A Typing Test

Everyone has an opinion about standardized testing, but this week I’ve been able to observe a new side of testing. The new district writing assessment of MNPS is on a computer, and the students are required to type their answers for the assessment.

I’m in a 6^th grade language arts classroom during this placement. The teachers have planned lessons on summarizing and comparing and contrasting articles, skills that will be required for this test. However, this week the teachers have also had to spend class time practicing typing. Most of the time they are typing essays, but since it takes them so much longer to type, the teachers have to plan a lot of extra class time for these activities. Last year, when the format of the test was changed to a computer the test scores plummeted. Since this is the only test on a computer, and the only test where students are required to type, the teachers with other subjects don’t feel as much pressure to make sure the students know how to type. While typing is a necessary skill in today’s society, I think it belongs in a computer or technology class, instead of becoming an extra burden on the language arts teachers and the students in their classroom. The test is also testing the students’ ability to type in addition to the content.

What happens when the sub doesn't show...

On Tuesday, my FM received a call at about 1:00 pm that there had been a family emergency. After speaking with the principal, they agreed that, even though there was no sub, I could run the rest of the day by myself (it was just a 30 minute block, then the students went to specials, then dismissal). The next morning, my FM emailed me saying that she wouldn't be coming in that day and that she had sent in for a sub. When I got to school, no sub had been assigned to her class yet. The principal told me I could go ahead and do breakfast/morning meeting on my own and they would let me know after that what needed to happen with my class. At 8:15, there still wasn't a sub, so my class had to split amongst the other 4th grade teachers.

I've never seen this happen before, and I have to say, it threw off the entire day. Even though a sub came in around 10, my class had been separated for their first block, I didn't have a full class for reading RTI (literally only about 5/23 kids--some of the teachers must not have known that they could send me students), so I didn't do my lesson at all. Then I had my homeroom for the afternoon block, but some of them had already done the lesson I was going to teach with other teachers in the morning, so I had to improvise how to spend the rest of the class period. The only classes that weren't affected were their math RTI and specials.

All in all, it was a really chaotic day and nothing really went according to plan. I know there are reasons that we can't have a class without a sub, but I so wish I had been able to that day, especially since I'm running most of the day on my own at this point anyway.

One of the other teachers mentioned that when her daughter had been a student teacher, she had gotten certified as a substitute for her district so that she wouldn't have to deal with situations like this. That seems pretty smart, in retrospect, although it's definitely too late to get that going for this semester!

Have any of y'all dealt with crazy sub situations like this?

Flexibility

Something that I have learned very quickly since the start of student teaching is how important it is to be FLEXIBLE!

First of all,  is it important to be flexible with lesson plans and rubrics and unit timelines, as students abilities and understandings don't always go just as planned. I learned very early on, even in practica,that I won't survive long as a teacher if I am unwilling to budge from my plans.

However, the kind of flexibility that I am referring to more in this post is flexibility with other teachers and the school and principal under whom you are placed. First of all, last week on Thursday and Friday we had our classes shortened from 35 minutes to 50 minutes with only a day warning! On Thursday an author came to speak (which was great!), but my teacher wasn't warned about the changed schedule until two days before! Then, on Friday, they had a practice TCAAP writing assessment, and again they weren't warned that 2 hours of their day would be taken up until the middle of that very week!

Next, the police officer at our school has to do a 7-8 week program called "GREAT" for the 6th grade students about saying no to gangs and drugs. This is supposed to be during Social Studies class, since it is the least "high-stakes" of the subjects. I am in a social studies only classroom. So, this police officer came and told my teacher LAST WEEK that he would need one full day a week for the next 7 weeks to complete this program for the 6th graders. That's 7 days GONE out of this 9 weeks alone. Although I obviously understand the state requirements for this "GREAT" program and believe something of that sort is important, I also can't believe how much time is being taken away from their learning and from my teacher's time with them, with such little warning.

Have you all also witnessed this disorganization and last minute planning at your schools? Or is this more likely just the result of the specific administration of my school?

