I want this book August 30, 2008

The book is Sweating the Small Stuff:  Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism, by David Whitman, and it examines six schools that are succeeding, in part because they explicitly teach middle-class values.  The Core Knowledge blog and Thoughts on Education have thoughtful articles responding to the book.

The question is, are these techniques widely replicable?  Or are they succeeding only because they are able to be selective, they are able to expel students who misbehave, and they have young, underpaid teachers who devote most of their waking hours to work?

a teacher’s thoughts after two glasses of wine August 28, 2008

Life is good.

Okay, the basement is chaos, with furniture piled up in one end and there are many different fans and blowers and dehumidifiers going, but hey, at least it wasn’t sewage that leaked all over our basement carpet.

And the stuff the water-removal specialists put in to fight bacteria is natural (I think the guy said it was thyme oil?) and it smells really good.  No chemicals wafting through my house.

And I made it to Open House, even though first I had to pick up my kids at camp, take them to meet their teachers at their school, get home, take a shower, eat dinner, get dressed up, and then try to wrestle my kid into his football uniform for practice.  I got to work with minutes to spare.

It was great.  Many of my kids showed up, and they all seem great, although one little boy might just need to learn how to clean up after himself.  My mind is reeling a bit, as there were so many kids and parents who came in so fast.  I tried to talk to everyone — even the ones who don’t speak English! — and I wished I had more time with each family and each child. 

I’ve got one mom pegged as a reliable weekly volunteer (I really need at least one of those), and one mom seemed really kooky (at least she’ll be entertaining), and one dad showed up with the oddest glasses (sort of Harry Potter meets famous architect meets jokey nerd-costume).  The kids were shy and sweet and I didn’t see a major behavior problem in the bunch.

Now tomorrow when I go to school I can concentrate on getting some real work done.  I really am looking forward to this school year.

(image from redneckwinereview.com via google images)

not what I need on the day of Open House August 28, 2008

Our water heater broke and there is a flood in our basement.  I’m at home waiting for plumber and carpet-dryer-outer instead of getting my room ready or preparing for my 9am special ed meeting.

(image from www.doomsdayguide.org via google images)

name tags August 27, 2008

How many times do you write your new students’ names?  How many sets of name tags do you make?

I spent the day making name tags.  First there are the name tags for their cubbies.  Then there are the name tags (on cute froggy shapes) that go up all around my door, to show who is in our class. 

When you enter the room, I also have a set of name tags with magnet backings for the “who’s here?”/”who’s not?” check-in chart.  Also, name tags to wear around their necks, for the “train”.  (See my opening centers on the first day of school post.)  There are name tags on little apple shapes for the job chart.  There are name tags — laminated, with velcro on the backs — for the meeting area, so I can show each child where to sit.

In the writing center, there are two sets of name tags, laminated and hung on rings, so that anyone who wants to write a friend’s name — or needs help writing their own name — can grab a set and use it for writing.

That’s eight sets, and I’m thinking I might have forgotten one.

maybe we’re not going under August 27, 2008

As I said in this post last week, my principal (the Prince) really pushed back at me last week when I challenged him on our NCLB status and some other things.  On Monday we had someone from the district come out to talk to us in very clear, positive language about our status as a 6th year school, and what that means for us.  And oddly enough, it doesn’t mean that much.

The district is unlikely to fresh-start us, as they have done it a few times with uncertain results and much bad publicity.  So for us, restructuring means coming up with a plan to make changes and improve results, and, well….we are doing that already.  And the district is going to support us along the way.

Then today at our meeting some rumors spread that we don’t actually have to change our literacy program (um, what literacy program?!) and we don’t have to do reader’s and writer’s workshops until next year.  People were getting confused and concerned and I could see all the work we did last year (to get a book room set up, and get people learning how to assess reading levels, and use leveled books) going up in flames. 

Then Wonder Woman’s replacement (I haven’t come up with a nickname for her yet) got up, and in three short minutes, in a quiet, gentle voice, made it clear what the plan is and put everything to rights.  People clapped for her and one teacher commented to another, “I like her already!”  When she sat down next to me, I whispered, “well done!” and I meant it.

Phew, our efforts to improve our reading program were not torpedoed.

