The Teacher Has Become the Student... Wait, That

So as of today, I am a grad student. Am I crazy?? Can I juggle my already crazy life AND a grad school class at the same time?? Well, we are about to find out...

I am doing an online program, the Reading/Writing Specialist MA.Ed., through the University of the Cumberlands. Some of my friends are doing this same program, which always helps!

I am not completely crazy, though... UC offers most of the classes in bi-terms. I am only taking one class January - March because I also have to plan a District Governor's Cup competition for my academic team the last Saturday in February. From March to May, I am registered for two classes. This means, by the end of May, I should be 9 hours in to a 30 hour program!

Jan - March: 1.) The Modern Elementary School
March - May: 2.) Curriculum Management & Assessment
3.) Reading & Writing Foundations

I will keep you posted on how it goes. Wish me luck!!

By the time this posts, I will be out of school for the summer!!!!!!!!!!

Well, almost. I still have a lot of cleaning, cumulative records, and progress monitoring folders to take care of. But that is all work I can do ALONE in my room, listening to music and relaxing. 

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my job and I am soooo grateful that I survived another spring without being pink slipped. But.... after spending 36+ weeks with these kids, we're both ready to go our separate ways (especially some of them!). It will be nice for the kids AND the teachers to have almost 2 months off to refuel and recharge. 

Now I just have to finish getting everything ready for this baby to get here...

Autumn Winifred Oliver Now in Paperback

Whether you are in fourteen, in fourth grade, or forty, you can enjoy Kristin Tubb's Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different. My kiddos and I really enjoyed the book and I posted a "review" here. Miss Tubb came to visit our fourth graders and did an amazing job! 

Today, Autumn makes her debut in paperback. Check it out!

And all my teacher friends out there - check out Miss Tubb's website for info on contacting her for a visit. 

School Angel Tree Gifts

I want to take this chance to publicly brag on my students. Well, actually their parents, I guess.

Our class went together and adopted an angel from the Angel Tree at our school. I sent letters home asking parents to send in anything on the list, even hand-me-downs would work. I did this last year and had a pretty good turnout. But nothing prepared me for what these kids and their parents would do this year. This angel got so much stuff! These families gave and gave and gave some more. 

Now I know that of course my kids could not have done this without the help of their parents. But I have to think that maybe some of my kids stayed on top of their parents until they sent something? And even if it were all parents, good for them. What a great way to set an awesome example for your children! I even had some families send in money and toys who I know are having to make cut backs this year. Yet they still made room to give to others. I am so proud of these kids and their parents!

Ramblings About Teaching and Book Review - No Fear in My Classroom

I read this book as part of the Fall Into Reading Challenge.

This book originally caught my attention because I was interested to see what the book had to say about handling parental problems. As a first year teacher, this was one of my biggest struggles last year. I guess I had always idealized being a "teacher." I wanted all of my kids and parents to like me, ya know? After all, I was responsible for their education 35 hours a week. I bust my butt and make sacrifices just so these kids will know that I love them and gain the knowledge they need to help them be successful not just in the fifth grade, but in life. I dedicated four years of my life just to learn how to do this and will probably spend the next thirty years or so doing it. Why wouldn't they like me??

It didn't take me long to realize that not every parent was going to like everything I did. It even seemed that some of them didn't like anything I did. I struggled with this daily. My heart was broken. Luckily I had an entire support system, without which I would probably have been committed to an asylum:

1.) a common sensical, supportive husband 

2.) fellow interns who were going through the same thing 

3.) an awesome mentor teacher to give me reality checks

4.) two really amazing co-teachers to help me through each and every day

5.) a great principal and caring staff members

Even though my skin is a lot tougher this year, I am still learning how to deal with this issue. My parents are also much better this year, which helps a lot, and they all know that this is not my first year. One year of experience makes a big difference, especially to parents. I'm also realizing that of course some of them are going to watch me like a hawk. They send their babies to me everyday and have to trust that I am treating them like my own and giving them the skills they need to complete fourth grade. I would watch me like a hawk too! And I've accepted the fact that even if I have tried my best and made all of the "right" decisions based on my training and experience, there are still going to be parents who don't agree with me or who feel like I have not done enough. Oh well. As long as I know that I have done my best, I can't sweat it. 

