Merry Christmas everyone!
It's hard to believe that Christmas break is a few hours away! We have school until noon tomorrow and then we are FREE!!! Can you tell I'm a little bit excited?
The Christmas season is certainly a magical one. I love being at work during Christmas time. Although we don't have a "work party" during December, we have two days specifically set aside to celebrate. They are dubbed the Centennial "PIG OUT" and faculty members sign up to bring food. All day long you can step into the faculty room and have a treat. It's absolutely wonderful. PIG OUT days were last Wednesday and Thursday (12/14 and 12/15). Thursday the 15th I had a special ed district training though. I was kind of sad I missed out because I heard that the food was very good that day. District training made up for it by having a potluck for new teachers. I brought Crunchy Chicken Salad and it was a hit! We all got to sit around and chat while eating yummy food. The best part was when Shauna Raby, one of the district ladies, showed us some videos she had made using our pictures. They were funny!
The man in the video, Joel, went through the Special Ed program at BYU with me and this video cracks me up.
The three guys in the video above are absolutely HILARIOUS.
The one you've all been waiting for! (Me.)
We got out around 1:00 that day. I had a full day sub because I didn't think there was any reason to go back for only two periods. Plus, if a sub works for more than half a day, they automatically get a full day's pay. Am I going to go back and let the sub leave and still get paid? No stinking way! So what did I do? Go Christmas shopping! The weekend is absolutely insane, so I had to go during the week. It was nice to get that out of the way.
Speaking of Christmas presents, I made caramel popcorn balls for coworkers on Sunday. I made two batches, which yielded between 50-60 popcorn balls! Thank heavens my sister and her friend were there to help me! Saran wrapping popcorn balls all by myself would have been tricky. They turned out wonderfully delicious. I felt like Santa Clause going around at work with my plastic bag full of popcorn balls. I think they were a hit though! I also received a mini loaf of bread from Lisa Fisher (history teacher), some homemade jam from Rae McAdams (math teacher), and a goody bag from Julie Hillman (fellow special ed teacher). I feel so loved!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Still beating myself up.
My 7th period has been a challenge lately. It all started when I had a sub a couple weeks ago and all hell broke loose in my classroom. (I don't mean to say that, but there really is no other description that truly fits the scenario.) From what I understand, one kid was going around punching other kids and when one of them retaliated by kicking him back, the punching kid went at him with a stapler.
Now. When I say punching and kicking and possible freaky stapling, it wasn't leaving bruises or anything, but it was horseplay that was completely inappropriate for school (or anywhere if you ask me). Apparently the sub was 19 years old and looked about 12, so her attempts to get the misbehaving boys to calm down were futile. Under some sort of divine inspiration, a math teacher came into my classroom to give me something and saw the complete anarchy and sent three boys to to the principal's office.
Yeah...
Ever since then, many of the students have been quite vocal in their disdain for a particular student or two.
This breaks my heart because I know this student would thrive under positive peer attention or feedback, but due to his behavior, he is now the enemy of the class. This doesn't help the general atmosphere of the class because he isn't a particularly quiet child and will defend himself to the death if need be.
Basically, the negative comments and energy in that class are somewhat terrifying. Therefore, I have been racking my brain for interventions to help the students in this particular period.
After talking to a teacher across the hall, I decided to put tally marks on the board and students have the chance to earn a party. For every negative comment a tally mark gets erased.
At the end of the period we will count up the tally marks and when they reach a certain number, they will get a party.
I introduced this intervention today and one student lost all of the points for the class. Yikes. Something must be done!
I'll have to let you know what I decide to do about that.
I introduced this party idea about 15 minutes into the period. So, there were quite a few negative comments being thrown around before this. Finally I told a student that was talking out quite frequently that if he talked again without raising his hand and receiving permission, he would go to ISS (in school suspension). Guess what happened though. He tested my threat and I didn't follow through. It gets worse though. One student raised her hand and said, "Not to be negative, but didn't you say that if he talked again he would have to go to ISS?" I was a little in shock about that and all I could say was, "Yes I did." And that was it! I didn't do anything about it.
The rest of the period wasn't too bad, even though we lost all of the points.
After school ended, I was so distraught over my inability to follow through with a consequence, that I couldn't get any work done and I just went home and watched TV for about an hour and a half. I finally dragged myself off the couch and went to the gym and then ran to the grocery store afterwards. I was still feeling pretty bad about things though.
Are you feeling my pain? Maybe you're laughing. Or maybe you're saying, "AUDRYN. Follow through girl! You need to grow a spine!" Don't worry though - I have a possible remedy.
