LOI

I haven’t written anything on here in a few weeks because I’ve been super busy with full teach, LAMP, and some other irons I have in the fire. You haven’t missed anything spectacular, though. Today, however, is a special day. It’s another milestone in a young teacher’s career.

At 5:00 this afternoon, I signed a Letter of Intent.

This letter of intent shall serve as notice to the above named individual that Aldine ISD is prepared to offer a teaching position for school year 2008-2009 beginning 8/15/08 for 187 days.

I’ve committed to a school district, and on Thursday I will interview for my very first teaching position. This is a big day. I’m so happy! This calls for a celebration… but not tonight… teaching makes me sleepy.

Exam Update

Yesterday, I completed my Praxis II exams: Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment and Reading Specialist. Four hours. Hundreds of questions. (I thought Dr. Marchant said answer choices couldn’t be longer than the question stem……… he should contact ETS about that.) It was a long, long morning.

I think I passed.

Future testers, beware: The Reading Specialist test is a real sock to your self-esteem. Don’t waste time checking to cover multiple times to be sure you have the right test… if you don’t recognize a single answer choice for the majority of the questions, you are definitely taking the right test. It’s brutal! I’ve been told not to worry. So I’m not.

Spring Break begins now. See you in 6 days!

Intervention Web Site

http://www.interventioncentral.com

This is an incredible resource! Check it out for classroom management and intervention strategies and tools.

PRAXIS II

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was hot and sunny, which is perfect weather to put me in the mood for spring break! Today, I kick off my spring break by taking my Praxis II exams. Passing these exams today is necessary in order to teach in the fall…. no pressure there… gulp.

I’m ready. I got a good night’s sleep. My clothes are set out, and I have the materials I need to get into the testing center: pencils, test ticket from ETS, photo ID… I have read the information on each test (there are two), and I know what to expect. I feel well prepared, but I can’t help the nerves. This is a hurdle, and I’m running full speed for it. I’ll do my best and have faith for the rest. Here we go!

7 Weeks Left

Blogging has been slow lately for several reasons. Last week was the reading comprehension portion of the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) high-stakes testing for my third graders. That’s something I’ve reflected on privately because of the nature of the test and the procedures associated with administering and monitoring the test. I have also been working on my LAMP (Learning Assessment Model Project). It’s a 10-day multidisciplinary unit with a lot of components to track, and even more to think about. Basically, I’m very busy. Reflection is important, though, and so this blog will continue.

There are also some other things on my mind that I think are important enough to share. This whole blog thing is supposed to be a realistic picture of my experiences.

Seven weeks from today will be the end of my student teaching experience. I feel now, more than ever, that I am ready and capable of having my own classroom. Still, this is a dark time. There is a lot about student teaching that is artificial. I find myself doing things to satisfy requirements and to show competency that I wouldn’t necessarily be doing based on the circumstances. That added layer, which is necessary and purposeful in the context of this experience, makes the job much more difficult. I look forward to it being taken away.

I am also looking forward to a paycheck. Teaching isn’t about the money, and the day it becomes “just a job” is the day I choose another career. Nonetheless, student loans and scholarship disbursement only goes so far. I learned a long time ago that I must take care of myself so that I will be able to take care of my students, so we have a problem if my mind is stuck on how to pay for things and not my next unit.

Everyone goes through these things, though. I’m hearing familiar woes from the other student teachers in my cohort. Conversations with friends who have completed this experience are proving to be most comforting because it reinforces that there is light at the end of the tunnel….

…and I’m only seven weeks away. It’s bittersweet.

Music in the Classroom

• The Music Room- This site has several catchy (some annoying) songs that the right group of kids might really get into. I really like the motivational, positive attitude songs. Also, be sure you listen to the “$5.00 Fine for Whining.” Every teacher with a sense of humor should memorize this song and save it for just the right moment.

Problem Solving Fun

There must be something going on chemically in every child’s brain that makes  him or her despise word problems. Call them whatever you want: word problems, story problems, problem solving, objective 6… it doesn’t matter. The reaction is always the same: “Oh, maaaan!”

They don’t have to be boring though. I found a quick and easy way to jazz up the problem solving drudgery. I tore off large pieces of butcher paper and gave each group one sheet big enough to cover all three of their desks. Viola! Instant motivation. The collaboration that went on with the big sheets of pink paper was fantastic, and nobody grumbled until we took the paper away. Here’s a candid (not posed) picture to show just how engaged the groups were:

This isn’t groundbreaking stuff. I was just proud of this spur-of-the-moment idea. I know it seems simple (maybe even obvious), but there is nothing more deflating to me than to hear the grumbling before we even start an activity. I’m not above simplicity, especially when it works. Ha! Now, I’m on the look out for ways to spice up other “boring” have-to’s.

Monkey Business

To handle the mid-year slip in classroom conduct, Mrs. Szalkowski thought it would be a good idea to come up with a classroom management system that would promote teamwork in cooperative groups. I came up with the theme, monkeys, and she and I refined the positive reinforcement system of points to drive the system. Here’s what it looks like:

Colored monkey’s hang from vines above each cluster of three student desks. A group earns a monkey (game pieces from Barrel of Monkeys) whenever their entire group is caught on task or participating. Only under extreme circumstances can a monkey be taken away. To keep the kids from becoming too competitive, we established the idea that it is each group’s individual goal to earn four monkeys every day.

You see blue monkeys and red monkeys because the classroom is shared by two different classes. The fourth graders come in first, so their monkeys (the blue ones) ge hung first. The red monkeys are for the third grade.

So far, it has been working pretty well. It was quick to make, and the kids really seem to be getting into it. These things have time limits, though. It will be interesting to see how long it takes this method’s effect to wear off.

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

TAKS is tomorrow. That is where everyone’s focus and attention is being paid. I have never seen anything like this. My third graders will take the reading comprehension test. Students stay until they are finished… as long as it takes. Last year students were at the school until 8:00 in the evening finishing the comprehension questions over four reading passages. The importance and urgency of this test is huge, to say the least.

Oh, and it’s high-stakes. If they don’t pass… they don’t advance to fourth grade (and fourth graders don’t advance to fifth grade). Yikes!

Teachers are Farmers

Something occurred to me today as I was reading a story about segregation to my students. My words were defining the attitudes and beliefs toward racism of sixteen young people. Every syllable I spoke will echo in some of their minds for the rest of their lives. When these children are in high school and they experience racism and identify it as such, it is my voice they will hear telling them how to feel and how to react.

I must choose my words carefully. The responsibility to define a student’s point of view on a topic such as racism is a heavy one. Teachers wield great power of influence, and I don’t ever want to catch myself taking that for granted. We are farmers, and what is planted today will sustain the world when we’re gone.