So now, back to the book - 

This book was divided into four parts: Personal Fears, Student Fears, Parental Fears, and External Fears. I did gain some understanding from the Parental Fears section, but that was about it. A lot of the Personal Fears didn't apply to me and most of the stuff from the Student Fears section was pretty much common sense. 

Another thing that I don't agree with is that I think some of the right kind of fear is actually healthy in a classroom. A reasonable amount of fear that I am not doing my best keeps me working hard. Students should fear consequences, or else do the consequences really work? Students should fear not learning what they will need in life, that way they will see the importance of the knowledge and pay attention and actually care to learn. 

By the end of reading the book, I was just skimming for good stuff. I can see keeping it as a resource for future use, but that is about it. Don't really recommend. 

Author Visit and Book Review - Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different

Today the fourth and fifth graders at my school were lucky enough to have, as the kids say, "a real live author" come to visit. The author was Kristin O'Donnell Tubb. She has written several books for commercial characters (think ScoobyDoo, Bugs Bunny, Holly Hobbie), but also has a new book out that is all her own, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different. She was great with the kids. She gave them several good revising strategies to use that will spice up their pieces. Not to mention she was also as cute as a button! Very stylish, but still in a down-to-earth way, you know? 

I ordered Autumn  when I first heard Mrs. Tubb was coming for a visit. The book tells the story of the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a place almost everyone who lives in this part of the country has been at least once or twice in their life. The story is told through the eyes of an eleven year old girl named, you guessed it, Autumn Winifred Oliver. Her family lives in Cades Cove, Tennessee, a town where things never change. But changes are surely on the way. It seems the town will either be lost to loggers stripping the mountains, or to the "Not So" Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And Autumn and her family find themselves stuck right in the middle. You can read an excerpt here. 

I read this book over Fall Break and loved every bit of it. Here's why:

• Some of the messes Autumn gets herself into are so hilarious they literally had me laughing out loud! From riding a coffin down a flooded river to using sticks to prop open the mouths of geese, she definitely does things different! 
• The book is loaded with mountain culture, sayings, and superstitions. It reminded me a lot of Appalachia. Some of the stuff I actually had to look up because I had no clue what it meant. Like, did you know you weren't supposed to burn sassafras wood in your house? It's bad luck and means someone is probably going to die. (You better run straight home and throw out all that sassafras, ya hear?) I also had no idea what a dogtrot was. (Check out the picture at the bottom.)
  
• Parts of the book made me cry. No, not cry. Sob. Openly. But in the good way, you know? I just felt so close to Autumn and her family that when they suffered, I experienced it to. I LOVE books that do that. A mark of a really good writer.

I read this book aloud to a group of fourth graders who read at a pretty advanced level. The dialect did make it kinda challenging, but fun to use for a read aloud. We did have to stop a lot to talk about a lot of the phrases and bits of culture that they(we) did not understand. What I ended up doing was having the kids take notes on the phrases or words that they did not understand or just plain liked. Every chapter or so we would stop and discuss. And then at the end of the book they will have a list of really neat phrases and words that they could borrow for their own pieces. The kids also laugh out loud at the book, even more than I did. They have started using "Autumn" phrases and commenting that they "do things different." It's always neat to watch them have fun with a book as a group. 

How'd you like to have a dogtrot in the middle of your house?

Deep and Dark and Dangerous

I read this book because a lot of my fourth grade girls last year loved it. Some boys are even into some of her other books too. I thought this one was okay, but I would definitely not have liked it as a ten year old girl! I am not going to lie: it did freak me out a little bit. Yes, it was very predictable and you can tell that it was written for tweens and young teens, but it was still just a little bit creepy. But you have to remember that this is coming from someone who doesn't watch scary movies anymore because even the corny ones keep her up at night. So take this review with a grain of salt. But, if you do have a younger child who is interested in this author, please proceed with caution.

