Monday, August 31, 2009
1,000 WORDS: take a deep breath and press the shutter
afternoon implosion
Monday started off well.
Heeding the counselor's advice to build relationships with my troublesome 3 Musketeers, I made a point of asking them about their weekend. More importantly, I modified my interactions with them. Instead of standing in the front of the room and directing them to take out their vocab. tablet or write in their journal when they were off-task, I made an extra effort to walk up to them and in my quietest voice remind them of what to do.
It worked very well for language arts. Knowing the 3 Musketeers often struggle with reading comprehension, I made a point of monitoring their work, offering help and encouragement, and gently keeping them on task. It worked so well that before lunch, the trio was sitting together but working quietly and diligently on vocab. and spelling.
The afternoon was a different story.
A colleague notified me that Superstar and Bling had been playing rough in the lunch line. After lunch, I let the class into the room but kept Superstar and Bling outside for a talk.
Things that went wrong: while explaining what happened, Superstar and Bling couldn't keep their hands to themselves -- I ended up standing between them to keep them from touching and pushing. Thankfully, my kids are closer to the runty side of the height spectrum, so it wasn't a problem.
Issue #2: While I was sorting this out, the 3 Musketeers kept opening the door, making faces at Superstar, and provoking him in general.
It's important to note at this point that Superstar, due to certain conditions, often has trouble getting along with his classmates -- as the counselor put it, he doesn't see or understand the effects of certain behaviors and actions. For instance, he tends to invade physical space, not let the other person talk, etc.
But it ticks me off mightily that the other students provoke Superstar. Sure, he can get in their face (literally) sometimes, and he does not always talk nicely to the other students. But I still think they can make the right choice of ignoring him, moving away, etc. if he is being irritating.
I finally sent both of them off to the counselor. Then the 3 Musketeers began their afternoon meltdown.
The class was doing a constructed response based on Friday's math activity, which required students to work in groups putting fraction and percent cards in order from least to greatest. Unfortunately, the 3 Musketeers had missed the activity due to a) sulking and b) talking to a counselor. Despite encouragement to try their best, they refused to complete the CR.
They also did not participate in our introductory lesson on decimals, although they kept up a loud commentary: when is school going to end? why is this so boring? etc. They had swapped shirts sometime during the day, and they then began to ask for permission to go to the restroom together and swap shirts. King wheedled that they "could focus" if they just had the chance to change their shirts.
I am a patient person (I think, although perhaps this year I'm going to change my mind about that), but by this time, I was thoroughly out of patience. I asked all 3 of them to talk to me outside.
Rookie mistake: it's much more effective to talk to them one at a time. Neo and Junior then refused to re-enter the room. King came in but refused to sit down, hovering near the door. He made several attempts to walk out of class but at least heeded my direction to stay inside.
The counselors came and had a good long talk with them. They apologized to me at the end of class.
I'll have a sub tomorrow and Wed. for professional development, something that could not have worse timing. While I'm disappointed that I won't get to keep reworking my approach to these students, maybe those two days will be a good time to reflect and figure out something else I think will work.
Heeding the counselor's advice to build relationships with my troublesome 3 Musketeers, I made a point of asking them about their weekend. More importantly, I modified my interactions with them. Instead of standing in the front of the room and directing them to take out their vocab. tablet or write in their journal when they were off-task, I made an extra effort to walk up to them and in my quietest voice remind them of what to do.
It worked very well for language arts. Knowing the 3 Musketeers often struggle with reading comprehension, I made a point of monitoring their work, offering help and encouragement, and gently keeping them on task. It worked so well that before lunch, the trio was sitting together but working quietly and diligently on vocab. and spelling.
The afternoon was a different story.
A colleague notified me that Superstar and Bling had been playing rough in the lunch line. After lunch, I let the class into the room but kept Superstar and Bling outside for a talk.
Things that went wrong: while explaining what happened, Superstar and Bling couldn't keep their hands to themselves -- I ended up standing between them to keep them from touching and pushing. Thankfully, my kids are closer to the runty side of the height spectrum, so it wasn't a problem.
Issue #2: While I was sorting this out, the 3 Musketeers kept opening the door, making faces at Superstar, and provoking him in general.
It's important to note at this point that Superstar, due to certain conditions, often has trouble getting along with his classmates -- as the counselor put it, he doesn't see or understand the effects of certain behaviors and actions. For instance, he tends to invade physical space, not let the other person talk, etc.
But it ticks me off mightily that the other students provoke Superstar. Sure, he can get in their face (literally) sometimes, and he does not always talk nicely to the other students. But I still think they can make the right choice of ignoring him, moving away, etc. if he is being irritating.
I finally sent both of them off to the counselor. Then the 3 Musketeers began their afternoon meltdown.
The class was doing a constructed response based on Friday's math activity, which required students to work in groups putting fraction and percent cards in order from least to greatest. Unfortunately, the 3 Musketeers had missed the activity due to a) sulking and b) talking to a counselor. Despite encouragement to try their best, they refused to complete the CR.
They also did not participate in our introductory lesson on decimals, although they kept up a loud commentary: when is school going to end? why is this so boring? etc. They had swapped shirts sometime during the day, and they then began to ask for permission to go to the restroom together and swap shirts. King wheedled that they "could focus" if they just had the chance to change their shirts.
I am a patient person (I think, although perhaps this year I'm going to change my mind about that), but by this time, I was thoroughly out of patience. I asked all 3 of them to talk to me outside.