A Real-Life Lockdown

I think a school lockdown is probably all of our greatest fears as we become teachers in a world where school isn't always a safe place. Lockeland had just had a lockdown drill last week and the school has many well-prepared procedures in place, but honestly, none of that matters when there is an unexpected announcement that the school is entering lockdown mode. 

After a small panic attack, I realized the school was entering perimeter lockdown mode, which is not the lights-off-and-hide type, but the no-entering-or-exiting-the-building type. This is certainly far less scary, but it still meant there was a security concern on school property. This type of lockdown allows you to carry on with your day as planned, but does not allow any person to enter or exit the building (which was really only an issue for the enrichment teacher who teaches in a portable). Fortunately for me, my class was at the library during this time so I was alone with my mentor teacher in the classroom. I had an opportunity to speak openly with her about what was happening as it was happening since the students were not around. It was definitely comforting to me to have her explaining what she knew about the situation, but I can only imagine what would have happened if we had been in the middle of instruction. There were police cars in front of the building that were clearly visible out the window of half of the classrooms in the building. (Note: it was an issue with a parent and it was resolved about a half an hour later with no issues!)

It was definitely scary to have a reminder of how real this all is. Luckily for us, there was no real immediate danger to the students or the faculty, but there was a threatening situation that made the principal and administration uncomfortable. It's so sad that this is such a prevalent issue in our world now, but I am glad I was able to see the procedures and the effectiveness of the organized planning. It was a crazy day!

My teacher has been sick and out of school three days over the past week. We had two different substitute teachers, and there was a wide difference in their control over the classroom. One had never been a substitute teacher (or a classroom teacher) before, and he had no idea how to gain the students' attention. The other had been a classroom/special education teacher, and he was much more proficient at keeping the classes; attention and attempting to make the lessons interesting. However, not much work occurred during any of the classes that the substitute teachers taught.

I’m wondering if it is possible to have a productive day with a substitute teacher. I realize that the substitutes are not as knowledgeable about those students and so the class won’t be as productive as when the teacher is there; but I wonder how much I can expect students to accomplish when I am the teacher that is gone for the day, especially when I might not know what level of experience the substitute will have when they come to my classroom.

Making Meaningful Connections

Yesterday, I was able to observe my mentor teacher create connections in a unique and awesome way. We are studying the phases of the moon and the relationship between the moon, the earth, and the sun. We have been focusing a lot on academic language and the vocabulary words the students need to know to talk about this topic. One of the most important words is illuminate, since it is important to use this word to describe how the moon appears to be bright in the night sky since it is illuminated by the sun. The definition we generally use is “lit up.” My teacher was introducing this content for the first time yesterday, the Tuesday after MLK weekend. After she gave the definition and example, she announced to each class that she had read a quote over the weekend that she found my Martin Luther King, Jr. The quote had nothing to do with the science content but was related to current events and the recent holiday.

“Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

After a moment of pausing to let the students think about the quote, she asked if someone could explain what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he said love illuminates the life. Many students raised their hands and were able to share a clear connection between the word, the context, and the science context. I was incredibly impressed by how she was able to have students form connections in such an applicable way and how it really deepened the students’ understanding of the meaning. Seeing how she used an example unrelated to the content but related to a timely holiday inspired me to be more creative about how I am prompting students to form better connections in my lessons.

Has anyone else seen great examples of this? Since I saw this, I have been trying to form connections more often and in more real-world contexts, but I would love to hear about anyone else's experiences with this!

Assessment: What are we even testing?

Assessment: What are we even testing? 

The amount of different assessments that take place in my classroom is something that has become particularly concerning for me, especially looking forward to solo teaching. Every single Friday we spend the majority of the day testing students on different skills. They start with a spelling test in which students spell words with this weeks phonics focus. Then, they move on to a math fact assessment, testing their fluency and comprehension. We move on next to a language assessment used to help gauge students reading abilities. Then in the afternoon we take a unit math test. In addition these students have 2 CFA’s, which are assessments on two focus standards that are different than the weeks focus, and are tested on sight words. All of these assessments take place on Friday, and we pretty much assess the entire day.