Even though it was spooky, I think I will read MDH's Wait Til Helen Comes next. I read this book in sixth grade and don't remember a thing about it except that I liked it. I don't even think it scared me then (but neither did the movies at that time - it's amazing what living alone will do to you!). Plus I have a boy in my class who is reading a copy from my class library right now. He is a bit of a difficult student and maybe, just maybe, we could make a connection through this author/genre??

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire... and my ramblings

I just finished reading the above book Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith. I love reading books that I think will inspire me and give me ideas on how to be a better teacher, but the truth is, most books for educators are a huge snore fest. However, this book was different. At times I felt very inspired and it was a very easy read. His writing style was not boring in the least. He also had lots of good ideas that I could maybe use in my own classroom. I may post more on those later. And his kids really are amazing. You can view their official website here.

That being said, I am still undecided on whether I am a fan or not. Yes, at times I did feel inspired, but at times I also felt very discouraged. A lot of his ideas are really, really great, but putting them into practice is a whole different story. His world is completely different from mine. I would like to hear his take on RTI and the time constraints it puts on all other subjects. Sure, I would love to spend time teaching my children art and baseball and guitar, but when??And yes, he has a lot of minority students, but not the kind I have. I will stop there at the risk of getting myself in trouble. He has supportive parents who do not care if their kids stay at school for twelve hours a day because that is how much they value education. My kids value baseball practice. And I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing. When I have children, I don't want them to spend twelve hours a day at school either and if they want to play baseball I will by all means let them!

Also, it is clear that teaching is this man's LIFE. Yes, I love teaching. I really love my students. And while I do want to be the best teacher I can possibly be, I do not want teaching to become my whole entire life. There is no way I would want to be at school from 6am to 7pm everyday. I feel that would be totally unfair to my husband and one day to my own children. My family has to come before my career, even if my career is teaching. And does that make me a bad teacher? I don't think so. What kind of teacher would I be if I was neglecting all the other areas of my life? And even if it does, I think I would settle for being just a 'good' teacher so that I could be a good wife and mom. It's not worth it to me to be a bad or even an average wife and mom just so I can be an amazing teacher.

Back to School Update

I know I've been back in school for almost two weeks now and have not posted an update, but hey, I'm back in school now! Who has the time??


Anyway... the school year is off to a great start! Life is as smooth as it possibly could be considering all of the changes. I feel so much better right now than I did this time last year. The difference is unbelievable. It's crazy how much having a year's worth of tips under your belt can help you! The first few days of school are so critical and can really set the tone for your whole year. I am so glad that I have focused so much on procedures. I tried to do this last year, but I feel that I have done a much better job this year. I have a feeling it is going to make a big difference! That, and the fact that my kids are so stinking sweet! Serioulsy. Yes, they're are a few sour ones in the bunch, but they are kind of that sour-sweet type, ya know? Kind of like sweet'n'sour sauce. I love that stuff.

Here are some of my "teacher" goals for this year:
1.) Love first. Teach second.
2.) Stay on top of filing.
3.) Respond to emails ASAP instead of putting them off.
4.) Grade and record papers ASAP so they don't pile up on me.
5.) Make better use of my planning time. (this is when I am going to try and make most of my copies, since the line can be bad in the mornings and afternoons)
6.) Umm, it seems like I had so many more than just these five... oh well!

I will let you know how these go. I'm doing pretty good so far! (And yes, I know it has only been two weeks!) More updates to come on how our new students and our refugee students are doing. For now, I have papers to grade and plans to make. Can't slack on Goal #4!

First Day Jitters

I thought this year my stomach wouldn't flip as much the night before the first day of school, but I was wrong. I am just as nervous as last year, my first year.

Because of redistricting, this year my school has around 115 more students than last year. The new students will add to our school's culture in ways that are scary and exciting. Thirteen of these students are refugees from Burma (more info later). My school is predominantly white, middle class, country kids. It is definitely going to be interesting, that is for sure. I know we will continue to be a great school where children are safe, happy, and thriving. All the change just makes me anxious.

Please pray for all of the students who are starting school tomorrow. Whether they are at their same old familiar school or a completely new one. Whether they speak English or Spanish or Burmese. Please pray for their teachers. Pray that they will love first and teach second. Pray for all of the administrators, secretaries, and counselors as they work to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be.

Just Pray.