Teaching Seasons

Teachers typically get observed by their supervisors once a year. It is their "grade" so to speak. My very first observation in Texas as a new teacher was whilst teaching a lesson on seasons. I had just moved down to El Paso from Minnesota and was teaching First Grade. My assistant principal sat quietly off to the side as I used some ancient technology to show different "seasonal" pictures to the class whilst students would call out the season shown. It was a review lesson and I felt my students knew their seasons well enough that we would all come out looking brilliant! We came to a picture showing white on both the trees and ground and my students called out "SUMMER!"

Arghhh! I was so frustrated thinking that we would need to start all over and get winter down. To me it was obvious: white in the trees and on the ground was snow! Later, as the two of us sat together critiquing the lesson, my supervisor gently told me that in the spring and summer, Texas has cotton in the fields and cotton coming out of the cottonwood pods. Texas doesn't have the same four seasons as in Minnesota. This taught me a valuable lesson, however, and I know now that when the weather conditions are just right, I have to "seize the moment" and get those seasonal reviews taught. Today was a perfect, stereotypical "fall" day and we all went outside as I tried to get the lesson reinforced before it changed and we were back to the heat of summer!

We took a walk around the school looking for and identifying signs of autumn. We saw leaves turning colors and some were falling to the ground. The weather was wet and windy. The birds were gathered around looking for food as they continued south. Perfect, right? Yes...

And then some eagle eye from our class spotted this in our parking lot...

The Bradford pear trees had green leaf buds and white flowers... NOT signs of autumn...

Arghhhhh!

Buddy Class

Learning is a social activity... and to behave appropriately in many social situations is a learnt skill. So when I tell you that we have ANOTHER buddy class, please do not think that I am avoiding teaching your children. There are very specific outcomes I have in mind when I plan to meet with a buddy class. On Friday, we went from WPS to our sister school, Windermere Elementary where the 3rd-5th grades are taught. Ms. Price, a 3rd Grade teacher, and I intended to start buddying up back in September but it has taken us this long to finally get a plan together and find a good time for both classes. Our intention is to meet once a month for social learning outcomes as well as academic goals. This month our academic goal was to share our writing for the purpose of telling our buddies about who we are and what we like to do. (An informative writing prompt.) Our social goals were to learn to be a leader (for the 3rd graders) and to learn to make friends with someone older (for the 1st graders). It is also important to me that the students become familiar with WES as it is the school the majority of the students will attend when they get to 3rd grade. There is typically a drop in achievement when instruction is broken... I guess that's "education-ese" for saying that when students start a new school or a new grade, they don't learn much in the first few weeks while they adjust to the new expectations. It is doubly compounded when they go to a new grade in a new school which is what happens to our 2nd graders when they move to WES for 3rd grade. It is my hope and intention that my students become as familiar with WES as they are with WPS... ergo, we have a buddy class at WES.

Having said all that, I just want to say that we had a really marvelous time with our new buddies and we are looking forward to going again in December. The students were so happy to share their writing... well look...

"Book It" at Pizza Hut

One of my most favourite promotions as a teacher is the free personal pan pizza for reading offered by Pizza Hut. I mean, really, can you think of a more perfect combination than reading and pizza? And Pizza Hut has been doing this for years! My children did it when they were in school and I have done it just about every year that I have been a classroom teacher. But this year I knew I wanted to add a little something more to the incentive. (Truthfully, I need no reward for reading, it is it's own reward in my book-- pun, intended... but all the same, offer me a pizza and I am over the moon!) For students, that added incentive of getting your own pizza can be the reason they read every night. This year, though, I decided that I would meet my students at our local Pizza Hut and make it a celebration-- as well as a way for parents to meet the other parents in a more social setting. (I know, right? How can people be inhibited in a classroom? Hmmm?)

On Thursday evening, the last thing I wanted after a very tiring day was to still be "Ms. Klein", but I had a lot of good reasons for wanting this to succeed, so I drove off to our Pizza Hut on Pecan Street...

and had the most wonderful time ever! Oh yes I DID!!!

