Missing

The sad news is....

I left my camera in Room 3.

This is bad for two reasons:
1) No pictures for my blog until next week.
2) Mrs. Brasler has a sub today so I can't even email her to put it in her desk until I get there Tuesday.

I know exactly where it is, on top of the cubbies right by the door because I put it there after the "Purple, Purple Everywhere!" picture (a bunch of girls were wearing purple and playing with purple hula hoops and purple hand balls and they were just too proud of themselves for me not to take a picture).

Fingers crossed that it is still there on Tuesday and that no one's little grubby hands will have picked it up between yesterday and then. That camera has been good to me and has lasted a long time...and I'm pretty reliant on it for my Cooperative Education class. And I mean...c'mon...it's pink. Losing a gem like that would just be unimaginable...ok, no not really, I could care less about the color. But the big picture is I NEED MY CAMERA.

Cross your fingers for me that it's still there!

Oh no you didn't...

We made George Washington three-corner hats today and worked on a shapes book at centers today. The kids were extra excited about me today, I don't know what makes one day different from the next. But when I left today, and Mrs. Brasler said it was time to say goodbye to me, they all went, "Awwww...." and said some goodbyes and some I love you's. Melt my heart.

Walking Addison back from the nurses office in her wheel chair she said to me, "You know what the teacher said about you?" I said, "I do not, what did she say?" She said, "The teacher says you're doing a really good job." Melt my heart again.

However, just to prove that not everything about kindergarten is touchy-feely. The current controversy is that a parent of one of our students has made a racial comment to the district about the number of Hispanics in our classroom. I was absolutely shocked and almost immediately sick to my stomach. It makes me sick that people can treat others as less than human and less deserving because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin. Sheltering a child from the diversity of this world will do nothing to help them grow and learn and it hurts me that this attitude is so easily passed from parent to student and that is why racism and discrimination is still so prevalent. It's just so hard for me to understand how people can be that way, or think that way.

Our hispanic students are just as deserving of these opportunities and just as worthy of love and affection and effort as any Caucasian student; or any other student for that matter. They are all entitled to equal opportunities and equal representation in a classroom. I am SO proud of our ELD students because even if they are not up to par with the other kindergarteners, the strides they have made and the eagerness they have shown surpasses that of some of their more advanced peers. It just makes me so angry that people feel that they have the right to treat others that are different from them as unequal or undeserving.

ANGER.

President's Day Chaos

Nothing special about today, other than there was no school yesterday for President's Day so I got to experience what would typically be the Monday Crazies. I'm preparing for Dr. Seuss Day by tracing and cutting out hats that they are going to wear, and every time a kid walked by the door they had to come in and ask me what I was doing; they all received the same answer: "You only get to know if you know what day March 2nd is." Of course, none of them knew that that is Dr. Seuss Day.

Since today was like Monday, we started with the letter of the week - D: Deedee Deer. They did the weekly worksheet where the practice tracing and writing the letter D and then draw pictures of things they know start with the letter D (they get to make attempts at labeling their drawings, but Mrs. Brasler usually ends up helping out on that one).

Centers were kind of a hot mess today. Computers weren't working, Jack had a meltdown because he couldn't trace shapes at the shape book center, Room 4 ELD students had to work on the carpet because Room 4 was occupied by the Hearing & Sight Test lady, Austin's ADHD was at a new high, and my center revolved around completing a potpourri of worksheets on presidents from last Friday along with an additional few worksheets for those had been exceptionally on task and finished everything. Le sigh.

But I did get a lot of hugs, and those are always mood lifters. And there was measurable Reading Comprehension progress with some of our lower-readers in the class which was super exciting to see. All together a pretty typical day in Room 3.

Thursday, February 16th

Blustery day makes for wild kids - today seemed to be the day of injuries, aches, and pains (and headaches for Mrs. Brasler and myself). It seemed a little more exhausting than usual, but I did notice how my lack of enthusiasm can easily rub off on them, so I changed my attitude pretty quick this morning.