I confessed my pathetic inability to follow through on consequences to my roommate, a former middle school English teacher, and she came up with a solution!
She said that because I didn't say when I would send the kid to ISS, I can still follow through! She said maybe it's even better because there has been a time period for everyone to cool off and really think about what happened. So here's the plan: before 7th period tomorrow I will go tell this student that he is to go to ISS for 7th period because of his behavior the day before. He may complain, but all I have to say is that he knew what the expectation was and so he has to deal with the consequences.
:)
Maybe there's still hope for me. And for that student.
-Ms. Damron-
Now. When I say punching and kicking and possible freaky stapling, it wasn't leaving bruises or anything, but it was horseplay that was completely inappropriate for school (or anywhere if you ask me). Apparently the sub was 19 years old and looked about 12, so her attempts to get the misbehaving boys to calm down were futile. Under some sort of divine inspiration, a math teacher came into my classroom to give me something and saw the complete anarchy and sent three boys to to the principal's office.
Yeah...
Ever since then, many of the students have been quite vocal in their disdain for a particular student or two.
This breaks my heart because I know this student would thrive under positive peer attention or feedback, but due to his behavior, he is now the enemy of the class. This doesn't help the general atmosphere of the class because he isn't a particularly quiet child and will defend himself to the death if need be.
Basically, the negative comments and energy in that class are somewhat terrifying. Therefore, I have been racking my brain for interventions to help the students in this particular period.
After talking to a teacher across the hall, I decided to put tally marks on the board and students have the chance to earn a party. For every negative comment a tally mark gets erased.
At the end of the period we will count up the tally marks and when they reach a certain number, they will get a party. I introduced this intervention today and one student lost all of the points for the class. Yikes. Something must be done!
I'll have to let you know what I decide to do about that.
I introduced this party idea about 15 minutes into the period. So, there were quite a few negative comments being thrown around before this. Finally I told a student that was talking out quite frequently that if he talked again without raising his hand and receiving permission, he would go to ISS (in school suspension). Guess what happened though. He tested my threat and I didn't follow through. It gets worse though. One student raised her hand and said, "Not to be negative, but didn't you say that if he talked again he would have to go to ISS?" I was a little in shock about that and all I could say was, "Yes I did." And that was it! I didn't do anything about it.
The rest of the period wasn't too bad, even though we lost all of the points.
After school ended, I was so distraught over my inability to follow through with a consequence, that I couldn't get any work done and I just went home and watched TV for about an hour and a half. I finally dragged myself off the couch and went to the gym and then ran to the grocery store afterwards. I was still feeling pretty bad about things though.
Are you feeling my pain? Maybe you're laughing. Or maybe you're saying, "AUDRYN. Follow through girl! You need to grow a spine!" Don't worry though - I have a possible remedy.I confessed my pathetic inability to follow through on consequences to my roommate, a former middle school English teacher, and she came up with a solution!
She said that because I didn't say when I would send the kid to ISS, I can still follow through! She said maybe it's even better because there has been a time period for everyone to cool off and really think about what happened. So here's the plan: before 7th period tomorrow I will go tell this student that he is to go to ISS for 7th period because of his behavior the day before. He may complain, but all I have to say is that he knew what the expectation was and so he has to deal with the consequences.
:)
Maybe there's still hope for me. And for that student.
-Ms. Damron-
Thursday, December 8, 2011
CMS Dance Recital
Centennial has ballroom dance classes as electives and I went to the recital tonight.
Can I just say that it was legit?! The kids did a fantastic job. It was really neat seeing some of my kids perform. There are some talented dancers in there. All I can say is don't stop dancing! Build that talent and see where you end up!
Instead of listening to the announcement or checking the calendar to see what events are going on, I talked to the teacher across the hall and she mentioned that she was going to the recital. I would have gone with her last night, but I had institute and I was in charge of the food. So I invited one of my roommates, RachelAnne and we went tonight.
It was actually much better than I would have though. It was slightly humorous to see some short young men who haven't quite hit their growth spurt dancing with girls a head taller then them. They'll grow into themselves. Hopefully. haha
I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and tell my students how much I enjoyed watching them! I'm glad I went. :)
-Ms. Damron-
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Good-bye Miss Val
One of our Special Ed paras, Val, quit. Her last day was Wednesday (yesterday) and I just want to cry!
