I saw Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Run, do not walk, to the theater! This is the best movie I’ve seen in 2008.
words of wisdom from the Prince November 24, 2008
Today Amelia Bedelia was gone again (she had planned a trip before she got this job), so we had last Friday and today without her. And…Leo was once again just fine. So was Edward, for that matter.
I treated Leo like I would any other child, so when he refused to clean up I took him over to the timeout chair for a brief timeout. He took it, and then he joined us for morning meeting.
When we got to recess I saw the Prince, so I asked him what I should do. I told him that Leo does fine without Miss Nelson, but on days when she’s in our class, he falls apart, runs away, and refuses to participate. And then she says to me about our class and the work we’re doing, “he can’t do this. It’s too much for him.”
The Prince said, “tell her that you’d like him to start being more independent. Tell her that since he won’t have a one-on-one next year in kindergarten, you’d like to try having him be more independent and treated more like the other kids in the class.”
I thought that was very good advice, so that Miss Nelson doesn’t go over to him and hover and help him with everything….and then he plays her like a violin and freaks out and acts all silly or floppy and refuses to do any work. Also, fairly diplomatic.
The Prince is really getting back on track. What a wonderful relief.
conundrum November 22, 2008
Last Monday when Amelia Bedelia (our new special ed assistant) was in the room, Leo was fine. He didn’t want to do his work, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer — in the nicest way possible — so he sat down, and with her help, he did some of the work.
On Tuesday when Miss Nelson was in the room, Leo ran away from Art (who wouldn’t? — but again, that is a topic for another post) and nearly gave her a heart attack. Back in the classroom he flopped on the floor and wouldn’t join us at all, let alone do any work.
On Wednesday when Miss Nelson and I took the class to the local library for story time, Leo ran behind a rickety wall into a space where children are definitely not allowed to go. Twice. He would have gone a third time but I grabbed him and said, “that is NOT okay.”
On Thursday Miss Nelson and I had a few minutes to talk without kids around, and she said, “Leo is totally falling apart.”
On Friday, Amelia Bedelia couldn’t be there, so it was just me and my assistant teacher…..and Leo was fine. He participated, he did his work, he was fine. Of course, she had to read him some pirate stories one-on-one, and I had to sit with him to help him do his work, but basically he was fine. Was it because I was so busy and I just treated him more or less like everyone else? And I’m relatively strict and wasn’t going to take no for an answer? Was it luck?
So. What do I tell Miss Nelson? You’re the expert on special education but when you’re here he’s a mess and when you’re not, he acts like a different child?
student in free fall November 21, 2008
I visited a second grade classroom, and a boy I remember from my visits to first grade last year was there. I was shocked by his deterioration.
Last year he had an attitude, and sometimes didn’t pay attention, but he was clearly smart and he eventually did his work. No big deal. Yesterday was different — he had somehow lost control of himself and his body. He couldn’t sit still, so I sat behind him and touched his back gently, and whispered his name. With most kids that would work but it seemed to rile him up more. Soon he was leaning on the kid next to him or flopping on the floor, instead of sitting up in the circle. I eventually moved away as it seemed I might be making things worse.
The poor teacher was trying to give directions for the math activity but I never once saw this boy look at her or give any indication that he heard a word she said. He made his hands into guns and “shot” the kids around him. He was in his own world.
Then an older woman I realized was his grandma stepped up, and she tried and tried to get him to pay attention. She was whispering to him lovingly and even guided his head so he’d be facing the teacher, and she didn’t have any luck either. It was almost like listening or focusing was beyond his abilities.
Later, she sat next to him to do the activity, and instead of listening, he built guns out of manipulatives. It was like someone had shot him up with ADHD poison, and he was completely lost in his own hyperactive world. I mean, it looked like he couldn’t even look at grandma and have a conversation with her.
It made me so sad for the rest of the day.
my five amigos November 19, 2008
Five of the boys in my class speak Spanish at home. Three of the five speak some English. They are wonderful, adorable boys, and I love them. Right now, they are engaged in some sort of epic battle of friendship.
At first, this fall, I would hear them call to each other, “amigo!” and I would beam, it was so cute. At first it was three boys: the two non-English speakers (let’s call them Chester and Wilson, after the friends in Chester’s Way) and one of our class leaders, a boy I’ll call Swimmy. Then Ferdinand got involved, and that was wonderful, because he has been a bit slower to figure out social skills. Then a fifth boy joined in.
