What a day!

Well my JPAS did not happen today and I have off tomorrow so yay!! My biggest problem was to keep my students engaged for the entire day, not just 6 hours. So I used my budget to buy every child 50 connecting cubes for today's lesson (and many more to come). They loved them and every child mastered that concept. I also let them use pretend money to solve their money story problems. Ahh I love math manipulatives and it keeps them engaged forever! My student that was suspended came back with such better behavior:)


I was hoping to leave early and then I was told I needed to do my report cards. So I am thinking it will take 30 min top right? Nope, try nearly 3 hours! All I wanted to do was go to the gym and relax after work. Then I decided to stop off and get food with some other teachers. Another mistake! The service was so bad and a bunch of people who make idiot decisions worked there. Ahh I didn't get home until almost 10:00 pm. Anyway, I am so excited for my day off but I hope the sub treats them well.

Where is the other half of my class?

So I only had 15 students at the end of the day. My class was so quiet and nice. Everything just went so much better. However, now tomorrow I have to re-teach everything I taught today because of how many were absent. Plus, I think I am going to get JPASed tomorrow because I got the instructions in my box. I hope not but I will try to get prepared. At least I have off Thursday...a much needed vacation. Everyone tells me I have the hardest job: first grade and the middle of the year. That is such an understatement. I am drowning and with all of the stress of being observed twice a week adds to it. However, my students that were withdrawn and shy are suddenly on fire! Also, they are waiving a requirement for grad school so I can start this summer:))

Worries and Suspensions

So I had two children suspended today. Am I the worst teacher in the world? Who has that many kids suspended in one day? I also finished my observations this week, I hope. See, I am due for JPAS so if my principal does not come in tomorrow or Wednesday, I am home free for another week. Nevertheless, I will try to be prepared as possible. I am so tense all of the time worrying about my kids every moment of the day and kicking myself for not being a perfect teacher. At this rate I am going to burn out at tenure. I am too exhausted to write anything else.

A very good, loooonnnnnggggg day!

I was at the school at 6:30 preparing for my math lesson that went sooo well. I actually got in the green instead of the red for my observation with my coach. I agreed. My kids were so well behaved today that they earned so many points. I love Fridays! I graded most of my writing benchmarks and went home at 8. I am exhausted with a capital E! G'night:)

No se

Well I had my behavior intervention meeting with a student and both sets of parents and the principal. It went surprisingly well. We got a lot accomplished. I was so proud of myself for using everything I had learned in communication classes in the meeting and my principal was as well. I used "I-messages" such as, "I feel sad when I am trying to teach you and you don't want to learn." I also used active listening techniques such as, "So what your saying is..." Most everyone was on board and my principal was behind me the entire time. However one of the parents did not want us to do any kind of reward system. He wants to put so much fear into him that he will force him to behave. He came two hours away to be at the meeting!


Oh I had another father come in to watch centers because he thought his student said, "we rotated from different sinners today." I could not stop laughing but the father was very concerned and did not think it was funny. "Yeah, I am going to have them rotate from one sinner to the next!" Oh parents are hilarious:) I also had a meeting after school with the dean of a university for grad school. I was the absolute youngest there looking into masters programs. I felt like a toddler in a high school. I hope to start my masters this summer. 


Let's see, I got another shining observation today from my principal. I had 16/20 students turn in their stories to be graded. I have to have their results for the district tomorrow. So since it was so freezing cold with the wind chill, I kept my kids in for recesses, we finished our stories and the second one, we watched a movie. The kids who wanted to go out could but only two chose that choice. Honestly their favorite reward is time with me: playing games with me or lunch with me, etc... Oh I am so proud of them! I have another observation with my coach tomorrow and the last one did not go well so I am hoping this one does. I also had to leave work early so I have to be there tomorrow at 6:30 am (and I thought a mission was hard;)


Thank heavens for Fridays:)

What a great day!

I don't know all I can say is today was a great day! As teachers, those days don't happen everyday so when they do, we rejoice and we cherish them. The kids were excellent with their behavior and we got a lot accomplished. No joke: even my normally tough kids got to Gold today! Ahh some of the day, I just sat back and watched them like a proud teacher. We began our writing workshop today where you teach them the parts to writing and you let them work at their own pace. I loved it! It was so fun to listen to them, six and seven year olds, going through the writer's process on their own. They worked with a buddy and were little editors and they re-taught what I had taught them. One of a teacher's greatest accomplishment is to facilitate his/her student's learning and let his/her students be independent. It is like letting them fly by themselves or in teacher world, we call it scaffolding.


Then I found out that I will be getting a new student tomorrow! Now I have 21 little ins to take care of on a daily basis. Tonight was a late night (hence the near 12:30 time) but what a good day!

Another wacky day in 1st grade!

Of course I had two more observations and things went ok for the first one (principal) and horrible for the second one. Plus, I had to have my budget audit done so I was working on that in-between teaching. I had a very long, stressful team meeting where I literally afterwards banged my head against the door. I basically have to do more paperwork and live at the school. Hey I already do my laundry there and eat...I mise well move in. They have a kitchen and a shower. 