I can't get mad at her though because she quit so that she could stay home with her baby. Miss Val had a cute baby girl during the summer and the baby-sitter got another job. It was too crazy trying to find random baby-sitters here and there, so Miss Val quit to stay home and be a mom. I'm trying to convince myself that I'm happy for her, but I'm just plain depressed...and a little terrified to face my dear students alone. Hopefully they hire another para soon!
In honor of Miss Val leaving, I had my students make her thank-you/good-bye notes. We made them on Monday and Tuesday during block days. I gave the students these guidelines:
-include her name
-write 4-6 sentences
-thank her for something
-close it with sincerely, thank-you, whatever
-make it colorful and fun
-make it meaningful
The 4-6 sentences was a bit of a stretch, but at least it let them know that they had to actually write something.
After those instructions, I let them do what they wanted. I was so surprised with the clever ideas the kids came up with!
In my first period, one boy cut out a Christmas tree, another boy made his into a little laptop card and even drew the "Apple/Mac" computer logo on the front. Another boy included his phone number and offered his baby-sitting services. He told me it was his first self-promotion. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the only time she would need a baby-sitter would be during the same time he was in school...
My second period is going to miss her the most. There are a couple of 8th grade boys in there who gave her a hard time sometimes, but Val is so witty and funny that she won them over. Miss Val told me that after I told the students that she was leaving, he was super nice to her. She said "I should leave more often!" In this period, that same boy wrote a heartfelt note and said that he was probably going to fail all of his classes without her. He also told her that she shouldn't leave because he was more important than her baby. In her slightly sarcastic way, Miss Val said "Actually...my baby is more important than you." That cracked me up.
My 7th period was a bit...interesting. One boy was "overjoyed" that she was leaving and asked if he had to write a note. I said yes and although he proclaimed that he was going to write all sorts of things (like "good-bye forever - I won't miss you" or "I loved it when you sat in the corner and glared at me") he actually made a really cute note and put a lot of effort into it. He made a little purse with a bear sticking out of it and then he wrote little messages on hearts and put them in the purse! I thought it was fantastic! Another boy made a "frog purse." It had a little handle, which made it a purse, but it was in the shape of a frog head and when you opened it, the note was on the tongue! How cute is that?!
Here are some pictures. See if you can spot the letters I talked about:
Good-bye Miss Val - I will miss you!
-Ms. Damron-
Oh! And before I forget, on the last day she was there, Ms. Val gave me a sweet present. She gave me some fake yellow roses because she knows those are my favorite. She also framed a "Certificate of Awesomeness." It was so cute.
I can't get mad at her though because she quit so that she could stay home with her baby. Miss Val had a cute baby girl during the summer and the baby-sitter got another job. It was too crazy trying to find random baby-sitters here and there, so Miss Val quit to stay home and be a mom. I'm trying to convince myself that I'm happy for her, but I'm just plain depressed...and a little terrified to face my dear students alone. Hopefully they hire another para soon!
In honor of Miss Val leaving, I had my students make her thank-you/good-bye notes. We made them on Monday and Tuesday during block days. I gave the students these guidelines:
-include her name
-write 4-6 sentences
-thank her for something
-close it with sincerely, thank-you, whatever
-make it colorful and fun
-make it meaningful
The 4-6 sentences was a bit of a stretch, but at least it let them know that they had to actually write something.
After those instructions, I let them do what they wanted. I was so surprised with the clever ideas the kids came up with!
In my first period, one boy cut out a Christmas tree, another boy made his into a little laptop card and even drew the "Apple/Mac" computer logo on the front. Another boy included his phone number and offered his baby-sitting services. He told me it was his first self-promotion. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the only time she would need a baby-sitter would be during the same time he was in school...
My second period is going to miss her the most. There are a couple of 8th grade boys in there who gave her a hard time sometimes, but Val is so witty and funny that she won them over. Miss Val told me that after I told the students that she was leaving, he was super nice to her. She said "I should leave more often!" In this period, that same boy wrote a heartfelt note and said that he was probably going to fail all of his classes without her. He also told her that she shouldn't leave because he was more important than her baby. In her slightly sarcastic way, Miss Val said "Actually...my baby is more important than you." That cracked me up.
My 7th period was a bit...interesting. One boy was "overjoyed" that she was leaving and asked if he had to write a note. I said yes and although he proclaimed that he was going to write all sorts of things (like "good-bye forever - I won't miss you" or "I loved it when you sat in the corner and glared at me") he actually made a really cute note and put a lot of effort into it. He made a little purse with a bear sticking out of it and then he wrote little messages on hearts and put them in the purse! I thought it was fantastic! Another boy made a "frog purse." It had a little handle, which made it a purse, but it was in the shape of a frog head and when you opened it, the note was on the tongue! How cute is that?!