Then Chester and Wilson got clique-y, and sometimes they would include Ferdinand, and sometimes they wouldn’t. Sometimes Ferdinand and Chester and Wilson would exclude Swimmy, or the other boy. Now they are at the point of pushing, hitting, and what’s worse — saying, “you’re not my friend.”
Today Chester and Wilson said, “you’re not our friend” to Swimmy, right after I’d had a little pep talk with him about good behavior. Even though he promised me he wouldn’t, he pushed them. Later, they said the same thing to Ferdinand. And Ferdie, my little angel….gave them the finger!
So I need to find a translator to call Chester’s parents, and Wilson’s parents, and let them know what’s going on. And I need to arrange for our Spanish-speaking social worker to do a little social skills group with those five.
The girls will be the next issue, I can tell. Lola 2 is only four, but I swear she’s a teenager in the making. I think she was flirting with Chester the other day, over in the house corner!
life as a mentor teacher, part two November 19, 2008
So I never posted about my experience visiting first grade and teaching a math lesson to that class of wigglers….
Last Thursday, after having demonstrated an interactive read-aloud to my peers at a meeting before school, I left the meeting early and went to first grade, where I talked to the teacher about the lesson to be sure I understood what I was supposed to do. Next I rushed to my classroom, where I greeted my kids and got them sent off to art class. Then I had a few minutes to prepare for the math lesson.
I saw the assistant principal in the hall and grabbed her. “Could you take a look at this? Is this a lesson objective, or am I merely describing the activity?” We had talked about it at our mentors’ meeting the day before, and I wanted to be sure I was modeling my lesson objective correctly. The AP and I stared at the document on my computer screen and then figured out how to strengthen what I had written. I hit print and raced off to first grade.
It went well. I had already placed three lines of tape on the floor, having noticed that in a large circle, many of the wigglers were not facing their teacher and weren’t willing to make the effort to turn their heads and pay attention. The kids were pretty interested in the change, and sat down in three nice rows for me.
Next change: I passed out trays, paper, and pencils, so that they could work sitting right there in the meeting area. (On my previous visit I noticed that once the kids were at the tables, the screen was too far away for them to pay attention.) Trays are awesome. I have been using former airline meal trays for about 13 years. In preK they can be used as a writing surface, the way I used them in first grade, but they are also great as a workspace. (At our lego table, no one is allowed to touch anyone else’s tray — let alone take someone’s legos.)
Third change — I used a document camera. The teacher was accustomed to using an overhead projector, but in order to beam the image onto the screen, the o.p. had to be on a cart right in the middle of the meeting area, making it impossible for the kids to sit there. Doc cams are great, as they can be over on the side. I used it to share my lesson objectives (“by the end of the lesson, you will be able to…”), and then to model the activity.
K-5 is using Investigations this year, which I am not familiar with, as preK uses a different curriculum for math, but I hear good things from my fellow teachers (unlike the bad old days when we had Everyday Math, which Everyone Hated). In this lesson, I showed the children a shape for 5 seconds, and then hit the a/v mute button so the screen went blank, and asked them to draw the shape from memory. It was surprisingly challenging for them, and some really struggled (and a few really wiggled), but by and large, I had their attention, and we made it through together.
This week, I notice that the three lines are still on the floor, and the teacher is still using the document camera. So I smile a little to myself and hope that I was helpful.
life as a mentor teacher, part one November 13, 2008
So I got to school this morning at 8, already nervous about presenting a math lesson in first grade at 10. There was an 8:20 staff development workshop before school, school started at 9:30, and I wouldn’t have much time to prepare for my visit to first grade.
I checked my email and saw that I was supposed to present/model an interactive readaloud at the meeting, which I had agreed to in passing a week ago, but hadn’t heard about since. Swearing at the computer, and feeling some adrenaline surge through my body, I dug out the repeated interactive read-aloud (RIRA) lesson plan for Swimmy (by Leo Lionni) that I wrote last year.
The mentor teacher in charge of the meeting gave a good intro to interactive read-alouds as part of the Reader’s Workshop model, and then I got up to make my (un-prepared) presentation.