I practiced reading with some of the kids this morning - a book titled "Recess Mess" that is a first grade reading level. Austin and Sophia each got a chance to read it with me, and then had to answer some comprehension questions about it. It's moments like those that I really get to reflect on how far they have come since I met them in August. Looking at it from that perspective really reminds me how rewarding this job is.

I was walking around the library with them and I was remembering fondly the time spent in the library each week when I was in elementary school. Books just fascinate me and I have such great memories of getting to choose a book each week to take home and read, and then be able to bring it back the next week and pick out a new one. I remember what it was like to get wrapped up in a book series and not want to check out anything other than those books for months at a time, or finding a good picture book that you really enjoyed but not being able to check it out two weeks in a row (so then you make sure to be the first one to grab it the week after). I saw a bunch of books in their library that I read when I was in elementary school and it made me smile thinking of how universal something like reading can be.

At the reading center today we tried something new - an increased focus on the letter of the week. This week's letter is O, so the students were given a selection of books they have already read to go through and read once more. But this time, after reading each page, they were to create a tally chart of how many upper- and lower-case o's they found. So this activity focused on not only reading, but letter recognition and math skills and counting as well. We've been working on tallying in math lessons, so it was nice to be able to cross reference it in another subject. We discussed how we had a lot of o's because it is a vowel and words use a lot of vowels, but we didn't have a lot of O's because there aren't a whole lot of words that we use that start with the letter o. I think we only found 2 O's in any of the books used in the whole lesson, but some kids got upwards of 45 o's all from one book. I think it was important that we used books the kids had already read, because it would have been too much to ask of them if they were given a new book they had never seen with a particular task to complete. They would be too excited to look at the new book and it would be a distraction from the real task. Also, using books they have already read on their own or in groups made it easier for them to read them by themselves a second time around.

After recess today I had to lead the majority of the class in a game of "Rhyming Bingo" while Mrs. Brasler did an assessment with the ELD students. Let's just say...that could have gone better. It showed that they all did have respect for me and that I was able to manage them, but everyone was a little confused in playing the game, and clean up time was when everything really fell apart. I think everyone was just a little too feisty with each other today. I'll stick to blaming the wind...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from Room 3! We were all decorated and ready to celebrate today. Very wound up and we hadn't even started the consumption of sugar yet...oh dear. I brought Winnie the Pooh Valentines and sorted them before the kids got in the room; but they were having a really hard time not coming in to see the growing pile of Valentines yet to be sorted into their bags.

Earlier this week, they made zebra bags to carry all the Valentine's Day goodies they received from their friends - so cute! I even got one of my own.

All of these goodies (below) had to be placed in the bags above. What a big job this was! They had to do it as one of their center rotations, and it was a pretty challenging task for them - especially for the children who had written names on all of their cards. So. much. stuff. Everyone was so excited when they brought in their bags and saw how this pile was growing.

At first recess, I set all of the bags out on the calendar rug with aisles for easy deposition of Valentines. By the end of the center rotations - bags were overflowing!

The rest of the centers were special and Valentine-themed as well. At one center they were making "love-bugs" to take home that afternoon....

The math center was counting and graphing candy hearts - tempting not to eat them before counting.

And here's my center. We were making mosaic hearts with glue and tissue paper to be taken home to each student's family as a Valentine. We struggled with the concept of "the less glue the better" today, but it's okay because I think they will still come out great. It was a pretty easy center to lead, I just had to make sure the kids were understanding the concepts of overlapping their tissue paper to make sure there were no empty spots.

I got my own bag too (he lost an ear)! And it was full of little treats that the Room 3 students brought to me for Valentine's Day. I am so spoiled! Who needs boys when you've got a class full of 28 kindergarteners who bring you chocolate and roses and tell you you're beautiful? :)

Happy Birthday to Me (cha-cha-cha)!!!

Last Thursday was my birthday and I started it out perfectly with all 27 smiling faces in Room 3! They sang me Happy Birthday at the start of the morning routine, making me wear a crown and practically begging me to let them sing the version with "cha-cha-chas" in between each verse. After library time they got to celebrate by eating Animal Crackers during quiet snacks/recess.