Anyway, I took them outside and around the school to do a five senses school walk-through. They loved it! Why are all of my lessons before my observations great and during, they are horrible. I had a near migraine for the entire day and lets just say I had a short fuse. No I did not yell but I gave a lot of teacher looks and stern talking-tos. They ate candy, got out of their seat, screamed, etc... and did everything they were not supposed to do. I could not believe it. My observer actually laughed at what they were doing because she could not believe it! After school, I sort-of got in a tiff with my coach. She apparently heard some rumors about how I felt towards her and felt horrible. We had it out for 20 min or so and resolved our issues. I hate the program she uses but love her. She had heard the opposite--big misunderstanding. She thanked me for being honest. Oh I just love her!!

Valentine's Day!

So I was so sick to my stomach this morning because I was so nervous about Valentine's Day with 1st Graders. Wow I used a lot of "sos" in that last sentence. Anyway, it went very well! We dipped strawberries and wrote "how to dip strawberries" papers. We created Valentines, used conversation hearts for math, ate a bunch of candy and cookies and had fun! I had so many parents in my classroom that I could just sit and relax a lot of the day:)) Yahoo!!! 


I was also given my JPAS scores (through the roof high)--yahoo!!! I was so happy I thought I could cry.:) Oh and we had a school-wide lockdown drill and the principal told my class they did a perfect job! I was so impressed as well. They knew what to do and they did it so perfectly:)) Everyone was scared and wanted to huddle by me. It was funny because my tough kids that love making my life hard were the ones who came to me for comfort. Ahhh cute:)) Yeah complement from the principal:))) What a great day!

Fun With Shaving Cream

So the kids were still bouncing off the walls but one of my very hard kids was absent today so things went better. We got all of our tests taken and I was still ready for the week to be over. My plan was to work on their stories but how would I get them to focus with everything crazy happening around them. So I prayed to know what to do and I felt like I should do shaving cream spelling. I thought oh wow this is going to be a disaster picturing shaving cream everywhere especially their faces and no learning taking place. However, I was surprised! They wrote their words and even my children that sit there and don't do anything, participated in this activity. They were so excited and loved it! Yes, they got it all over themselves, their face, etc... but it washes. My only regret is that I didn't take pictures. What a perfect end to a crazy week! Some of the other teachers let their kids do busy work to get some sanity. Also they earned back many of their complements.

What is in the air?

All across my school, the students have been going crazy! They are bouncing off the walls and getting in trouble. Every teacher I talked to today said how "bad" their kids have been acting. When the bell rang for lunch to be over, we all just groaned. My kids were no exception. I wanted to kill them just to have some quiet for two seconds. I am not kidding, they would not stop talking for two seconds. Anytime I tried to do an activity that got them out of their seats, I had to have them go back to their seats. I had to constantly stop and start my lessons to reinforce behavior. I could not believe it. Of course I had two observations today. 


One of my observers noted how impressed they were with my calmness through everything. How I never raised my voice or got mad. Oh well what I thought about saying and doing and what I said and did were two different things. So I am glad that I "handled it well." I sent two kids to another teacher's room to get some peace and quiet. However a positive, I did pre and post assessments with every lesson and they actually learned. I also stated my objectives and did a close to my lesson which I almost never do. I also used, "by the end of this lesson, you will be able to..." which I have never done before but I read it in a book we are reading as a school faculty.


Even with all of the craziness, I still love being an educator:))

Surprise Conference and PE Integration

I arrived at school only to find that I have a conference with a very difficult student's parents. I had heard so many negative things about these parents that I was absolutely terrified. So I arranged people to watch my class and my entire team helped out with my students for the 45 min. conference. However, it was very productive conference. I found out that the parents are amazing and thank heavens they really like me and are willing to work with me. They were relieved that I told them everything. That teacher that I was struggling with on my team and I are getting closer everyday:)) Yahoo!!


I really thought I had patience until I became a teacher. I feel so impatient sometimes and feel bad I can't be a better teacher. I got a tempting job offer in SLC for $5,000 more a year and I am seriously thinking of taking it. However, I also got offered a near full-ride scholarship for a MA in Education right here in Vernal for USU and that is 2 min away from my house. So I am once again confused.. Anyway, I integrated physical education in like every lesson I did today because I haven't been to the gym forever. The kids loved it..I might do it again.


One tired teacher going to bed, g'night:)

Realizing you have so much to learn...

So today actually went pretty well. I had a student with ADHD and his mom lost his pills so to keep me sane, I let him play games all day. I mean he was crazy!!! Then I went to team meeting and a district specialist was there and the principal. Things are going very well and then he says basically who has______ student because he is doing horrible (his words were worse). I said I did and he starts asking me what I am doing to help him. I tell him and I mention he is getting retained. My principal is backing me up to him. He gets so mad that we are retaining him. Then I mention we are looking into special education. He is totally against that as well. So he was telling me everything I should not do but not offering me any suggestions for what I could do. I asked and he said, "that is a tough one, I don't know." I was thinking to myself well I am not allowed to say that I don't know, I have to perform and get results. So let's just say, I was not the nicest person I could have been towards him. Then I just shut down. I basically was told that I am not utilizing my team, not doing everything possible to help my kids, etc... or maybe that is just how I took it. So after realizing I could have not gotten so defensive, I prayed to know what to do: apologize or leave it alone. 