It went really well. I am comfortable in front of groups, and I know my stuff, and it didn’t hurt that right before I went up a first grade teacher said to the woman in charge, pointing at me, “she’s a master at this.” I spoke passionately about the importance of reading aloud to children with purpose.
In a repeated interactive read-aloud, you prepare ahead of time the vocabulary you want children to know, the (thoughtful) questions you will ask, and the comments you will make to model for children how good readers think about what they are reading. As to the vocabulary, it drives me crazy when teachers stop reading, ask, “does anybody know what ‘swift’ means?” and then try and try to pull the answer out of the kids when the truth is, not one child knows the meaning of the word. I said, “In a first read-aloud, it really slows things down if you try to get the kids to tell you the meanings of the words. This time through, you stop to carefully — but quickly — define or act out the words, so that by the third read-aloud, the children can do it.”
I then read the story, using my lesson plan, and inserted vocabulary support and commentary throughout. Several teachers asked questions, and I sat down, tired and relieved.
Later on, when I left work for the day, the Prince stopped me. “That was really good this morning,” he said. “Anyone would be lucky to be in your class.”
giving up caffeine… November 12, 2008
…makes me want to drink more alcohol.
Or maybe it was just going on our first field trip, walking in yucky weather to the library with my class full of lively four year olds. It was a success, but the boy whose hand I held all the way there and all the way back nearly yanked my arm out of its socket several times, and I returned to school exhausted.
I’m driving my children somewhere tonight or I would totally open a bottle of wine.
first grade wigglers November 11, 2008
Today while my kids were suffering through art (a topic for another post), I went to a first grade room in my role as a mentor teacher. I sat in on a math lesson, and couldn’t believe how restless and distracted the kids were. My four year olds sit in a circle and pay attention soooo much better than these six year olds!
The lesson went okay, but the teacher and I talked about it later and agreed that classroom management is the big issue. He said he was open to suggestions, and said that this feels like the first time that his classroom management skills aren’t doing the trick. I’ve been in his room before and I know that he is a good teacher — but this class! Wow!
I remember how they were last year in kindergarten — they were rolling around on the floor like puppies. All the kindergarten teachers would talk about how that group of kids seemed so self-centered, pampered, and immature. Now the first grade teachers are saying the same things.
So we talked about doing things in a more structured way, and using some of my organizational tricks to keep transitions at a minimum. And then I blurted out, “when I come back on Thursday, would you like me to teach the lesson, so you can watch?”
He said yes, of course. So now I have to get ready to teach a first grade math lesson to a group of wiggly worms, and make it useful to their teacher, as well. The good thing is that I had several of the kids in my class two years ago, and I know several more from all the time I spent in K last year as a mentor.
I’m kinda psyched. I like a good challenge.
But…perhaps this wasn’t the best week to give up caffeine?
meeting edward November 11, 2008
I have a new student. Edward (named after the character in Rosemary Wells’ Edward the Unready) was in my room after I came back from lunch. Miss Nelson helped his mother fill out paperwork while I sat with Edward and his puzzle.
He was calm, and seemed to feel comfortable, even though tomorrow will be his first day of school ever. He liked the puzzle, but apart from putting two pieces together here and there, really couldn’t figure it out. He put a corner piece in the wrong place, and I said, “Edward, you know what? This kind of looks like a corner piece. I think it might fit in this corner right here.”
He shook his head. “Goes right here,” and he pointed, to two pieces that definitely did not fit together.
I tried again, and failed again, so I watched him. The puzzle was a sensory experience for him, it seemed, not a logical experience. When he was done he pointed to the toys on the shelf, and with my help, got out some unifix cubes. While he played with cubes I put the puzzle together. When I was done, he looked at it, amazed.
Miss Nelson told his mother about our walking field trip to the library for storytime tomorrow, and asked her to talk to Edward about it again tonight, so that he’d be prepared.
When it was time to leave, Edward said something unintelligible to Miss Nelson. His mother came over to listen, and she translated: “He wants to go to the library.”
Miss Nelson and his mother explained that the library trip is tomorrow, and he just stood there, with tears streaming down his face. His mother said to me, shaking her head, “I knew this was going to happen. He never wants to leave.”
So tomorrow, Edward starts in our class. He can’t do puzzles, and has trouble with transitions, but he has a sweet face. We’ll see how it goes.