I am in First grade. Seeing these many assessments is something I don’t understand. Having my students sit at their desk all-day and work on assessments is impossible for them. They get bored and anxious. They often forget to do problems and by the last test it is clear they don’t even care. These assessments aren’t assessing anything beyond focus and stamina. In first grade these students cant handle this much assessment.

I understand the need for data. Especially with RTI, data is important, but this is excessive. These students aren’t showing how much they are learning. They are showing what they can do during a specific amount of time. My special education students end up taking these assessments over two days due to accommodations. After talking with my teacher I asked about these assessments. I had the same concern at my last placement. She responded the same way they did at my old school. They said it is the district that is making them complete these many assessments.

The stress on testing and assessment is something I can’t get past. As educators I know we need data and assessments to help us measure success, but to give so many assessments that you’re losing whole instructional days is ridiculous. These students need to learn. They need as much time as they can in front of a teacher learning what they need to know in order to be successful.

Why aren’t these teachers looking at alternative assessments? How do they expect their students to do well when they NEVER make mastery on any assessment they give? When are they going to realize they need to make a change and what they are doing isn’t working? Instead of math fact test give a seat scoot, instead of a language assessment do a journal entry. Teachers should be exploring alternative ways to get the data they need.

Assessment is not the end all to being a teacher. The stress on it, as I am sure we all see, is turning some great teaches to the dark side. When I walk around the hallways at my school and hear  “well let’s just teach to the test” my heartbreaks. I guess this post was more of a rant, but this idea of assessment is something I see Metro stressing. Every Metro room I have been in the past two years has had assessment Friday and every time I feel terrible for my students.

Literacy Block

Isn't it interesting trying to figure out how to translate what we've been learning for three years into practice?

Here's what I'm thinking about right now: literacy block.  I'm sure it looks different for every grade (middle school friends, feel free to weigh in from other practica), but is anyone else feeling the struggle to find the ideal structure and balance?  There just isn't enough time in the day, as Dana mentioned previously.  How do we fit in everything that needs to be in our literacy block: word study, phonics, fluency, shared reading, guided reading, read aloud, etc.  What is the balance between whole group, small group, and centers?  My current struggle is that I feel like I'm spending too much time in whole group, and yet my students aren't independent enough to get a whole lot out of their centers.  The literacy coach at Hickman holds to the principle that if students are reading or writing anything, of any quality, that it's educational.  From her perspective, one of the most important parts of a literacy block is guided reading (I agree) and your centers don't have to be pretty, or really even functional, as long as students are reading, writing, or even listening to you read in guided reading then they're getting something out of it.  Although I don't doubt they're getting something out of it, I wonder if they're getting the most.  Is that really how we should be structuring our day? Creating centers, activities, and schedules on the principles that if students get something out of it then it's good enough?

If we swing the other direction and do spend more time in whole group so that students aren't spending an hour+ left to their own devices, am I leaving part of the class behind?  I feel like I've heard a lot lately about the downfalls of whole group instruction because of the way it really doesn't reach a large part of your class.  If we are going to do longer whole group, how can we make sure that all of our students are staying engaged? I think incorporating movement (like we talked about in the PE seminar) and using different grouping structures within whole group lessons are good ideas.  What are some others that work for y'all?

How do you/your teachers structure your literacy blocks?  What's working or not working?  What does your literacy coach suggest?  All I want is balanced reading instruction in 1 hr 20 minutes... Is it possible??

Parents...

Does anyone else have just some STORIES?

I have a student with a para in my class, so her mother writes in a journal every evening that comes back to school with the student to let the para know what's been going on at home.  Today the journal told Ms. Crystal about the student's weekend.  In the notes, the mother said the students weekend was "fu**ing crazy.... muwahahahaha." ??? I don't understand.  What do you even do with that?  We decided to just ignore the comment and stick strictly to business as usual in the entries back to the mother, but what in the world?? This mother writes things to that tune often.  She also sends her child to school dirty and sick, which is so difficult to see when her child has a severe disability and relies on this mother completely to take care of her.  It is hard to strike a note of professionalism and grace in situations like this.  How do you find the compassion?  What do you say when they come in for a parent-teacher conference?