And our test scores did improve, even though they didn’t improve by the 10% mandated by NCLB.

So things just might be okay.

bugs, bugs, bugs August 26, 2008

On my second day of work, with the Open House only two days off, I had to spend the day at trainings.  The morning was frustrating, as it was all about math and there was nothing presented that I didn’t already know.  And sorry, but ALL preschool teachers know how to teach patterns with unifix cubes.

I did have a nice lunch with two fellow teachers, and then the afternoon was much better.  We learned about doing science with preschool (something I’ve admitted I’m not too good at), and got lots of goodies.  I am now the proud owner of a terrarium with three sowbugs (hence, the picture above).  We all got a science curriculum book on teaching young children about nature, which looks really good, plus two terrariums, one of which has grass seed, some greens, and some bugs, a class set of magnifying glasses, two spades for digging in the dirt, a large piece of plastic that magnifies things, and a mister for keeping the terrariums moist.

At my son’s football practice this evening I got started reading the science book, and I’m really excited to teach science and explore nature with my class.

Now, however, I’m absolutely exhausted.  Switching to a new sleep schedule hasn’t gone smoothly, and mostly I stay awake until midnight trying to stop thinking about my classroom.

(image from sydneywebcam.smugmug.com via Google images)

Sixteen boys and four girls! August 25, 2008

Yes, that is my class count.  I checked out the list today on my first official day of work and started laughing when I figured that out.  Sixteen boys.   Yikes.  Um, did I mention, my class has SIXTEEN BOYS?!

I have to hope that if some students don’t show up — which happens every year — that they will come from the boy list, and not the girls.  I need all four girls.

(I’ve had a similar experience in the past, although not quite as drastic; check out my boys, boys, boys post from May.)

getting my classroom ready August 22, 2008

Here’s what my classroom looked like this morning:

and here’s the view from the windows:

My children were with me, and while the younger one blithely read comics, played with a Nintendo DS, and went out to the playground to play, the older one worried that we’d never get it looking good.  He helped me take down my old bulletin boards — some of which had been up for two years — and then was disappointed when I ran out of things which needed his excellent destapling services.  I put up fadeless paper and new borders — all green — but ran out when I got to the last board, which is the one that gets the most sunlight!

In three hours I managed to have nice neat bulletin boards (waiting for art and other things to go on them), get my desk surface organized, get all the furniture (except for the missing art supplies shelf!) in the right places, and put things away.

Here’s what the room looked like after:

Okay, so it’s not gorgeous, but at least it’s not a mess.  More pictures next week, when I officially go back to work.  It’s Friday night, and my summer is over.

Why I am writing this blog August 21, 2008

Because I read a lot of blogs and books about teaching and feel like I have a few things to say that haven’t been said before. 

Because I like to write, and I want to keep getting better at it.

But mostly….because I want to tell a story.  “There’s a lot of drama in preschool,” is a phrase I have said over and over in the last few years, and now I get to write it all down.  My blog posts will provide a story of my class, their growth, and the experiences I go through as their teacher. 

It is my hope that you will enjoy reading our story.

The Prince stands up to me August 20, 2008

Yesterday at our mentor/master teacher meeting, we met Wonder Woman’s replacement, and at her request, went through our end of the year notes on what worked, what didn’t, and what we want to do differently this year.  I was rather pointed in my concerns — lack of leadership, bad test scores, being at the final stage under No Child Left Behind — and the Prince gave me a bit of a smackdown.

It was great.

I’m not sure that any one else at the table knew what was going on, as it was between the lines, but it was clear that he was talking about me, and about Wonder Woman, as he expressed his concerns about gossip and negativity (zing!  that might totally be true) and he pointed out that our test scores are not getting worse, they’re just not increasing fast enough to meet NCLB’s moving targets.

So suddenly I was rethinking things, like perhaps Wonder Woman was too negative about the school, and perhaps I was too quick to agree with everything she said, and….maybe I was wrong.  And as for our scores, and our AYP status, he may be right that we are improving (just not quickly enough), and that the district has no plans to shut us down.

I was delighted to have him show some spine, and some anger, and to see that he is fighting.

So, I decided to be on his side.  And I’m not bummed about going back to work anymore.