I even had a canadian bacon pizza with Rootbeer instead of my usual pepperoni and Diet Coke. (Thanks, Ridge for the suggestion!) Totally went out of my comfort zone that night! You know what? I have some amazing students and incredible parents in my class this year and the time passed very quickly with lots of conversation and laughter. Eight students and their families were able to come out and celebrate their children as readers. And somebody even paid for my pizza! How's that for super cool? (Yeah, Mrs. Mosley thinks she's clever with her sly questions but I can think deductively as well as inductively... Thank you, Mosley family for the free pizza!) I can't wait for December!!! Maybe more will come. And maybe I won't get mixed up with the dates and our 3rd grade buddies can join us... who knows... Pizza Hut, "I'll be back"!

50th Day of School

The 100th Day of School gets a lot of play in most elementary and primary schools, as it should. There are so many mathematical concepts that can be taught and experienced in a very hands-on, child friendly way. But all the same, why should 100 get all the attention when the 50th Day of school holds such potential? Brilliant! At least that's what I thought when I read an educational blog written by a teacher who celebrates the 50th Day of school by "going back to the 50's"... so I swiped her idea and we had a wonderful time "Rockin' Around the Clock" in our classroom on November 3rd.

Yes, we actually learned more about even and odd numbers, skip counting, perimeter, vocabulary (slang), money exchanges, alphabetical order, changes over time, and the social upheaval caused by rock and roll (Yakety, Yak... Don't talk back). And, of course, we had a sock hop at the end of the day where we twisted, strolled and mashed potatoes. We listened to Doo Wop and Classics from the beginning of rock.

We sang, we counted and we role played... and the day ended too soon. I had far too many activities planned than hours in the school day. But, never fear, the fifties lasted a decade and we can fill up 9 more days with more great learning about math, science, social studies, music and P.E.!

I love this job!

Pumpkin Math and Science

Halloween has the potential to be one of the most harrowing days of the school year... okay the days that follow can be disastrous as well... ANY WAY, taking all that excitement and channeling it into learning can be challenging. But this year, I had absolutely one of the best teaching days EVER! You might remember that ealier in the month, we went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Festival where the students learned about the life cycle of the pumpkin. We revisited that learning on Halloween through our pumpkin study. I kicked it off by having the students hold the pumpkin that I'd purchased. It was a medium pumpkin but it was no lightweight by any means. The students all agreed that even though the pumpkin "wasn't heavy", it would sink in water.

HA!! (I know... my poor fish probably had a mini-heart attack! Sorry, fishies!) But the students were amazed... and immediately hooked into the lesson! We measured the pumpkin every way we could...

...height

...circumference. Yes, I used the word. Then we defined it and measured it.

...weighed it...

And talked some more about the life cycle and sequenced it using both a non-fiction, a fiction book and video

And last but not least, we used geometry to design our jack-o-lantern...






What a great day spent learning...

Positive Behavior Reward

As you can well imagine, feeding 600 students under the age of 8 can be chaotic, loud and very messy. It's a challenge, that's for sure. One parent who joined us for lunch for the first time ever, was clueless how much management was involved... and a little, okay, a lot overwhelmed. (I'm not sure he'll be joining us for lunchtime, anytime soon...) All the same, as a staff, we invest a lot of time and energy in finding ways to feed and nourish the little bodies entrusted to us during the day. We try to create an atmosphere that's social and yet controlled that allows students to eat and have time to visit with their friends. We spend the first weeks of school in the cafeteria teaching students how to follow the rules that have been set in place for safety and comfort of both the students and those assigned to watch over them. Then we reinforce those behaviors with positive rewards.

I'm a big believer in allowing students to make choices and learning to live with the consequences. (Not all consequences are bad, people!) At any rate, the first reward the class wanted to work for was to wear costumes to school. (You can bet I didn't run that reward past the school administration BEFORE they earned it... ;)... I've gotten pretty good at predicting when I'm going to get shut down. lol) So, when the students earned their reward, amazingly enough ON Halloween!!! (What????) I waited to deliver the parent newsletter to the front office informing them about the Monday costume-wearing surprise until after the students had gone home for the weekend.

All the same, it proves my belief that when children choose their own rewards, they earn them faster. It took the students exactly 10 days to earn the reward. No yelling in the cafeteria, no messy tables, no wandering about... just excellent behaviour in a most challenging environment. Here are my adorable students in their costumes...

Aren't they just perfect??? xoxo

Fire Factory Assembly

Every year we get lucky and we get a safety presentation from "The Fire Factory". I think they are local fire fighters that work together to perform a skit teaching our students about safety. Yesterday was WPS' presentation and it was great!