Today was reading day - I read a "silly" book titled Kiss Me, I'm Perfect to get in the mood for Valentine's Day. It was about a girl who had no clean laundry so she had to wear this embarrassing shirt that her grandma got her that said "Kiss Me I'm Perfect" on it. On her way to school a bunch of animals kept kissing her, and she ultimately changes her mind about the shirt, so she calls her grandma and has her buy one for everyone in her school. It was cute and the kids got some good giggles during it. My favorite activity after we read a book is to let them go back and pick out the page that was their favorite part of the story and tell me why. I can't pick out my favorite first though, otherwise they all copy me. Even when I tell them at the end, a lot of of them say, "Oh actually that one is my favorite."

When ever they rotated to a new center, they would all take a moment to say happy birthday to me on their own and it was just cute and so innocently considerate. I drove home that morning just overcome with happiness about how lucky I am to be in this field and to have this as my future career.

Interesting new obstacle that has been added to the classroom environment - Addison fell off a wall at home and broke her ankle. She's not allowed to put any weight on it and she's too young for crutches...so she's in a wheel chair for the next month.  When I'm there, I'm the one that wheels her around, and she can push herself short distances, but it's been really challenging for Mrs. Brasler when I'm not around and they need to get around campus, or maneuvering her around the classroom (which is not really wheel chair accessible). So to be continued on that one...

Observation Day!

Yesterday was the 100th day of school! I wasn't there to celebrate with them, but I was told (multiple times) that "Zero the Hero" definitely came to visit...

Today was the day my advisor was coming to observe my classroom interactions and development as a future educator - I wasn't so nervous as to how I was going to do, but I was nervous about whether or not the kids were going to behave.

Right off the bat I was presented with a choice this morning - I could either run the center where I oversaw the completion of a counting by 10s worksheet that involved coloring, cutting, and gluing; or I could lead the center exploring the flow and properties of water. Clearly, for observational purposes, the worksheet would have been the obvious choice. Naturally, I picked the second. The water center would be challenging, yes, but also more exciting and far more rewarding. I was willing to risk a potential disaster during the observation time in order to do something that felt more meaningful and had equal amounts of potential to be a great lesson. And what kind of future teacher would I be if I stepped down from a challenge?!

It went great - although a little trying at times because I've been losing my voice over the past couple of days - and my advisor was very entertained and impressed. And the kids were so well behaved! I was so proud of them; not that science centers are ever very hard for them to get engaged in. :)  We had three tasks to complete in 20 minutes for each center:
1) Discuss water as a liquid that takes the shape of it's container and has flow. Answer the question, "What is flow?"
2) Demonstrate a fountain by pouring water into a cup that had straws inserted on both sides and discuss what was happening and why.
3) Created a trough/water fall out of clay with walls to keep the water in that could be successfully used to pour water down and into a bowl. Discuss how to create the trough and why some things worked and some things didn't.
Tables were wet from missing bowls when pouring water, hands were sticky from mixing the clay with water, but every single student had the opportunity to ask and answer questions and make connections. A couple times we got off on more involved topics because of student imposed questions - like what purpose a dam serves in a river and how we can demonstrate it with our troughs, or how filters can create flow for pools of water (fish tanks, swimming pools, etc).

This is real life stuff, guys. And these kindergarteners get it. I am always so impressed and excited for them. I think their excitement is contagious...

**Side note, I did go back and add some pictures today - I'm working on trying to use different mediums, and since I have to take pictures anyway, why not include some on here?**

Murphy's Law

Yes. Today was one of those days - what could go wrong did go wrong, and by the time I got in the car to drive home, I felt like I had been there for days.

Here is how the morning was supposed to go:
Morning routine
Library time
Room 4 Students leave and the others do pacer testing
Tracing shadows
Recess
Pacer Test for Room 4 students
Computer lab at 11:30am and I go home.

A pretty typical Thursday, with the exception of the Pacer Testing, because that's something we only do once a month. Pacer testing is a way of measuring physical development - each month the kids have to listen to this CD and run from one line to another in a set amount of time. They continue to do this and I keep track of how many laps they can make before they get to tired to make any more.

