It's been quite a while. I need, will, and am getting back to this. If for nothing else, I need to promise myself that I will continue taking the time to reflect on what's going on. I can't and won't let myself be too busy for that.
School in general has been wonderful. In terms of my own classroom, I'm so excited to see the routines taking hold. It makes life so much easier and class time more engaging. I'm surprised at how much I've been comfortable with lesson planning. I was worried I'd run out of things for some reason, but I can really take my time and watch things grow and develop. It's so wonderful.
We've been doing Friday morning sing-alongs with the first grade classes and it's been awesome! It makes Friday so much fun and this week we'll be expanding it to the second grade as well.
School-wide, I love getting to do the data work, sunshine club stuff, and the SLT. I really enjoy having a role in what's going on and taking ownership of our school community.
The staff is wonderful. I'm so lucky to have such thoughtful, caring, and brilliant colleagues.
In terms of TC...I'm realizing more and more how much I want to do in policy. I'd love to see if I can do summer work for the National Endowment for the Arts or the state ESPECIALLY with this new teacher preparation and "Race to the Top" proposal being pushed in New York State. I watched an AWESOME lecture/debate on it Monday and it was so interesting (and frustrating) to see where state education leaders are in terms of their educational philosophies (or lack their of).
It's late, and I'm tired, but I wanted to post this, for myself, and for whoever reads it. I'm here. I'll be here more.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
The week of October 5th
This was such a whirlwind week and probably why I didn't post. I also attribute my lack of posting to an obsession with Metal Gear 4. And going out.
So to begin, Monday was a long day. Only because I don't think last weekend was long enough. It went well enough. I got my readings done for my classes and the classes that night were also great. I participated for the first time in the lecture in terms of making a comment so that felt kind of cool. I think I've been a little intimidated in terms of coming out and saying things but it felt good to participate. I love drawing connections to our engagements and the profession from those classes.
Tuesday was crazy. I feel like there was a lot of last minute work with the after school which meant lots of classroom interruptions and phone calls and logistical problems. In the end however, the first day of the after school program went extremely well. It was amazing having that many kids and having them all excited and engaged like that. It was a blast and our guests from the partnership company were fantastic. We had to ask a couple kids to not come back due to major disruptions, but that was ok. Wednesday was a lot better because of that. It was even easier and I was very happy once again. Thursday, the kids knew the routine and we are clearly ready to move into even smaller group and music work next week.
The week in terms of class time was interesting. Wednesday I had to cover a class I've never had before and will never have again more than likely so that was difficult in that it almost felt like babysitting. I was glad to do music with the kids but I was also struggling to find purpose. Friday I also had an interesting coverage in working on the Save Room with the two students who I've mentioned frequently. Though it was semi manageable one still ran through the parking lot etc. They really need to be given the help the deserve. It is very unsafe for them and for other members of the school community having them here still. I worry frequently about what that looks like to parents and others who see these things going on and am confused by what kind of red tape exists for something that demands so much attention and evaluation to not be happening at all.
Socially speaking, Friday was Oktoberfest for our staff which was fun. We all watched The Hangover, had root beer and hot dogs with saurkraut. It was a nice relaxation for all of us especially coming up on the long weekend. I'm very happy to be heading up the Sunshine Club. It's great to see people having fun like that.
I also had my first formal observation this week. It was a lot more stressful than it should have been. Mainly because it didn't happen on the lesson I had originally planned, which is fine, but because that day the class I had was awful. We ended up having to take the day to do more community building etc. It was so completely embarrassing. Thankfully I was then observed again the next day which went more smoothly a little bit but neither was actually representative of how class usually is. Granted, my principal has done other mini observations and seen things as usual I was still very frustrated by this. I was taken back quite a bit. I'm curious to see how the follow up meeting goes.
So to begin, Monday was a long day. Only because I don't think last weekend was long enough. It went well enough. I got my readings done for my classes and the classes that night were also great. I participated for the first time in the lecture in terms of making a comment so that felt kind of cool. I think I've been a little intimidated in terms of coming out and saying things but it felt good to participate. I love drawing connections to our engagements and the profession from those classes.
Tuesday was crazy. I feel like there was a lot of last minute work with the after school which meant lots of classroom interruptions and phone calls and logistical problems. In the end however, the first day of the after school program went extremely well. It was amazing having that many kids and having them all excited and engaged like that. It was a blast and our guests from the partnership company were fantastic. We had to ask a couple kids to not come back due to major disruptions, but that was ok. Wednesday was a lot better because of that. It was even easier and I was very happy once again. Thursday, the kids knew the routine and we are clearly ready to move into even smaller group and music work next week.
The week in terms of class time was interesting. Wednesday I had to cover a class I've never had before and will never have again more than likely so that was difficult in that it almost felt like babysitting. I was glad to do music with the kids but I was also struggling to find purpose. Friday I also had an interesting coverage in working on the Save Room with the two students who I've mentioned frequently. Though it was semi manageable one still ran through the parking lot etc. They really need to be given the help the deserve. It is very unsafe for them and for other members of the school community having them here still. I worry frequently about what that looks like to parents and others who see these things going on and am confused by what kind of red tape exists for something that demands so much attention and evaluation to not be happening at all.
Socially speaking, Friday was Oktoberfest for our staff which was fun. We all watched The Hangover, had root beer and hot dogs with saurkraut. It was a nice relaxation for all of us especially coming up on the long weekend. I'm very happy to be heading up the Sunshine Club. It's great to see people having fun like that.
