Most teachers will probably tell you that they have a bigger list of baby names that they could NEVER name their children, then is their list of names they could actually use. And then sadly, the list of "good" names is always changing because every year you get a new class and a whole new set of kids that could ruin a name for you. I fear the day that my favorite baby names shows up on my class list. So far, I have been safe.
The one name I have found to be a common name a teacher could never name their child is Michael. Don't ask me what it is what that name, but EVERY Michael I have had, and I've had a good handful, has been a terror. But I'm not the only teacher who's said that. Even my Mother who taught 30 years ago recalls stories of how the teachers before the school started would look at their list and based on the number of Michael's they had in their class, they would be able to determine how good their year was going to be. Or how bad. So what is it about that name?
In truth though, there are 2 names that I have actually thought, I really like that name, and just might name my own children that some day. Only time will tell!
Honk Honk
Monday, April 19, 2010
Fire Fire!
Back in the day when I was an instructional aid for Bubba, my student with Autism, I had one of my most memorable teaching moments. We had gone on a fieldtrip to the Forestry Services. It was a really neat fieldtrip with the students learned about forest fires and having treated wood to help prevent fire, etc. I was incredibly proud of Bubba, he was doing a fantastic job in a new situation which could often create some challenges. He was doing so well that looking back on it, I realize now, that I wasn't quite on my toes as much as I probably should have been. I was confident in how well he had been handling the fieldtrip, so I guess I got just a tad bit comfortable. Not lazy, but comfortable, I let my guard down a little bit.
Next thing I know as we are all sitting listening to a fireman give some sort of lecture about fires (in all honesty I wasn't listening, so I have no idea what he was talking about). He was just wrapping up and kids were starting to get up from their seats when Bubba got up. I didn't think anything of it initially because the other kids were starting to do the same. I then saw him starting to wander timidly a few feet from me, he was turned towards me and I was chatting with the teacher of our class. He had wandered about 10 feet from me, still watching me the whole time, and I was still keeping my eye on him, when all of a sudden I saw that look in his eye, that one that told me, uh-oh something is about to happen. Once he had a mission, he was quick. In that split second I realized that he had a mischevious plan, whatever that might be, he bolted. I of course went quickly running after him surveying the scene quickly to try and figure out what the heck he was after. He was a big kid, but he was quick and I was dodging in between benches and other students. It was a few feet before he reached his target that I realized what it was...the fire extinguisher. Oh boy. The scene that soon evolved will forever be etched in my memory as one of the funniest moments I have ever seen. He reached the fire extinguisher seconds before I did, but it was just enough time for him to hit the handle and spray the fireman across the back of his leg. The sound was loud, white foam was flying, and the fireman quickly jumped as his back was turned as he was caught off guard being sprayed. Bubba wanted more, and he would have probably emptied the whole extinguisher if I wasn't seconds behind him. I grabbed the extinguisher out from under his grip and was able to quickly stop things from escalating. I quickly apologized to the fireman, thankfully without laughing, walked away with Bubba loving him even more than I always had. That's one of the great things about teaching students with Autism, I always felt that no matter what they did, they weren't doing things for the intent of harm, and they often didn't know any better. You couldn't help but always love them.
I will never forget the look on the fireman's face as he turned around, foam all down the back of his leg, looking at Bubba, and looking at me wondering what had just happened. Priceless. Truly priceless.
Next thing I know as we are all sitting listening to a fireman give some sort of lecture about fires (in all honesty I wasn't listening, so I have no idea what he was talking about). He was just wrapping up and kids were starting to get up from their seats when Bubba got up. I didn't think anything of it initially because the other kids were starting to do the same. I then saw him starting to wander timidly a few feet from me, he was turned towards me and I was chatting with the teacher of our class. He had wandered about 10 feet from me, still watching me the whole time, and I was still keeping my eye on him, when all of a sudden I saw that look in his eye, that one that told me, uh-oh something is about to happen. Once he had a mission, he was quick. In that split second I realized that he had a mischevious plan, whatever that might be, he bolted. I of course went quickly running after him surveying the scene quickly to try and figure out what the heck he was after. He was a big kid, but he was quick and I was dodging in between benches and other students. It was a few feet before he reached his target that I realized what it was...the fire extinguisher. Oh boy. The scene that soon evolved will forever be etched in my memory as one of the funniest moments I have ever seen. He reached the fire extinguisher seconds before I did, but it was just enough time for him to hit the handle and spray the fireman across the back of his leg. The sound was loud, white foam was flying, and the fireman quickly jumped as his back was turned as he was caught off guard being sprayed. Bubba wanted more, and he would have probably emptied the whole extinguisher if I wasn't seconds behind him. I grabbed the extinguisher out from under his grip and was able to quickly stop things from escalating. I quickly apologized to the fireman, thankfully without laughing, walked away with Bubba loving him even more than I always had. That's one of the great things about teaching students with Autism, I always felt that no matter what they did, they weren't doing things for the intent of harm, and they often didn't know any better. You couldn't help but always love them.
