

Me with my cake!

Mrs. A was so sweet to give me all these "teacher" things!

Love my balloon

It's really hard to get 20 kindergarteners to be ready and smiling all at the same time, so this is the best picture we got. I think it's pretty good, don't you? I will miss them so much!

On to third grade!

-Miss Moore

Last day!

Friday

I got so many little hugs today!  I’m going to miss those kindergarteners.  They’re crazy, but so cute.  We made a Venn Diagram today (my favorite) of Dr. Seuss’s work and Nic Bishop’s work.  Mrs. C gave me a Subway giftcard.  I brought her sunflowers.  We’re kindred spirits.  She’s going to be a hard act to follow, but Mrs. T seems pretty cool.  Management will be a lot different, but that’s ok.  I think it’s closer to what I want to do.  We presented our book to the library today.  The kids were so excited.  I think they were sufficiently invested in the project, judging by the way they were so proud of being able to hand Mrs. Murphy a book to add to her library.

Week Summary

What a week!  It had highs, and it had lows.  I learned so much, and am sorry to be losing Mrs. C, even though I’m so excited to have Mrs. T and third grade.  It was a pretty tiring week.  I learned the importance of planning ahead AND being flexible at the same time.  I also learned about using your resources.  Mrs. C is a great one, and I feel like I didn’t quite figure out how to use her wisdom until the end.  I’m so so so so so glad that she was my first rotation teacher.   

Hey- ice cream Dinos Ed friends date on Monday?

Service Learning Project

Quote of the day: (The Star of the Week brought pictures from home for everyone to look at, and some of them were “glamour” shots, which is what Mrs. A told the class.) M- “Those are good grandma shots!” G- “Yeah she looks just like a grandma!”

This past Tuesday we had our community helpers assembly! (This was the celebration portion of our service learning project.) It went so well! Before lunch, Officer C came to Mrs. A’s classroom. Mrs. H’s class and Mrs. M’s class came in our room as well, and they listened to Mrs. A’s class read our classroom appreciation book. Officer C then spoke about some of the things he does, and the students asked him questions. We then presented him with our thank you cards, and he gave each student a sticker badge. During the assembly, which we had right before lunch in the cafeteria, we had students come up and help introduce the community helpers. We had a police officer, a mail carrier, a volunteer firefighter, and the president of the Lion’s Club. The students in the audience were so attentive! Miss G did such a good job of leading the assembly. Overall, I think we were very happy about how everything went. We received a lot of really good feedback from the counselor, the principal, and even the president of the school board! Wednesday during lunch, several other interns and I went around town and hung up our class appreciation posters in several local businesses. They were so great about letting us do this! They even seemed to appreciate the fact that we were asking them to get involved.

Here are some pictures of events from the day!

OBU Interns after the assembly

My class' sign that was hung at Southern Bancorp in Bismarck

Community helpers and students on stage

The students reading their book to the police officer who came and visited our classroom

Our class book!

Class thank you banner

The cards we made for the police officers... they say "You Deserve a Hand" and each child did their handprint in paint.

-Miss Moore