Report Card Time!

All I have to say is thank goodness scarcasm doesn't translante into typed comments. This is hard!

xxOOxx

Observations & Reflections

As you know, I am currently doing the BTSA program through Burbank USD. I have a lovely coordinator who had arranged for us to visit some different classrooms today.
I love having the opportunity to visit other classrooms to scavenge new ideas and trash others that don't seem to work so well. The first classroom had a lot of trashing...
Wait! First, you should know that lately I have been questioning my teaching method. When you come into my room there are always students talking and we have a repertoire that I have come to enjoy. We talk to teach other all day. This is how I pictured my class running, but the doubt comes in when I look around the catholic school I am in and see more "traditional" (translation: students should be seen and not heard) teaching method in almost every class. My class is not crazy or disrespectful by any means, they are just not quiet.
Back to the observation... I was seated in the back of another 4th grade room as the students came in. Completely silently. It was wonderful. There was no chatter or horseplay. The class knew what was expected and complied with the teacher's every demand. I felt very uncomfortable. It was a cold environment with no smiles or traceable relationship between student and teacher. I'll remind you that I was in the room for all of an hour, but there was almost no student work on the boards and even the positive reinforcement seemed forced. I quickly realized that if I was uncomfortable, then the students were as well. It was not my type of learning environment.
The second room was much more comfortable. The students were encouraged to collaborate and help each other. There was a lot of interaction between the teacher and her students and there were many smiles. I'd like to think this feeling is what I portray in my own room.

xxOOxx

Cheating

Yesterday we had a Social Studies test. A necessary evil, I know. We took the test and moved on with our lives. Yesterday I also corrected said Social Studies tests (and due to the very creative title of this blog, you can see where I'm going with this).
2 papers.
Exactly alike.
Same multiple choice questions wrong.
Same wording in the short answer.
Same words crossed off.
No doubt in my mind that there was some cheating going on.
I was extremely upset. How dare someone cheat on my test! Do they think i'm stupid? What am I going to do? What were they thinking? How did I not see it happening? Oh my God! These kids are driving me crazy! How do I put my foot down. What is fair? WHO CHEATED???...these were all questions bubbling in my brain within 30 seconds of figuring it out.
I made the decision to ask them to confess, if neither did- both would get a zero on the test. Unfair for one person, but I was between a rock and a hard place.
I sent home the zero paper and a note.
Needless to say, I got 2 parent conference requests today :/
One side was very angry, one was very supportive and understanding. I hate being berated by parents for something that is out of my control. What could I have done? I can't think of another way to handle the situation that would've been fair to all parties involved (including the other students that didn't cheat).
Any Ideas? All I have to say is thank God for co-workers because by talking to them I feel reaffirmed that I did the right thing.
On a side note, the blog reached 1000 page views~!~ Thanks to my 5 loyal readers!! haha
xxOOxx

Worksheets are the devil

So, I went teacher shopping today because I realized that I needed some posters and other cool stuff. I am realizing that I really like teacher stores and that there are NONE left (except Lakeshore) but that's another post altogether... Anyway, I was looking for a book I had seen online about active learning strategies and/or how to teach History in a not-so-boring way. Out of about ten rows of books, I saw nothing but reproducibles and worksheets. No books explaining how to teach an interesting lesson... just worksheets. I bet there are students somewhere drowning in worksheets. I could plan my whole yearly cirriculum on worksheets alone. But worksheets don't grow dendrites (that's a book btw). I just couldn't believe how many books there were to photocopy for your class. Don't get me wrong, worksheets are good in moderation and for reviewing concepts, but NOT for teaching concepts. What do you think? Do you use a lot of worksheets? Did you actually like doing worksheets as a kid? I didn't. xxOOxx

Back to School Night

Why is it that many teachers can spend their days yacking kids' ears off, yet when it comes to parents...its a no go. I know I aways feel uncomfortable in front of a room of parents. Perhaps its because I'm used to being the oldest one in the room, and then suddenly everyone's older than me... whatever the case, it happens. So, today was Back to School Night and if I do say so myself, It went fabulously! I was nervous, so I made a little powerpoint to keep me on track. It was great and it turns out that I have a great group of parents (knock on wood). If everything goes as nicely as it has today, I might not give up this class at the end of the year. I'll just follow them to 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th! haha Seriously though, it's always fantastic to hear positive things from the parents and to be able to see where the kids are coming from. I hope the whole year is this great! xxOOxx

Thinking...

All weekend I have been thinking of all of the things I wasn't prepared to think about when I was preparing to be a teacher...
Here's my list:
*How do you use a room parent?
*How SPECIFICALLY do you come up with a final grade to put on the report card?
*How do you deal with other teachers?
*How do you plan field trips for three months from now when you don't even know if you will be teaching the right lessons for that trip at that time??
*How do you turn your brain off so that you're not thinking about teaching every second of every day?

Anyone who can answer the last one can have a cookie!!

xxOOxx

Day 1

So, the first day is over and it was fantastic! It's so nice when your expectations meet with reality. At first I was overwhelmed and bombarded by parents, but as soon as I shut the classroom door, I knew I could handle anything.

Don't get me wrong, not everything went perfect. I learned A LOT today such as:

*Don't be afraid to re-think an assignment or directions in the middle of an activity...sometimes it's just not gonna work.

*It's best to over-plan... those lessons take less time than you really think they should.

*Clarity is key. You say stack the tissue boxes on the shelves, they'll stack them until they're 10 ft. high! Observe:

*DON'T wear high heels on the first day!!!

*My family is the BEST! My day started with an inspiring text message from my wonderful fiance, and got better as my mom and sister dropped off these gorgeous flowers from my dad, mom, and sisters.

I had a fantastic first day and am so excited for day 2!

xxOOxx