I will never forget the look on the fireman's face as he turned around, foam all down the back of his leg, looking at Bubba, and looking at me wondering what had just happened. Priceless. Truly priceless.
Yo' Mama's a Hyperbole
Grammar, oh how I hate to teach grammar. Why? Because quite frankly, I suck at it! (As you can probably tell from my posts). Each year I have found myself reviewing the grammar over and over reteaching myself before I teach the kids. I soon came to realize that obviously I wasn't teaching those lessons very effectively because even I couldn't retain the information from year to year. So that's when I decided I had to get a little more creative.
We started out by learning about personification (taking inanimate objects and giving them human traits or characteristics) and drawing pictures. My favorite picture from this year was the girl who drew the personification sentence "The popcorn leapt out of the bowl." She drew this fantastic picture of these adorable little popcorn people jumping out of the bowl with the people looking shocked and surprised! We always have a great time with these drawings and the kids then point out personification sentences throughout the rest of the year. Granted I offer group points as a reward, so they have a little motivation to find them.
Next on the grammar list of things I ALWAYS had to reteach myself were hyperboles. Pretty much it is an exaggeration such as "That line took a bizillion years to get through!" So this year I tested out some hyperboles that I knew my students would LOVE because they were actually using them all the time...Yo' Mama jokes. I was showing the students multiple different examples of a hyperbole when all of a sudden I decided to randomly throw in "yo' Mama so dumb she thinks a quarterback's a refund!" I must confess I found joy in hearing my whole class go "oooohhhhh" in that you got served kind of way.
Now of course we had to go through the "rules" of using yo' Mama jokes in class.
1. They can't be used to hurt anybody's feelings or to really talk about someone's Mama.
2. You have to ask permission before you tell someone a yo' Mama joke.
3. You can't run up to other kids, teachers, or heaven-forbid the principal and say "yo' Mama's so fat when the weatherman says it's chilly outside she grabs a bowl and spoon."
4. We have to be mature and responsible about it knowing that we are telling the jokes to remember what a hyperbole is.
5. If you can't define or pronounce hyperbole properly after the end of the lesson, you lose your right to tell yo' Mama jokes.
You wouldn't believe how well my students now understand and are able to use a hyperbole! We have even developed a sign so that anytime I use a hyperbole in class, the first person to flash the sign gets points for their group. In all honestly, I would have never known until we developed our sign, how often I really do use hyperboles! It's great!
Lesson learned...you have to teach everything, even boring horrible grammar, in a fun engaging way if you really want kids to retain it. Because if not, you just might be offended when you walk into my class and you hear "yo' Mama's so ugly when she was born the doctor slapped her and her Mama!"
We started out by learning about personification (taking inanimate objects and giving them human traits or characteristics) and drawing pictures. My favorite picture from this year was the girl who drew the personification sentence "The popcorn leapt out of the bowl." She drew this fantastic picture of these adorable little popcorn people jumping out of the bowl with the people looking shocked and surprised! We always have a great time with these drawings and the kids then point out personification sentences throughout the rest of the year. Granted I offer group points as a reward, so they have a little motivation to find them.
Next on the grammar list of things I ALWAYS had to reteach myself were hyperboles. Pretty much it is an exaggeration such as "That line took a bizillion years to get through!" So this year I tested out some hyperboles that I knew my students would LOVE because they were actually using them all the time...Yo' Mama jokes. I was showing the students multiple different examples of a hyperbole when all of a sudden I decided to randomly throw in "yo' Mama so dumb she thinks a quarterback's a refund!" I must confess I found joy in hearing my whole class go "oooohhhhh" in that you got served kind of way.