So those who know me, know I have the guiltiest conscience in the world and honestly would never intentionally hurt anyone. I also can only recall two times in my entire adult life that I have ever gotten mad and one was on my mission. Anyway, I decided to swallow my pride and send him a thank you email thanking him for taking his time out of his district duties to help my struggling student. People, I really had to swallow a lot of pride for this email. He made me feel worthless and he embarrassed me in front of my entire team and boss. However, I sent the email anyway. Well he told me that the issues he brought up about me and my student, I will learn in the next three years. I took that as, I am sorry, I forgot that you have only taught for 1 mo and don't know what you are doing yet. I am told I will know what I am doing in about 3 years. He told me I can go to him at any time but to utilize my team.


Also good news, a good 1/3 of my students passed our math test with flying colors! I have never used so many stickers in my life. Also many of them have jumped 3-4 reading levels in one day! I just had to call their parents and practically scream how excited I was! My job is to get all of my students on an H by the end of the year. Well now instead of a few being on close to G, I now have a good 1/2! I could not be prouder of them and their parents. They are all working so hard.


Here is a poem I wrote to describe my feelings about myself right now.


I am a teacher.
I am not perfect.
I have faults. 
I get impatient.
I sometimes wonder if I will ever be a good teacher. 
I deal with new challenges everyday. 
I am a strict disciplinarian.
I expect the world from my students, myself and their parents.
I see miracles happen daily.
Some days I want to scream.
Some days I want to cry.
Some days I want to do cartwheels and jump up and down.
Some days I do all 3 in a hour time.
Some days I teach well.
Some days I just try to get through it.
I love my students more than myself.
I am a teacher and 
I love it!

Near the end of conferences

Well I saw all but five of my students and their parents. Two of my students are getting held back. I was so relieved to hear that. Then when asked who they wanted to teach them next year, they said they wanted me to teach them. Oh goody. So I am probably getting all Spanish kids and them. What a fun year next year will bring:) I did a really fun lesson with learning about =,+, - with hand movements and repetition. I loved it and I came with it on the spot having an hour of unplanned time. Everything was going well, we had 5 min left and then an observer for me came in. 


Are you kidding me? The last five minutes of class for any teacher is the most stressful. You are trying to get papers passed back, the room clean, backpacks, chairs up, and all while maintaining control. Well so far, it has been my weakness. I have tried games, quiet ball, and now I read them a book. Well she came in and they were quietly listening to me read a book and doing great. I said goodbye to them and then had a meeting with my observer. Instead of complementing my class on how much they have grown, she wanted to talk about how 85 percent of my students were off task during my lesson. What is the world? Then she talked about how many discipline problems I had. What? I don't remember any problems or anyone off task. I also didn't follow the 4-1 ratio. For every 1 bad thing you say, you have to say 4 good things or praises. For example, with my class, ____please put your pencil down is "bad." So because I corrected a behavior so we can learn, I now have to find 4 praises to say to make up for that one correction. So instead of me focusing on my students and their learning, I have to constantly think, have I said four praises per correction. Even if I say, "hands down, please just think." That is bad and I have to keep going with the 4. Also if a student gets it wrong, I have to go back to him by the end of the lesson and give him a chance to get it right. So I began to explain how I have chilled more not in discipline but made my lessons more creative and picked my battles. She was like, "yeah so you can get more points." I was thinking, no so I can teach better and they can learn more. I like my coaches and mentors when they help me, not make me more discouraged.


I also had a student of mine get suspended for beating someone up. Luckily I didn't witness it. I was just told about it. I also have another parent that wants their kid out of another teacher's class and so I will get him. He is another "bully." Why do I get the hard kids?

Today was a very good day. I actually accomplished a lot of my JPAS, my students were fantastic, we got a lot of teaching in, and everything went smooth as silk. We even had time to play a memory game at the end of school. Ahh first grade...I am really starting to love it! After school, I had PTC and got to give some very good news to many parents. I love when I get to do that:) Then the night got crazier by the second. I had a parent come to me in tears because she is getting evicted from her apartment. I just held her and let her sob and vent. Then I had to tell another parent that in my opinion, we should hold back her child and have him repeat the 1st grade again. She agreed and said that she has been worried about her son as well. We tried to get him to join us for a conversation but he kept exhibiting the behavior we were discussing so she couldn't come to his defense. I patted her on the back because she left crying. So two crying parents and two way above grade level. What a night! Then my principal and I ate dinner together and I worked on my JPAS. It is near midnight and I am exhausted.


Ahhh life of a first year first grade teacher:)


--Oh and a teacher bought me a spanish book and said the faculty refers to me as the "spanish teacher."