In our story this year an "extreme" sports kid was about to show us a cool jump on his hot wheel but four safety "superheroes" reminded him about different safety facts. The first was Captain Crash telling our main character to wear a safety helmet, and elbow and knee pads:

Then Lt. Liquid came out and reminded us of the importance of drinking water to stay hydrated:

Pflash Flood came on next to tell kids to "Turn around and don't drown" during stormy weather and flash floods:

Finally, one of our main character's friends came out and we were all reminded of the safety lessons we learned during the show.

It was a lot of fun, important lessons and good entertainment. Thanks, guys! You did a GREAT job!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

It's that time again when chills roll down the spines of teachers, our stomaches are clenched and we find our jaw sore after a long day when we realize that we've been gritting our teeth... Yes, it's conference time. Ugh.

BUT, this year I'm am taking a different approach. 2 years ago when I was in Scotland, they had the students color a happy face, a plain face, or a frowny face for how the student felt they were doing in each area of the curriculum. Then the students were to set a goal for themselves in each area. Frankly, I had no idea what it was that I was supposed to be doing with this student "report card" thingie but I did as I was told and no one came back to tell me I had done it wrong. So, I muddled through it alright... but I never forgot it. This year, I decided to adapt that idea to my students and have them run the conference instead of me. My first attempt was to get them to rate themselves in each area but I soon found out that it wasn't a good idea. WAY too complex for a first step with 6 and 7 year olds. I settled for a chat with each student about their favorite subject at school and why they liked it. They told me one thing they felt that they did very well and why they thought they did it so well. Then I helped them come up with one goal they would try to accomplish by the December holidays. Finally, I asked them what is the one thing that they would like their parents to know about them from me. (I was trying to understand what they felt was important about themselves and how I could help them.) I also told them that I don't lie and that I would never lie to their parents. Those six year olds, just looked at me in total understanding, nodded once and started to really think.

So, together, in private conferences, we talked and I took notes so I wouldn't forget anything. And tonight, we started. Five families came, one after another, and listened as their child talked about their learning: What their favorite subject was; (Some parents were so surprised!) Then they listened as their child told them what they thought they were really good at; Then they stated their goal for the first semester. The parents were so supportive and so very proud of their wee ones. Lastly, I looked into their parents' eyes and told them the one thing their child really wanted them to know. Some things were odd or funny. For instance, one child wanted her mom to know that she treated her books just like babies. (It's a class slogan.) Some things were very touching like the child who wanted me to tell his mother that he really, really tried hard to finish all his work. But, whatever they asked, if it was important to the child, and it was the truth, I said it it. What was precious was to watch the effect their words had on their parents. Some parents were baffled, but most were as thrilled by their children as I was.

They are so amazing, these little ones that I get to spend the day with. They are absolutely BRILLIANT!

And, remember, I never lie.

Our Author's Celebration

Mrs. Cunningham, a Kindergarten teacher, walked by our room one day on her way out to recess and noticed the students writing. She stopped in and asked if we'd like to buddy up and read our writing from the first 9 weeks. Oh. My. Gosh! My students got soooo excited! For two days they read feverishly through their stories trying to pick out the one they wanted to read to their Kinder buddy. Some wrote new pieces just for their Kinder buddy. Then on Friday, Mrs. Cunningham's class came to our room. We sat together and listened to their stories and read our stories to them. The kids were so excited and yes, a little shy. It was precious to watch! I took some photos so you can see as well.

FIELD TRIP!!!!!

Our first field trip and such a great one! We went out to Elgin, to the Christmas Tree Farm, where they also host a Pumpkin Festival. We had such a fun time! When we first got off the bus, we went off to paint our mini-pumpkins.

Then we got to feed and pet the animals.

Then it was time for the students' FAVOURITE thing EVER!!!! The MAZE!

They ran through it so fast and so many times, I lost count. And even at the end before we got back on the buses, they wanted to go back into the maze. Funny what they go for, isn't it?

But then it was time for some science, so we went to the open meeting area and heard a story

and learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Don'cha just love a hayride? That's what we did next...

Well... perhaps some of us were a wee bit knackered... ;)

We had lunch... which gave us a lot of new energy. So, we played on the swingset and in the hay... and then sadly, it was time to head back to Pflugerville. But not before one last AWESOME photo....
with some tired students and teachers.

Isn't teaching incredible?