Now of course we had to go through the "rules" of using yo' Mama jokes in class.
1. They can't be used to hurt anybody's feelings or to really talk about someone's Mama.
2. You have to ask permission before you tell someone a yo' Mama joke.
3. You can't run up to other kids, teachers, or heaven-forbid the principal and say "yo' Mama's so fat when the weatherman says it's chilly outside she grabs a bowl and spoon."
4. We have to be mature and responsible about it knowing that we are telling the jokes to remember what a hyperbole is.
5. If you can't define or pronounce hyperbole properly after the end of the lesson, you lose your right to tell yo' Mama jokes.
You wouldn't believe how well my students now understand and are able to use a hyperbole! We have even developed a sign so that anytime I use a hyperbole in class, the first person to flash the sign gets points for their group. In all honestly, I would have never known until we developed our sign, how often I really do use hyperboles! It's great!
Lesson learned...you have to teach everything, even boring horrible grammar, in a fun engaging way if you really want kids to retain it. Because if not, you just might be offended when you walk into my class and you hear "yo' Mama's so ugly when she was born the doctor slapped her and her Mama!"
These are the little moments I live for...
Sometimes I want to scream when I have a kid continously asking me the same thing over and over after I've already answered them. This was the case just the other day and I finally said "stop, you are making me mental!". Her response: "I've been mental since before I was born". And then the funny part, another girl not even in the conversation jumps in to state "If you've been mental since before you were born then that means that your Mama had anger issues when she was pregnant with you."
I portrayed a slight smile on the outside, but inside I was locking that one deep into my favorite memories moments.
I portrayed a slight smile on the outside, but inside I was locking that one deep into my favorite memories moments.
I have a bubble people!
I have a bubble. I need my personal space, don't get in it and we'll be great friends, but continously get in it and I'll go crazy! My students know this. I tell my class this fact every year. Keep an arms reach away from me. They have little arms, that's really not asking so much.
So one day one of my most challenging kids, yet also one who has totally wiggled his way into my heart, came into my bubble. I leaned back and said, "whoa there buddy, you're in my bubble." What came next almost had me on the floor in laughter. He steps back slightly, then leans forward, taking his forefinger, and lightly pushing on my shoulder, he says "pop". Yes, he popped my bubble, and instead of going mad, he had me cracking up! Good job kid, but seriously give me some space! ;)
So one day one of my most challenging kids, yet also one who has totally wiggled his way into my heart, came into my bubble. I leaned back and said, "whoa there buddy, you're in my bubble." What came next almost had me on the floor in laughter. He steps back slightly, then leans forward, taking his forefinger, and lightly pushing on my shoulder, he says "pop". Yes, he popped my bubble, and instead of going mad, he had me cracking up! Good job kid, but seriously give me some space! ;)
Please DO NOT fight Racism with Racism!
This year has been quite comical for me. I must say comical because quite frankly if I couldn't find some humor in the madness, I might truly go mad. My husband may say I already have gone mad, but most days I recover it!
So this story really begins at the beginning of the year before school even started. I had just met my new principal I would be working with and after 10 minutes of small talk, I was told that I was going to fail as a teacher because "white female teachers are pushovers". My principal is not white. So that's how the year started. I thought it was just me, the whitey of the group, that would be targeted, but no, it turns out that she also made very blantantly racist comments towards a Hispanic, and an Asian. So at least I wasn't targeted specifically. Here's the funny part too...she also told us with pride how she had sewed over a racial issue. (Was she encouraging us to take action against her since she was being racist to us? Hmmm, food for thought)
During Christmas "Santa" came and the kids were beyond excited. Sure I'm not a big Santa fan either, but with the kids so excited, I went with it. My principal however couldn't quite go along with it without telling the kids how "no fat white guy is going to get credit for all my hard work". (Yet in this case, she actually hadn't done any of the work, Santa and his helpers were really the ones who got all the gifts donated, wrapped, and given to the kids). It was quite the downer on such a fun day.