Here are some pictures. See if you can spot the letters I talked about:
Good-bye Miss Val - I will miss you!
-Ms. Damron-
Oh! And before I forget, on the last day she was there, Ms. Val gave me a sweet present. She gave me some fake yellow roses because she knows those are my favorite. She also framed a "Certificate of Awesomeness." It was so cute.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tender moment
I love having volunteers come to my classroom. I frequently have BYU students who are going into education volunteer. One of the classes they have to take is about students with disabilities and they have to get a certain number of volunteer hours in a special ed classroom. So of course I let them come to my classroom. The more the merrier in my opinion.
Two girls came this morning from 8-10 and I was so grateful to have them there. So many students need one-on-one help in order to get anything done, so I am always grateful for people who help in my classroom.
Anyway, I asked one of the girls to help some students with math. Before I sent her over there I asked her if she was good at math and she said she didn't think she was great, but she could probably handle middle school math.
Before she left we talked for a couple of minutes and she just looked at me and said, "What you do is absolutely amazing." She then proceeded to tell me that she had never realized how much work and effort goes into helping these students. She made the observation that they don't finish assignments easily and they struggle to comprehend assignments without very specific instructions and thorough explanations of concepts. She said she got an A in Calculus in high school, but when it comes to breaking down concepts and explaining them to someone with a disability, it's HARD.
YES it is. I was just so happy that she made that observation. She will be a great teacher if she takes the time to help those students in her classroom who need a little extra help. If she recognizes how important it is to take the time to explain things (even if it's the third or fourth time) and really work with her students, then she will be a teacher who cares AND changes lives.
-Ms. Damron-
Two girls came this morning from 8-10 and I was so grateful to have them there. So many students need one-on-one help in order to get anything done, so I am always grateful for people who help in my classroom.
Anyway, I asked one of the girls to help some students with math. Before I sent her over there I asked her if she was good at math and she said she didn't think she was great, but she could probably handle middle school math.
Before she left we talked for a couple of minutes and she just looked at me and said, "What you do is absolutely amazing." She then proceeded to tell me that she had never realized how much work and effort goes into helping these students. She made the observation that they don't finish assignments easily and they struggle to comprehend assignments without very specific instructions and thorough explanations of concepts. She said she got an A in Calculus in high school, but when it comes to breaking down concepts and explaining them to someone with a disability, it's HARD.
YES it is. I was just so happy that she made that observation. She will be a great teacher if she takes the time to help those students in her classroom who need a little extra help. If she recognizes how important it is to take the time to explain things (even if it's the third or fourth time) and really work with her students, then she will be a teacher who cares AND changes lives.
-Ms. Damron-
Complete blasphemy
During my 2nd period yesterday, one my students jumped up on the counter when I wasn't looking. When I turned around and asked what in the world he was doing, he said,
"I'm making a speech. Can't you tell who I am?"
And then he whispered,
"I'm Jesus."
There are not words to describe how stunned I was after that.
-Ms. Damron-
"I'm making a speech. Can't you tell who I am?"
And then he whispered,
"I'm Jesus."
There are not words to describe how stunned I was after that.
-Ms. Damron-
Cute drawing
So one of my 8th grade girls drew a picture of me on the white board today and I thought I'd share it with you. :)
You can see the clear similarities:
curly hair
square(ish) glasses
a fantastic figure (or lack of one!)
I hope you got a good smile out of it.
-Ms. Damron-
You can see the clear similarities:
curly hair
square(ish) glasses
a fantastic figure (or lack of one!)
I hope you got a good smile out of it.
-Ms. Damron-
Monday, November 21, 2011
Small successes
I am so happy!!!
I figured out a way for my 8th grade students to study the vocab from their English classes and pass the tests with flying colors!
Remember my goals for Term 2? Well one of the things I changed was that instead of having the students in Mrs. Scott's English class do the Daily Language Review with the rest of the class, I have them pulled to a different table where one of the paraeducators studies with them. They make flash cards, practice the spelling, practice putting the words into sentences...and guess what?! They are passing their vocab tests!
Term 1 they never passed the vocab tests. In fact, the typical vocab test scores were 4/20, 2/20, 6/20 - you get the idea. Basically they were failing every test.
Once we started this new intervention though, the students are doing great! In fact, Mrs. Scott stopped by my 2nd period today to tell the two boys that one of them got a 100% and the other boy only missed one! I just about died from happiness. The boy who only missed one said, "Really?!"