In other news, my classroom is currently having an outbreak of ringworm, which is making the parents of my students exceedingly happy as you can imagine.  We found the first spot when one child leaned over and there was a giant baseball sized patch of it on her back.  When we asked her if it itched or if she knew what was on her back, she immediately said, "Oh, my mommy says it's ringworm!"  Another kiddo then pulled up his shirt sleeve and said, "Oh! I have some too!!" Y'all.  We sent them both to the office and parents were called.  The parents tried to pretend like they had no idea, but when the lovely ladies in the office said that their kids had essentially ratted them out, the parents finally agreed to come and pick up their kids and take them to the doctor.  My classroom is getting deep cleaned tonight because we've now had 5 confirmed cases.  How do you tell a parent gently but FIRMLY that they cannot send their child to school with ringworm?  These things are so sensitive.  Parents love their children so dearly, but sometimes take care of them in a way that is so different than I might take care of my own babies.  How do we strike a balance between firm, friendly, and accommodating?

Lottery Schools

Currently, the parents and students of Lockeland Design Center are going through the process of deciding which middle school they will be attending in the fall. This is my first exposure to “lottery schools” and the process of almost applying to a middle school and being chosen based on luck. In my home district, you went to the elementary, middle, and high school in your zone, unless you went to a private religious school or eventually a specialized high school. Although this seems like it could benefit some children and their families, I am worried about the stress it is putting on our fourth grade students. I have heard students asking one another where they will be attending next year and I have also heard students getting upset when they have to explain that they won’t be going to their first choice. The students are feeling like failures if they don’t get into their top choices and are worrying about getting into college. Can you even imagine thinking about college in fourth grade? Let me tell you, I wasn’t even thinking about college or trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I couldn’t even decide what I wanted for breakfast! 

When hearing the students say that if they don’t go to the right middle school, they won’t be able to get into the right high school, and then they won’t go to a good college, my heart breaks. These students are basing their college successes on their choice of middle school.  After a few discussions with my field mentor and other future teachers, I have come to the conclusion that the way that these children are feeling and thinking about this process can be blamed on somebody and that somebody is not the students. After talking to the Lockeland Reading Specialist, it has come to my attention that the parents are putting these crazy ideas and thoughts into their children’s heads. The reading specialist says that the parents are even getting catty with one another about where so-and-so’s kid is going to middle school. Children are sponges. They are going to absorb everything they hear about this process whether it’s negative or not. The parents need to put things in perspective and make sure they are not stressing their fourth graders. How can we promote a stress-free and positive attitude towards a lottery system? Is it possible? Who should we address? Parents? Or Students?

Too Much to Do, Not Enough Time

        I didn't realize how difficult it is for teachers to get in everything that needs to be taught in one full day. There is so much that needs to be done and it seems like the day flys by so fast. Especially with recess, lunch and RTI time, there are only a couple of hours for everything else. I can see how frustrating this is for my teacher. 

      The past two weeks, the teachers had to test their student's reading accuracy in order to strategically place them in guided reading groups. Whenever my teacher had a free chance, she would pull a student to test. Because of this, the students had to complete busy work independently. This seemed crazy to me because there is no way to make sure that everyone is completing their work and behaving while she is testing. She was lucky to have me there to monitor the class and also test some of the students as well. 

      Additionally, I have yet to see formal science or social studies teaching. There are times that she will try and integrate information into literacy, but there is never a time for direct instruction in the area. Honestly, I can't even think of a time during the day that they would have time for a lesson in those two subjects. However, I wonder if this is an issue and will cause the students to be behind in the future. Does anyone else in a full general class see this too?

The Process

The Process

Mike is a first grader who performs way below grade level and in first grade can barely read. He came from another Metro school which is also low performing and his records indicating no constant struggle with academic content. He struggles all day in school. His attitude and learned helplessness stems from his struggling abilities to read. On top of that his home environment is less than ideal. This causes him to have emotional outbursts often, and social problems with the other children. He is aggressive and loud with other students often through the day. His frustration and anger clearly comes from his lack of abilities in the classroom.