So here's the latest and greatest. At a recent staff meeting we were told about a high school Jazz band that was going to come and play at our school. The most entertaining thing about this is that all of a sudden what seemed like a fun thing turned ugly. After getting the basic information on when the band would be here and where they were from, she proceeds to get a nasty tone and tell us how she has a problem with a bunch of blue-eyed white kids coming in claiming jazz. The world needs to know that it wasn't a bunch of white kids who invented Jazz, but it came from their people. OK, so I can totally understand teaching the kids about the history of Jazz, but I'm pretty sure the kids aren't even going to be thinking about color when they're listening to the music. In fact I just invision the kids wanting to get up and dance and have fun (but the principal will probably yell at them if they try and do that too). So long story short, the principal continues to tell us how she's not about to let some little white kids come in and play for our kids who look like her. They need to know that the real people that invented Jazz look like them, and not like us white people they have to look at teaching them all day.
Funny thing is, last time I checked, I am only 1 of 2 white teachers at the school. Sure the rest of us have lighter skin then our principal, but we represent a lot of different races.
And last time I checked, music didn't have a color.
Please, don't fight racism with racism. All it's going to do is continue to keep racism burning in our world. That's not what any of us SHOULD want. So let's not do it!
So this story really begins at the beginning of the year before school even started. I had just met my new principal I would be working with and after 10 minutes of small talk, I was told that I was going to fail as a teacher because "white female teachers are pushovers". My principal is not white. So that's how the year started. I thought it was just me, the whitey of the group, that would be targeted, but no, it turns out that she also made very blantantly racist comments towards a Hispanic, and an Asian. So at least I wasn't targeted specifically. Here's the funny part too...she also told us with pride how she had sewed over a racial issue. (Was she encouraging us to take action against her since she was being racist to us? Hmmm, food for thought)
During Christmas "Santa" came and the kids were beyond excited. Sure I'm not a big Santa fan either, but with the kids so excited, I went with it. My principal however couldn't quite go along with it without telling the kids how "no fat white guy is going to get credit for all my hard work". (Yet in this case, she actually hadn't done any of the work, Santa and his helpers were really the ones who got all the gifts donated, wrapped, and given to the kids). It was quite the downer on such a fun day.
So here's the latest and greatest. At a recent staff meeting we were told about a high school Jazz band that was going to come and play at our school. The most entertaining thing about this is that all of a sudden what seemed like a fun thing turned ugly. After getting the basic information on when the band would be here and where they were from, she proceeds to get a nasty tone and tell us how she has a problem with a bunch of blue-eyed white kids coming in claiming jazz. The world needs to know that it wasn't a bunch of white kids who invented Jazz, but it came from their people. OK, so I can totally understand teaching the kids about the history of Jazz, but I'm pretty sure the kids aren't even going to be thinking about color when they're listening to the music. In fact I just invision the kids wanting to get up and dance and have fun (but the principal will probably yell at them if they try and do that too). So long story short, the principal continues to tell us how she's not about to let some little white kids come in and play for our kids who look like her. They need to know that the real people that invented Jazz look like them, and not like us white people they have to look at teaching them all day.
Funny thing is, last time I checked, I am only 1 of 2 white teachers at the school. Sure the rest of us have lighter skin then our principal, but we represent a lot of different races.
And last time I checked, music didn't have a color.
Please, don't fight racism with racism. All it's going to do is continue to keep racism burning in our world. That's not what any of us SHOULD want. So let's not do it!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Letters from the Heart
Again I will state, I love getting notes or letters from my students. I especially liked the PS on this one...
(I have retyped it below since the picture is a little hard to read)
(I have retyped it below since the picture is a little hard to read)
Dear Mrs. J
How was your week out of school Hopefully your week was great out of school.
Mine was good because I got to sleep in allot
OK i really wanna know how your easter vacation was Hope you Had a good easter.
Sensernly,
D
(PS) when you first became My teacher i thaunt i wasnet gonna Like you but i Like you allot Like a Really close friend of Mine.
I LOVE to know I wasn't liked at first, but now I am! Brutally honest. Thanks D. I love it! And keep writing!
Dumb as rocks...