Rookie mistake: it's much more effective to talk to them one at a time. Neo and Junior then refused to re-enter the room. King came in but refused to sit down, hovering near the door. He made several attempts to walk out of class but at least heeded my direction to stay inside.
The counselors came and had a good long talk with them. They apologized to me at the end of class.
I'll have a sub tomorrow and Wed. for professional development, something that could not have worse timing. While I'm disappointed that I won't get to keep reworking my approach to these students, maybe those two days will be a good time to reflect and figure out something else I think will work.
Friday, August 28, 2009
detective work
A teacher by necessity wears many hats. But I didn't know a detective's hat was one of them.
As I've been wrangling with boy dynamics, I've gotten increasingly worried about one of the participants. Neo gets extremely frustrated when reminded to sit down, get out his work, etc., and the look of sadness and anger on his face worries me. While his two co-conspirators also express frustration, they don't have the same sad and angry look.
Neo didn't get his homework tablet signed today (a daily requirement). I went through my usual list of questions: was mom or an adult home when he got back from school so he could get it signed right away? He said: yes, mom is home. Then he added that mom was always busy washing clothes or taking care of the baby, and would it be OK for aunty to sign it instead?
Having done a home visit, I know that there are a number of cousins and extended family in the home. It occurred to me this evening that maybe Neo is feeling a little neglected by mom, and that could have a great deal to do with his sadness and frustration.
It also occurred to me that while I've had a number of talks with Neo this week, I haven't asked him why he's so unhappy, and about what I can do to help him.
That will be the first order of business on Monday ...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
mysteries of boy dynamics
Thursday is a happy day, because it means Friday is bearing down on us fast.
Had 7 families drop by for Open House, which is less than my grade-level colleagues, but more than I expected. They wiped out the chocolate-chip cookies. The families enjoyed looking for their child's picture and it was a great way to touch base informally with some of the parents.
Yesterday was a trying day, discipline-wise. Some boy-group dynamics kicked in and once they get distracted, it's arduous to get them settled. I ended up having after-school talks with four students. When they are in class and cavorting around the room instead of doing math, they are all smiles, trading glances with their male co-conspirators. Get them alone after school, and they will meekly tell you that they need to listen to directions, participate and raise their hands. Except for one, who trots out the correct answers but has a smirk on his face the whole time. I had to restrain my Inner Crotchety Teacher who would have blasted the smirk off his face by bellowing, "I don't like your attitude, young man!" Ahem.
Had 7 families drop by for Open House, which is less than my grade-level colleagues, but more than I expected. They wiped out the chocolate-chip cookies. The families enjoyed looking for their child's picture and it was a great way to touch base informally with some of the parents.
Yesterday was a trying day, discipline-wise. Some boy-group dynamics kicked in and once they get distracted, it's arduous to get them settled. I ended up having after-school talks with four students. When they are in class and cavorting around the room instead of doing math, they are all smiles, trading glances with their male co-conspirators. Get them alone after school, and they will meekly tell you that they need to listen to directions, participate and raise their hands. Except for one, who trots out the correct answers but has a smirk on his face the whole time. I had to restrain my Inner Crotchety Teacher who would have blasted the smirk off his face by bellowing, "I don't like your attitude, young man!" Ahem.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
If you buy cookies, they will come ... (I hope)
Open House is tomorrow. My to-do list:
- Shove into the file cabinet or otherwise hide the enormous accumulation of papers, files, and stuff cluttering my desk. My professor asked this evening: who thinks they are organized? I wasn't even the least bit tempted to raise my hand.
- Get the kids to tidy the inside of their desks and wipe them down.
- Get the kids to hide their picture frame somewhere in the class, then write a clue for their parents.
- Wonder why haven't I thought about putting up student work before this.
- Frantically collect and post some student work.
- Put out the cookies, peanut butter crackers and juice and hope we get a decent turnout. ...
Monday, August 24, 2009
Cinnamim, anyone?
Things that make me laugh:
- That my kids know what a synonym is, and can use the word correctly, but pronounce it as "cinnamim." Sounds like it could be found on the spice rack.
- That my announcement of picture-taking for Open House resulted in a mad dash to the bathroom to wet down their hair and check out their reflection. Ah, pre-adolescence ...
Trying to get it right
So I don't make a good draconian. Nor will I rank among the teachers in my school who make students quake in their shoes and fall into a wide-eyed silence. But I'm trying to turn my deficits into assets.
After a week or two of hectoring, nagging, lecturing, scolding and the like, I decided over the weekend (thanks to the frank and challenging advice of a mentor) to let the students formulate the rules instead of forcing (and often failing) to have students follow my set of rules.
We embarked on a loooong class meeting. We emerged at the end with 8 rules, a layout of consequences, and an agreed-upon "quiet signal." It was interesting to see that students understood what aspects of classroom behavior were prevalent, but not useful (incessant note-passing one of the main examples). Students autographed the chart and it occupies a place of honor next to the whiteboard.
How did our day go? We had one of the nicest language arts lessons yet, reading "Kaipo and the Mighty Ahi." Students were focused and found meaning in the story. The boys, however, had lots of trouble settling themselves after recess and lunch. I ended up putting my hand on individuals' shoulders, making eye contact, and asking, "Are you ready to come in?" to get them ready to be back in the classroom.
Here's hoping this is the first step to fostering self-management in my students!
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