I also had my first formal observation this week. It was a lot more stressful than it should have been. Mainly because it didn't happen on the lesson I had originally planned, which is fine, but because that day the class I had was awful. We ended up having to take the day to do more community building etc. It was so completely embarrassing. Thankfully I was then observed again the next day which went more smoothly a little bit but neither was actually representative of how class usually is. Granted, my principal has done other mini observations and seen things as usual I was still very frustrated by this. I was taken back quite a bit. I'm curious to see how the follow up meeting goes.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Wednesday September 30th, 2009
I felt very productive today. I managed to get so much of the tech stuff done and was very pleased with that. It helped so much that my classes were a lot of fun today. I love how personalities are coming out so much more now. I feel like when I student taught I only got to see some of the personalities and understand them more. I mean, I didn't see every class and some kids were more involved in music after school than others. Here though, I see everyone. I've seen them get used to their classes and routines. It's so cool now to watch them move into themselves. It's comforting and makes things more fun and interesting.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
It's very interesting to me the way that a three day weekend can have such an affect on the kids. It makes me think about the disproportionate effect of summer on middle and upper class students versus poor students/families. I don't know if that applies or manifests on such a marginal time frame, but still very interesting.
Needless today was a little more unsettled/off routine that I would have liked at this point, but at the same time there's still so much progress. I reread some of my original entries and it's reaffirming for me. I really love the brass lesson I'm doing with the first grade. It was a lot of fun. The only confusion today was a lunch time mix up because of run off voting in the cafeteria (we are a polling place).
I was very frustrated my class prior to lunch. We had to go back into their room because of the situation. That being said, I still never had them. Again though, I'm not going to yell, scream, bargain, or threaten. I did raise my voice but getting loud made the situation louder. It needed to be waited out. Some kids needed to be taken out but the phone didn't work and all the other surrounding rooms were away on prep. In the meantime, next class we'll revisit. I will wait. We will talk about our community and owning that community. When they're ready, we'll move on. Better now than in December.
Tomorrow's Wednesday already!?
Needless today was a little more unsettled/off routine that I would have liked at this point, but at the same time there's still so much progress. I reread some of my original entries and it's reaffirming for me. I really love the brass lesson I'm doing with the first grade. It was a lot of fun. The only confusion today was a lunch time mix up because of run off voting in the cafeteria (we are a polling place).
I was very frustrated my class prior to lunch. We had to go back into their room because of the situation. That being said, I still never had them. Again though, I'm not going to yell, scream, bargain, or threaten. I did raise my voice but getting loud made the situation louder. It needed to be waited out. Some kids needed to be taken out but the phone didn't work and all the other surrounding rooms were away on prep. In the meantime, next class we'll revisit. I will wait. We will talk about our community and owning that community. When they're ready, we'll move on. Better now than in December.
Tomorrow's Wednesday already!?
Friday, September 25th, 2009
Today was also fun. The first grade again this morning responded to the structure of the class. It wasn't as solid as yesterday, perhaps because it wasn't so new, but it still stuck and made the classroom so much more safe. I realize more and more that my deepest concern is safety. If something happens that's not safe, I do need to step in and sometimes in away that could seem more angry than I'd like to seem. I do not want to create a classroom of fear, but I also am responsible for everyone's (including my own) safety. That being said, the safety issue is something that I explain. If I need to lower my voice and get loud in order to maintain safety, I refuse to not explain myself. They deserve to always know or think about what the reasons might be for the things I say and ask. I remember always not understanding why something was told to me or why I had to do do something but not having it explained.
That being said, we are all learning the routine, respect, and care. I can see this more. I finally got to hand out recorders today to a second grade. We had a quarterly review meeting as well which was awesome in terms of checking in with other school staff and the administration about how we think we're doing, and where we can go within the specific framework of the review.
And of course. IT's FRIDAY! First ever school happy hour is next Friday!!!
That being said, we are all learning the routine, respect, and care. I can see this more. I finally got to hand out recorders today to a second grade. We had a quarterly review meeting as well which was awesome in terms of checking in with other school staff and the administration about how we think we're doing, and where we can go within the specific framework of the review.
And of course. IT's FRIDAY! First ever school happy hour is next Friday!!!
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Today was awesome. Mainly, it was awesome because anything that could have happened was surpassed by how well the first grade CTT class went. I made the young man who visits me all the time and can be a lot to handle my helper. My teacher's assistant if you will. It went over so well. Not only did it mean I didn't have to worry about him, the "George" if you will (as I've called him in this blog before), it instead enabled George to assist in classroom management and working the lesson. I was so pleased with how it went. It also helped that the other student who usually causes a lot of trouble was not present.
Additionally, I was just very happy with the lesson. Much of this week was about really getting into the Orff and other instruments objects in the classroom. It's a slow introduction where we are adding numbers. I look forward to the time when we can all have instruments at the same time. For now, working in single groups is the way to go. Otherwise, today was a lot of fun. This class just made me so happy. I like the idea of more student ownership in class and behavior contributing to a more positive classroom.
Additionally, I was just very happy with the lesson. Much of this week was about really getting into the Orff and other instruments objects in the classroom. It's a slow introduction where we are adding numbers. I look forward to the time when we can all have instruments at the same time. For now, working in single groups is the way to go. Otherwise, today was a lot of fun. This class just made me so happy. I like the idea of more student ownership in class and behavior contributing to a more positive classroom.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Follow up to Monday's Entry
Regarding behavior/police etc, I was thinking today about it more as I read a chapter of Kohn's "Punished by Rewards" again on the way to school. I brought it for another teacher grappling with similar ideas. In the meantime, chapter 8 reaffirmed my inarticulate ideas on Monday. I marked the paragraph and this is almost more of a reminder to myself to post that when I get the book back.
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