My teacher has been trying to start S-Team on him since the beginning of the year. With the lack of data from his old school, and him just moving here her hands are tied. Her lack of data on this student doesn’t allow for him to be recommended for special education yet. She doesn’t have enough data yet, and with the school just implementing RTI the process is just getting harder and harder for Mike. He will now have to go through all three tiers of instruction before being recommended for special education and within this time he will be falling further and further behind in his education.

On top of this Mike’s behavior will just be getting worse. He already has said to me multiple times, I can’t read I’ll never be able to do this. This cry for help as an educator breaks my heart. I work with him one on one as much as I can. In the beginning weeks when I was teaching less it was easier.  I would pull him aside and work on specific skills he needed, but now as I teach whole group I can’t give Mike this attention. This struggle is something my teacher and I have spoken about many times. When you give him any type of work, anything at all he claims he can’t do it. This attitude comes from his constant failures.

As a teacher how do you help these students? I know as a special education teacher what to do. I know what to give him one on one to meet his exact needs, but when you have a class of 22 other students how do you give a child like Mike everything he needs, when you know what he really needs is special education? How do you deal with the fact that the process is not allowing your student to get the services they need? All the differentiation in the world will still not be enough for Mike. He needs that intense intervention to help him reach grade level standards.

I know this is not a problem only my teacher, or this school even is feeling. Last semester we had the same exact problem with a student who was EL. Since he was EL they were hesitant to identify him as special education, when all the signs were clearly there. I see these students in every placement and hear stories like this in so many classrooms. What can you do as the general education teacher when you feel like whatever you do will never be enough?

Substitute: A help or a hinderance?

Substitute: A help or a hinderance?

This week I had my first substitute. The day started out okay, but quickly after breakfast things got rough. She demanded that all students complete the morning work together at her pace. In a class with varying levels, completing assignments at he same pace is basically impossible. Our smarter students get bored and move ahead and our special education students feel frustrated and rushed. Throughout the day these situations kept occurring. One girl Layla, who is one of our highest students, worked ahead of the class and got yelled at for it. She is the sweetest girl and cried because of it. Then our special education student, Miranda, felt behind and didn’t finish. This caused the substitute to yell at her and make her cry. During the whole class discussion Valerie also cried because she is painstakingly shy and whispered the answer to her friend to say instead of answering. Lastly, Mario my student with EBD was having one of his bad days. He was irritable and frustrated and the lack of structure was contributing to the problems. He was acting out and the student teacher kept yelling at him. This is ineffective with Mario and not the way to deal with his behavior. He began to act out and cry as well.

As a student teacher I was unsure where my place was. Yes, I know my students better and I have been with them for weeks, but in reality the substitute is in charge. She was a retired teacher who has been teaching for years. In general how do you deal with substitute or any one really coming into your classroom? How do you leave such a detailed plan that explain how they should act, with out micro-managing? What do you put in to a substitute plan?  Also how do you ensure that you get updated information about how the day went?

Little Perfectionists

One thing that I realized about 1^st graders is that they are complete perfectionists. They try so hard to complete what they need to do in a very specific and perfect way. For example, they constantly ask how to spell every single word even if it is for an informal activity. Although my teacher is okay with invented spelling for larger words, my students still are set on asking how to spell them correctly. Sometimes, I saw that they will not write the word down until someone tells them how to spell it.

            Additionally, they are very concerned with their drawings and handwriting. During a journal write for a math problem, they had to write an equation for a word problem. Many of the children spent minutes trying to draw a perfect picture to represent each number. Unfortunately, this affected their ability to complete the activity because they spent so much time on the pictures instead of the number equation and explanation.

            Additionally, they also seemed to be concerned with following the rules. For the students that do listen and follow the rules, they absolutely want you to know that they are doing it right. For example, after recess, one student stopped in the middle of the hall to tie her shoes. Because of this, she lost her space in line. She came up to me and said I know my spot is up there is it okay if I go back. Also, if I saw the teacher do something outside of the normal routine for any reason, the students corrected and reminded her of how “it was supposed to be done.”