OK, harsh title to a post, I know. But seriously, what I am about to write STILL baffles me. Now, keep in mind, I don't consider myself to always be the brightest bulb in the box, but I would say I am easily a 100W bulb (bright enough to know what's up, but not so bright it hurts). However, I would consider myself to be able to easily hold my own in the thinking department. I think that teachers need to be pretty quick on their thinking toes, and should be able to figure problems out with relative ease. Students often perceive us as the "all knowing" teacher, and are baffled to discover that sometimes we make mistakes too. Parents often think we are "absolute experts" on every subject we teach. But we still need to know what's up, even if we do make mistakes every now and then. Now here's what worries me...
In my 6 years of teaching and 1 year of student teaching, I have taught the whole gammat of grades. K, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and Special Ed. The majority of my years being spent in 6th grade. The scary thing is, that I have repeatedly heard from other teachers "oh I could never teach 6th grade math, that's why I teach 1st", or "what do you do when you can't solve the problem in the math book?" My response to this in my head is generally: "REALLY...are you really that dumb that you can't figure out a 6th grade math problem? 4x + 2 = 18 is really that hard to solve?" But my outward response is generally more along the lines of "oh I'm pretty good at math and love it, so I'm normally ok teaching it". I try not to make the teacher feel as dumb as I am summing them up to be in my head. (Haha, pun intended)
Does this worry anyone else? We are entrusting our children to the minds of people who really don't think they can hack 6th grade math? Even worse, I recently heard "4th grade math is too tricky for me, I'll stick to the primary grades". Come on!!! Thoughts people?!?!? I would love to know if I'm putting myself on some pedestal and thinking I am some smarty pants who's better than primary teachers, or if I can have a little validation here? It's not rocket science. But what are your thoughts?
In my 6 years of teaching and 1 year of student teaching, I have taught the whole gammat of grades. K, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and Special Ed. The majority of my years being spent in 6th grade. The scary thing is, that I have repeatedly heard from other teachers "oh I could never teach 6th grade math, that's why I teach 1st", or "what do you do when you can't solve the problem in the math book?" My response to this in my head is generally: "REALLY...are you really that dumb that you can't figure out a 6th grade math problem? 4x + 2 = 18 is really that hard to solve?" But my outward response is generally more along the lines of "oh I'm pretty good at math and love it, so I'm normally ok teaching it". I try not to make the teacher feel as dumb as I am summing them up to be in my head. (Haha, pun intended)
Does this worry anyone else? We are entrusting our children to the minds of people who really don't think they can hack 6th grade math? Even worse, I recently heard "4th grade math is too tricky for me, I'll stick to the primary grades". Come on!!! Thoughts people?!?!? I would love to know if I'm putting myself on some pedestal and thinking I am some smarty pants who's better than primary teachers, or if I can have a little validation here? It's not rocket science. But what are your thoughts?
Letters to the Teacher
I love getting letters or notes from my students. They tend to either put a smile on my face, or crack me up. Here is one I thought was particularly sweet. This girl tried to disguise her identity by writing on the front of the card...
I found it particularly entertaining that the mysterious student who wrote the note (which was a dead give away from her handwriting anyway) continuously asked me for the next several days if I found a surprise on my desk. (My desk often gets messy and it took a few days to dig through the rubble to find the gold). Here is what was inside my card...spelling as student wrote it of course...
I must say, my job has it's perks most days! And when I want to pull my hair out because a kid is throwing a temper tantrum, or when my bipolar Principal goes crazy, it's little things like this note that make it all worth it. And apparently my husband is supposed to think I am totally worth it too!
To: Mrs. J
From: Dee? or Deb?
hope you get this right Mrs. J
I found it particularly entertaining that the mysterious student who wrote the note (which was a dead give away from her handwriting anyway) continuously asked me for the next several days if I found a surprise on my desk. (My desk often gets messy and it took a few days to dig through the rubble to find the gold). Here is what was inside my card...spelling as student wrote it of course...
Dear, Mrs. J (I must note she also spelled my very phonetically sound last name incorrectly)
I thank you for every thing you do I think you do just fine. You husbend shoud be greatfull your his wife.
Sensly,
D (she only signed D because I was of course supposed to be very puzzled by which D it was!)I must say, my job has it's perks most days! And when I want to pull my hair out because a kid is throwing a temper tantrum, or when my bipolar Principal goes crazy, it's little things like this note that make it all worth it. And apparently my husband is supposed to think I am totally worth it too!
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