It really is the little things in life that bring smiles. (I'm seriously freaking out I'm so happy!!!)
-Ms. Damron-
I figured out a way for my 8th grade students to study the vocab from their English classes and pass the tests with flying colors!
Remember my goals for Term 2? Well one of the things I changed was that instead of having the students in Mrs. Scott's English class do the Daily Language Review with the rest of the class, I have them pulled to a different table where one of the paraeducators studies with them. They make flash cards, practice the spelling, practice putting the words into sentences...and guess what?! They are passing their vocab tests!
Term 1 they never passed the vocab tests. In fact, the typical vocab test scores were 4/20, 2/20, 6/20 - you get the idea. Basically they were failing every test.
Once we started this new intervention though, the students are doing great! In fact, Mrs. Scott stopped by my 2nd period today to tell the two boys that one of them got a 100% and the other boy only missed one! I just about died from happiness. The boy who only missed one said, "Really?!"
It really is the little things in life that bring smiles. (I'm seriously freaking out I'm so happy!!!)
-Ms. Damron-
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Just saying my morning prayers
Every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month I have district special ed training. It's kind of annoying getting a sub so many times, but I get to sleep in an extra hour or so, which is absolutely wonderful.
This morning I was kneeling down about to say my morning prayer, when I got a phone call from the school. One of the main office women called me sounding somewhat distressed and told me that a sub hadn't shown up yet! She and the ISS woman had gone to my classroom to watch the kids until they could get sub. I was informed that they had read my sub plans, but the plans were for another date (Wednesday, November 16) and they were unclear and they didn't know what they were supposed to do with the kids.
AWESOME.
The lady told me she was going to transfer me to my classroom so I could talk to the ISS woman to clarify what I had left for the sub. Drama drama! I talked to the woman who told me things were under control. I guess people were just a little frazzled by the absence of a sub. Way to shake me first thing in the morning! I didn't know what to do! And now I'm worried that I write horrible sub plans...
Anyway, our district training is until 11:30, but they usually let us out ten minutes early. The sub was only supposed to be there until 11:30, so around 11:25, I started getting a little nervous. I ended up just leaving so that I could get back to the school. When I got there, I went straight to my classroom figuring I would relieve the sub and the sub would leave. Nope. The sub didn't even acknowledge me! She was reading a test to a student, so I just set my stuff down and left. I didn't know what to do! I felt slightly uncomfortable because it's awkward to barge in on the sub. They are in charge for the time being, so I when the sub made no attempt to leave, I had no idea what to do. I wandered around the school, went to the bathroom, and finally ended up just sitting in another special ed classroom waiting it out.
Quite an interesting morning if you ask me.
Anyway, just to provide some interesting pictures, the training today was about visual something or other. (All of these trainings deal with technology.) Today's focus was on the digital camera. We were put in groups and asked to take pictures and look at things in a different perspective. These are the pictures we took, with some tweaking and effects by me:
-Ms. Damron-
This morning I was kneeling down about to say my morning prayer, when I got a phone call from the school. One of the main office women called me sounding somewhat distressed and told me that a sub hadn't shown up yet! She and the ISS woman had gone to my classroom to watch the kids until they could get sub. I was informed that they had read my sub plans, but the plans were for another date (Wednesday, November 16) and they were unclear and they didn't know what they were supposed to do with the kids.
AWESOME.
The lady told me she was going to transfer me to my classroom so I could talk to the ISS woman to clarify what I had left for the sub. Drama drama! I talked to the woman who told me things were under control. I guess people were just a little frazzled by the absence of a sub. Way to shake me first thing in the morning! I didn't know what to do! And now I'm worried that I write horrible sub plans...
Anyway, our district training is until 11:30, but they usually let us out ten minutes early. The sub was only supposed to be there until 11:30, so around 11:25, I started getting a little nervous. I ended up just leaving so that I could get back to the school. When I got there, I went straight to my classroom figuring I would relieve the sub and the sub would leave. Nope. The sub didn't even acknowledge me! She was reading a test to a student, so I just set my stuff down and left. I didn't know what to do! I felt slightly uncomfortable because it's awkward to barge in on the sub. They are in charge for the time being, so I when the sub made no attempt to leave, I had no idea what to do. I wandered around the school, went to the bathroom, and finally ended up just sitting in another special ed classroom waiting it out.
Quite an interesting morning if you ask me.