Anyway, this is how the day really went:
Morning routine
Library time
Room 4 students leave and Boom Box for Pacer test won't work, so I lead Shadow Tracing while Mrs. Brasler goes to find another one.
Ryan barfs all over his shadow, himself, and Austin K, who had been on the ground tracing the shadow.
Mrs. Brasler has to take them to the nurse. Still no boom box.
Improvisational game of follow the leader (away from the barf), until Mrs. Brasler comes back.
Back up plan - I lead a center of Groundhog Day related worksheets and drawings. Mrs. Brasler takes the other half outside to listen to a book on tape.
Recess - Lizzeth's finger ends up reopening a cut on her finger and freaks out about blood.
Pacer test for ALL Room 3 students
Everyone is late to computer lab.
I leave at 12pm

The good things? I gave Lizzeth an AR test this morning and she got 4 out of 5 questions correct! Then we went back and read the book again, but together with her reading the words she had memorized or could sound out and me filling in the blanks. And...I got these yellow flowers.

:)

Tuesday, January 31st

I'm going to start off by saying that center rotation was absolutely not the highlight of my day yesterday. We were practicing counting out 100 objects and talking about how we could split it up in different ways (2 groups of 50, 4 groups of 25, 5 groups of 20), and while I'm sure it was good exposure for them and they had fun...it was not the most enjoyable for me. Trying to get 6 kindergarteners at once to avidly keep track of 100 things when a good portion of them can't count passed thirty was a little on the challenging side and not all together thrilling. But I suppose it was a good illustration of how sometimes, as a teacher, you have to do things you don't like doing because it's something the students need to know or need to be aware of. All I have to say to that right now is blah blah blah. :P

The more intriguing part of my day came from some discussions with one of the little munchkins named Lizzeth. She's always stuck out to me as a bigger personality in the classroom, not as in loud and attention-drawing, but as in eager and willing to learn and improve. She is an ELD student, so four times a week she spends time in Room 4, with all the other ELD children to work on their English language skills.

Recently, she's been inquiring a lot about why she has to go to Room 4. She absolutely does not like it - Mrs. Brasler confided in me that Lizzeth has said she doesn't like missing the things in Room 3 while she is gone. She has even told Mrs. Brasler that she wants to come in during morning recess before school starts to do the activities she missed the day before while she was in Room 4.

So she sat next to me as I filed papers in Friday Folders yesterday morning, creating a cat by cutting and tearing that she had missed on Monday. Other students were in the room at the computers taking AR Reading Comprehension tests. I noticed she was watching them and not paying much attention to her cat. I asked her what she was looking at and she looked back at me and said, "I want to take AR tests too."

My heart broke a little. Let me set this up. Typically, AR tests are a right afforded to the higher readers in the class, but other students may ask to do them as well. The way it works is, Mrs. Brasler puts a selected AR book in their Friday Folder that they take home and have their parents read to them (or read with them). Lizzeth's family doesn't speak English, and her speaking is a bit broken, which is why she is in the ELD program. Unfortunately, because the school system and the AR test program is centered around the English language, something like this is more of a challenge for her.

Thinking this through in my head as I looked back at her she said, "Miss Downing, I want to read." I smiled and looked at her and said, "You're learning! And you're getting better every day." She kept cutting her cat and I had a lightbulb moment. I said to her, "Maybe we can ask Mrs. Brasler if I can read you books in the morning and you can take an AR test on them. Does that sound like a good idea?" The smile that I got after that let me know that I had said the right thing. If a child wants to learn, you should never ever tell them that they can't.

With that being said, I've been thinking about changing my focus student. Originally, I was going to be working with Andrea, who had suffered from a crippling shyness at the beginning of the year, and still needs help with her communicating skills, but she has made huge leaps and bounds all on her own. And while I can help aid that along, there isn't much else I really do for her academically; it's mostly social. So while I will continue to engage her in conversations and help her learn to communicate her thoughts and ideas, I think I want to make Lizzeth my focus student. I recognize her desire to learn; and I know that she could easily fall into the group that loses that desire because she is limited by her native language.

So...to be continued.