            Sometimes, this perfection can be a good thing when it comes to following the rules and checking your work. However, the constant coloring and drawing I feel is not. I have always been taught that you are not allowed to color and draw unless you finished absolutely everything and there is nothing else to do. However, these students are constantly looking to finish their work quickly so that they can color in pictures and scribble on the back. In a environment where this is usually okay and accepted, how do you first shift student’s mindsets towards the actual learning and working vs visual aspect?

3 new students in one day: What to do?

Date: January 11, 2015

After the first week of student teaching I felt as though I had a lot to blog about. One thing though truly stood out to me. On Tuesday, my classroom received three new students. In a class of 20, we now have 23 students. Each student came in as a surprise to Ms. Holbrook. In the middle of the day she got three phone calls that she will be receiving new students. This began to get me thinking.

             Ms. Holbrook spent all day introducing the new students, finding them desks, reviewing procedures, etc. A whole entire instructional day was wasted due to the constant distraction of the new students entrance. Although Ms. Holbrook handled this situation very gracefully and made sure these students felt welcomed and comfortable I was left wondering what do you do when new students join the classroom in the middle of the year.

            I was wondering if there are any ideas for going over rules and procedures again without making it a waste of time for all the other students. I was also wondering how you introduce a new student with out making them feel awkward and uncomfortable. How do you make sure a student has a good first day of school? In addition with rules and procedures, how do you inform the parents of classroom norms? These students aren’t doing homework or handing in papers that are suppose to be handed in. It is clear their parents aren’t even looking in their folders. The folder procedures are major in this classroom. How do you welcome new parents along with new students into the classroom?

            From a teacher perspective I was also wondering what you do when you don’t have a file from those students old school and you have no information on a specific student. Ms. Holbrook has spent all this week trying to assess them since RTI groups are due on Monday, but this  made it so other students to lose a lot of instructional time.  One of these students is extremely low functioning and is immature. He distracts the class and isn’t able to read grade level texts. Ms. Holbrook believes he could be special education but doesn’t have any information from his old school to support that. She is unsure how to deal with this situation and I was wondering the same thing.

Many situations a rise when you have a new student. They need to become part of your classroom seamlessly  in just one day. You need to get your students, the parents, and the student all up to date. Keeping everyone informed and on the same page can be a struggle. Is there a protocol or a ideal way to handle new students? 

My first expelled student: manifestation meetings and alternative day schools

There is a student in one of my classes who is incredibly disrespectful in a way that I have never before witnessed. She is rude to teachers, blatantly ignores directions, and disrupts the learning experience of her entire class on a daily basis. When she is not at school, her class is completely different; far more material is covered, the classroom is quieter, and there is less acting out in other students. I have never seen a class change so much when just one student is out. After my first full week experiencing this girl’s behavior, blatant disrespect and distraction of other students, she was expelled from school. After school last Wednesday she punched the principal in his chest. She has an IEP for ADHD, so on Friday afternoon, we had what is called a “Manifestation Meeting” to determine whether her unacceptable behavior was a manifestation of her disability. If that was determined to be the case, then most likely she would not have been expelled. However, the team decided that her increase in aggression was not a result of her ADHD and that she was capable of making these decisions on purpose. Thus, she was expelled and is being sent to an Alternative Day School. Typically, I tend to believe that there is always more that a teacher can do both personally and academically for students who are having manifestations of issues at home come out at school. However in the case of this student, she clearly needed more severe intervention. What do you all know about alternative schools? Does sending all of the “trouble” students to a single school make a difference? Or does it just sentence them to separation and failure for the rest of their school career?

Grading for learning...?

At my school (J.T. Moore Middle School), they use a grading system called "grading for learning," which means that they can re-take tests and quizzes as many times as they want until they get an 85% or above. They have to do this voluntarily and on their own time. My particular teacher has made it so that they cannot get full credit back but rather 70% credit back. Also, when they make corrections, they have to give her an explanation for why their original answer was wrong and why their new answer is correct. Other teachers are less strict and it is much easier to do corrections and get points back. I'm not sure what I think about this "grading for learning model." Doesn't it encourage students that it doesn't matter how they do on the real thing if they can always make it up later? What do you all think?