Anyway, just to provide some interesting pictures, the training today was about visual something or other. (All of these trainings deal with technology.) Today's focus was on the digital camera. We were put in groups and asked to take pictures and look at things in a different perspective. These are the pictures we took, with some tweaking and effects by me:
-Ms. Damron-
Funny moments in Science 7
I try to observe different classes during my prep periods so that I'm more aware of what is expected from those teachers and I can hold students more accountable to different assignments and projects because I know what is assigned.
Last week I was observing a 7th grade science class. Let me tell you - my heart goes out to 7th grade science teachers. Those kids are squirrely! (I don't know how to spell that.)
The teacher was showing students how big a coffee bean is compared to an amoeba, a red blood cell, a virus, etc. It was actually really interesting. When he got to a virus, he said,
"Did you know that the Rhino Virus is what causes the common cold?"
One of the students responded,
"No! It makes you into a rhino!"
:)
To observe, I sat in the back of the classroom and watched. Two boys were seated right in front of me and they wouldn't stop bugging me. Here was our conversation:
Student: Why are you here?
Me: To watch you.
Student: To watch us? That's creepy! Are you FBI?
Me: I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...
Student: (complete silence...)
Me: I'm just kidding.
Yup. That just happened.
It was an enjoyable observation I think.
-Ms. Damron-
Last week I was observing a 7th grade science class. Let me tell you - my heart goes out to 7th grade science teachers. Those kids are squirrely! (I don't know how to spell that.)
The teacher was showing students how big a coffee bean is compared to an amoeba, a red blood cell, a virus, etc. It was actually really interesting. When he got to a virus, he said, "Did you know that the Rhino Virus is what causes the common cold?"
One of the students responded,
"No! It makes you into a rhino!"
:)
To observe, I sat in the back of the classroom and watched. Two boys were seated right in front of me and they wouldn't stop bugging me. Here was our conversation:
Student: Why are you here?
Me: To watch you.
Student: To watch us? That's creepy! Are you FBI?
Me: I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...
Student: (complete silence...)
Me: I'm just kidding.
Yup. That just happened.
It was an enjoyable observation I think.
-Ms. Damron-
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Making progress
I ran into Sandy Lewis, one of the teachers I student taught with, at 24 Hour Fitness on Tuesday. Talk about crazy! This woman is in her 60s and she was working out with her husband. Future goal? Be Sandy Lewis! haha
We only chatted for a couple of minutes because I was on my way to a workout class, but I told her that I was teaching at Centennial Middle School and she congratulated me and asked me how it was going. I said it was going pretty well, but I it was definitely a learning process (or something like that). Her reply was, "Well, as long as your students are making progress, you're doing well."
What a great point. I think we often stress out about having things perfect:
perfect classroom management
perfect IEPs
perfect contact with parents, other faculty, administration, etc.
perfect lesson plans
(heaven forbid) perfect students!
BUT what is the important thing? Progress!
Things don't have to be perfect, things just need to be progressing. I think this is a huge principle in Special Education. Students are not going to have high rates of success in the usual areas. They are going to make small leaps of success, but they are not going to be your average achieving student (at least not without A LOT of help). So what is important? (I think you can answer this now...) PROGRESS! How are they compared to last year? How are they compared to at the beginning of the year? These are things we need to keep track of and monitor. And when our students see success, make a big deal out of it!
Now to throw things for a loop - - -
In a quiet moment of contemplation, I was thinking about what Sandy had said about progress and I turned it around from my students making progress and thought about myself: am I making progress?
We all need to be making progress. Progress will be different for each of us. What we are tracking and progressing in will be different for everyone, but we still need to be striving for and working on something.
-Ms. Damron-
We only chatted for a couple of minutes because I was on my way to a workout class, but I told her that I was teaching at Centennial Middle School and she congratulated me and asked me how it was going. I said it was going pretty well, but I it was definitely a learning process (or something like that). Her reply was, "Well, as long as your students are making progress, you're doing well."
What a great point. I think we often stress out about having things perfect:
perfect classroom management
perfect IEPs
perfect contact with parents, other faculty, administration, etc.
perfect lesson plans
(heaven forbid) perfect students!
BUT what is the important thing? Progress!
Things don't have to be perfect, things just need to be progressing. I think this is a huge principle in Special Education. Students are not going to have high rates of success in the usual areas. They are going to make small leaps of success, but they are not going to be your average achieving student (at least not without A LOT of help). So what is important? (I think you can answer this now...) PROGRESS! How are they compared to last year? How are they compared to at the beginning of the year? These are things we need to keep track of and monitor. And when our students see success, make a big deal out of it!
