More Water

I’m only posting one picture for Thursday and Friday, because the world has looked the same for days and days. That’s good, because in a lot of Colorado, the water is getting deeper and deeper. And running faster and faster. I have a lousy cold and I NEVER get sick.

Thursday, September 12. Got a great lesson planned for Reading classes on setting. I found a couple pages from, “What I Saw and How I Lied” that have great description of driving into a Florida beach town on the off-season. Read 180 is again feeling like a battle, but today we start using the Refocus process. If a students behavior is stopping them or others from learning or the teacher from teaching; they get one warning and then are sent to another teacher’s classroom to reflect in writing on their behavior, the reason they were exhibiting the behavior, and how they can keep this from happening again. I truly hope this works.

Friday, September 13. Still raining – but today my team brings breakfast for the staff and that is a great way to start a Friday. Using the Refocus process in Read 180 was less successful that I hoped, but did lead to some progress. After I sent T and R each to the Refocus room and had no change in their behavior when they came back – I walked them to the office. Then I brought the class back together in their assigned seats, enforced silence, and had the students write an answer to “What can we do about this situation right now?” Those who chose not to write had to sit silently. I got some thoughtful answers and a calm and quiet class. We did the next rotation with some modifications. Then discussed the difference when the class was quiet and working vs trying to work with noise and wandering and trash basketball. T and R and the assistant principal came back for the final discussion. I think this will work!.

Sloppy Start Workday

Wet and drizzly, chilly. My internet wasn’t working at home this morning. My computer at school got fried in the hail storm.Staff meeting after school today But three of my five class periods will be in the library. Mrs. Fluitt  will do an introduction to the library and then they can check out books. Hopefully, I will have time to finish grading. I hope, I hope, I hope! .

Expect the Unexpected

So, I left school about 20 minutes early yesterday to walk across the street to the dentist. While I was in the chair getting my teeth cleaned a giant hail storm started and the dental tech started calling, “Hey, I’m seriously scared. Should we all go hide in the bathroom?” The dentist calmed her down. The storm stopped. All was fine and I walked home through 6 inch deep rushing water and little hail balls… in my high-heeled summer sandals. Some of the hail is still hanging on in yards this morning. Life is full of the unexpected. Probably one of the most important things I need to remember as a teacher. Seldom, really seldom, do things go just as expected - as planned. Our day is full of too many people with things going on in their lives that affect their day,,, and, therefore, ours. And they are emotional, very emotional, young people. I’m ready! What will happen today? I don’t know – but it will be fun!

Starting Early

I’m getting a really early start today, since I didn’t carry home stacks of notebooks and I NEED to get a first grading done. I’m really pumped. Feeling really good about my planning for my reading classes. Feeling confident about making sure they know what they need to do and why they are doing it…everyday. I’ve got my goal (Students will use a character chart to analyze characters) in line with their activity (use a new character chart in small groups with “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto) in line with our essential question (How does analyzing a text help me as a reader?). Woo! Read 180 went really well Friday, and that feels good, too. It feels especially good because we did a real class  – not team-building and games. And Mr-can’t-sit-still-or-ever-be-quiet, rock star!! He was a mentor, a leader in his group. Let’s keep up the momentum.

TGISaturday

My week got over-full at the end, so I’ll do Thursday’s and Friday’s posts now.

Thursday: So hard to put my energy in one place this morning. As I walk toward the bus stop that I pass each day, I start playing with perspective. Moving from side-to-side to see what happens to my view. When I look through the camera lens, it becomes more fun to play with movement and shapes. Maybe noticing my perspective… I have a very full day coming. I have a training for a new, fabulous discipline policy. I need to create a sub plan that will work for my end-of-the-day, two-period-long, still-can’t-use-the-computers Reading Intervention class. If I view this through the Ugh So Much Work lens, I am going to feel overworked and grumpy. If I remember that a lot of last years problems were because we didn’t have a consistent discipline policy AND this is an opportunity for my student teacher to take the reins with the support of a sub – Well, maybe this will be just fine. Maybe, better..

 

Friday: So yesterday evening, I discovered there was no water…Looked outside and there was a police car and a water company truck. A water main was broken directly in front of my house. It was opening night for the Broncos, so the guys who had to come dig  up the street and repair the water main were missing the game. Fast and efficient. That’s what I like!

I am thinking of (dang! my ‘ecks’ key is broken – can’t say fi-) repairing things that are broken. Today, I have my first PPP meeting – That means professional ..um..program…um – something. It is a meeting ALL Jeffco teachers (or all Jeffco Strategic Compensation teachers, I think) have - to plan how to build the skills that were not their strengths on their last year’s evaluation. I will meet with my new (yahoo!) peer evaluator, the assistant principal, the principal, my Master teacher, and the coach. For the first time in my life, my evaluation last year was… NOT GOOD. I was angry, mad, ready to throw a fit. Then, I got past that and said, “Well, ne-t year I will bust butt and be practically perfect.” So here goes – What if the evaluation last year was accurate? I will be working as hard as I can to build skills to be the best teacher for my students. What if the evaluation last year was NOT accurate? I will still be working as hard as I can to build skills to be the best teacher for my students. So either way, I’m ok. Whether my teaching was broken or not it will be fi-ed. (remember – no ecks key)

“Have you ever seen the Rain?” (CCR)

I’m thinking of rainy day songs this morning. The slight rain feels so good. Not even enough to even get me wet, but I know the garden will be happy! I guess the lesson here is that we don’t grow if all we have are sunny skies. Rainy days are absolutely necessary.  Students so often say, “Can’t learning be fun?” Certainly, learning can be fun, but it, also, must be hard work. We grow by doing work we didn’t even know we could do, not by doing what we already know how to do. This year I am going to get WAY better at structure in my daily lessons. I’m great at flying by the seat of my pants – but that is not what students need. They need routine, clarity, and a complete understanding of why we are doing what we are doing. I’m actually excited, but a little terrified, too. The stakes are just SO high!

Oh my, that sky!

How can a day not be perfect that starts with this sky? It is hard to walk, because I just keep snapping pictures. Feeling good, confident, ready for a new week. Reading classes will be beginning vocabulary work today. Vocabulary is SO important for building reading skills and critical thinking skills. September’s Education Leadership magazine had a great article, “Cognitive Verbs and the Common Core”( Marzano, 2013) that I want to use as an organizing tool for vocabulary and my word wall. Verbs are put in semantic categories that really make sense and help students deal with critical academic vocabulary and thinking skills.

Also, I’m feeling good about Read 180. Friday went VERY well! Keep it going!