Now to throw things for a loop - - -
In a quiet moment of contemplation, I was thinking about what Sandy had said about progress and I turned it around from my students making progress and thought about myself: am I making progress?
We all need to be making progress. Progress will be different for each of us. What we are tracking and progressing in will be different for everyone, but we still need to be striving for and working on something.
-Ms. Damron-
Sunday, November 6, 2011
End of Term #1
Um...can anyone believe that Term 1 ended? That means that 1/4 of the school year is complete. Say what?! That can't even be true.
When I look back at the beginning of the school year I think - was that really me? What was I even doing? I feel like I've learned so much in the past couple of months. I'm always amazed at the learning curve of a new teacher. I'm pretty sure the learning curve is huge every single year you teach, but it's especially high the first three years.
Anyway, most of my kids passed all of their classes! There were some students who had such low grades that there wasn't a whole lot that I could do. Interestingly enough, these students were also absent a lot of the time. Hmm...I wonder if there is a connection!
Now that it's the beginning of the term though, I have some grand plans to be more on top of things with my students.
Here are some of my goals:
--Have students study for vocab tests a little bit every day. Students rarely passed the vocabulary tests in their English classes, so I want them to spend at least ten minutes of my class studying and practicing the spelling of the words.
--Now that I'm more familiar with the teachers in the school and their personalities, I can be wary of the teachers that are...not fans of the special ed students in their classes. Hopefully I can monitor those students carefully and make sure I stay on top of the assignments due in those classes.
--I'm also going to be more consistent with my expectations and routines. I've changed my classroom management a little bit, so hopefully I can stick to it and really hammer those procedures.
--I also want to use the time in my class to have students work on their IEP goals. I figure that if I have a little extra time, then my students should be working on their IEP goals! Along those same lines, I want to more carefully monitor which students struggle in math, reading, whatever, and provide extra supports in those areas.
Those are just a few of the things that I want to change, but hopefully this term will be an improvement from last term!
-Ms. Damron-
When I look back at the beginning of the school year I think - was that really me? What was I even doing? I feel like I've learned so much in the past couple of months. I'm always amazed at the learning curve of a new teacher. I'm pretty sure the learning curve is huge every single year you teach, but it's especially high the first three years.
Anyway, most of my kids passed all of their classes! There were some students who had such low grades that there wasn't a whole lot that I could do. Interestingly enough, these students were also absent a lot of the time. Hmm...I wonder if there is a connection!
Now that it's the beginning of the term though, I have some grand plans to be more on top of things with my students.
Here are some of my goals:
--Have students study for vocab tests a little bit every day. Students rarely passed the vocabulary tests in their English classes, so I want them to spend at least ten minutes of my class studying and practicing the spelling of the words.
--Now that I'm more familiar with the teachers in the school and their personalities, I can be wary of the teachers that are...not fans of the special ed students in their classes. Hopefully I can monitor those students carefully and make sure I stay on top of the assignments due in those classes.
--I'm also going to be more consistent with my expectations and routines. I've changed my classroom management a little bit, so hopefully I can stick to it and really hammer those procedures.
--I also want to use the time in my class to have students work on their IEP goals. I figure that if I have a little extra time, then my students should be working on their IEP goals! Along those same lines, I want to more carefully monitor which students struggle in math, reading, whatever, and provide extra supports in those areas.
Those are just a few of the things that I want to change, but hopefully this term will be an improvement from last term!
-Ms. Damron-
Spirit Week!
Okay. So my last post was a little while ago...sorry about that.
Due to how long it has taken me to post, a lot of these posts will be make up posts. I hope you enjoy.
Spirit Week was September 19-23. Here are the descriptions for the dress code that week:
Monday, September 19 TWINS DAY
Dress up with your friend so you look alike! Same clothes, same hair, same shoes! Do whatever you can to be identical and join us for "Twins" two-legged race on the stage during lunch.
Tuesday, September 20 TACKY TUESDAY
Wear crazy, mix-matched, tacky clothes. How many colors and prints can you put together? Mix-match your socks, crazy shirts, polka dots, and stripes. Our lunch activity will be a giant pants relay. Get ready for a terrific, tacky day!
Above: Lisa Fisher, a history teacher across the hall, and me
Erin Radant, a Special Ed English teacher across the hall, and me
Wednesday, September 21 AROUND THE WORLD DAY
Dress up as someone from another country. Come and participate in the lunch activity on the lunchroom stage where we will be having an around-the-world game.
FYI - My "Around-the-world" outfit was from Israel! I borrowed the jeannie pants and sandals from my friend Skyler Dunford. The green scarf thing is from Israel too.
Thursday, September 22 ER DAY
Dress like you are in the ER - the hospital Emergency Room. Dress as a doctor, nurse, surgeon, therapist, or patient. Join us for a crutches race during lunch.
L-R: Erin Radant, me, Lisa Fisher. Notice the crocs. :)
Friday, September 23 HAWAIIAN DAY
Drew in flip-flops, swim shorts (below mid-thigh), floral shirts, grass skirts, and sunglasses. Our lunch activity will be beach ball volleyball on stage.
It was a pretty fun week and I dressed up every day! I really like dressing up and showing school spirit, so I try my best to dress up and do fun things.
-Ms. Damron-
Due to how long it has taken me to post, a lot of these posts will be make up posts. I hope you enjoy.
Spirit Week was September 19-23. Here are the descriptions for the dress code that week:
Monday, September 19 TWINS DAY
Dress up with your friend so you look alike! Same clothes, same hair, same shoes! Do whatever you can to be identical and join us for "Twins" two-legged race on the stage during lunch.
Tuesday, September 20 TACKY TUESDAY
Wear crazy, mix-matched, tacky clothes. How many colors and prints can you put together? Mix-match your socks, crazy shirts, polka dots, and stripes. Our lunch activity will be a giant pants relay. Get ready for a terrific, tacky day!
Above: Lisa Fisher, a history teacher across the hall, and me
Erin Radant, a Special Ed English teacher across the hall, and me
Wednesday, September 21 AROUND THE WORLD DAY
Dress up as someone from another country. Come and participate in the lunch activity on the lunchroom stage where we will be having an around-the-world game.
FYI - My "Around-the-world" outfit was from Israel! I borrowed the jeannie pants and sandals from my friend Skyler Dunford. The green scarf thing is from Israel too.
Thursday, September 22 ER DAY
Dress like you are in the ER - the hospital Emergency Room. Dress as a doctor, nurse, surgeon, therapist, or patient. Join us for a crutches race during lunch.
L-R: Erin Radant, me, Lisa Fisher. Notice the crocs. :)
Friday, September 23 HAWAIIAN DAY
Drew in flip-flops, swim shorts (below mid-thigh), floral shirts, grass skirts, and sunglasses. Our lunch activity will be beach ball volleyball on stage.
It was a pretty fun week and I dressed up every day! I really like dressing up and showing school spirit, so I try my best to dress up and do fun things.
-Ms. Damron-
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
"You'll toughen up."
Today was actually a pretty good day!
I was pretty excited because my lovely friend Katie came and volunteered. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have volunteers in my classroom! There are so many students that need one-on-one help, so the more people I have in my classroom helping, the smoother things go.
During the passing period between Plus/Intervention and my 4th period, I went out into the hall and found three boys who had just been in my classroom, wrestling in the hall! They were pushing each other and ended up on the floor!
Awesome.
I didn't quite know what to do because there were no other teachers around, but clearly that was unacceptable behavior. Yes, they were laughing and just having fun, but seriously?
One of our school rules is keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself, so obviously action had to be taken.
I demanded that the three boys come over to me, where I explained that their behavior was inappropriate and I had no choice but to give them all lunch detention. Oh my goodness. The protests that exploded out of them almost crushed me! I was determined to follow through though, so I went back to my desk and started filling out the lunch detention slips. They followed me and and I was impaled with excuses as to why I should not give lunch detention,
"MS. DAMRON! I have football practice! I can't get another lunch detention."
"Ms. Damron - NO! I can't get another lunch detention or I'll have ISS!"
"I just pushed him once. Why do I need a lunch detention?"
Oh my goodness I was flustered. My heart truly broke because I had to give a lunch detention. I didn't know what else to do though. I couldn't just tell them that wrestling was wrong and please don't do it again. Plus, once you give a consequence, you can't back down.
I was freaking out the entire 4th period. Two of the students who I gave a lunch detention were in my 4th period and they were MAD. They just glared at me the whole time and refused to do work. I finally sat down with one student and helped him do his work and I think he was in a better mood by the end of the period. The student who had football practice after school was not in a forgiving mood though. When one of the paraeducators took him aside to help him with his science homework, I heard him say, "It isn't fair. So and so didn't get a lunch detention..." Yikes. When the period ended, he wouldn't play battleship to earn a piece of candy and he wouldn't make eye contact!
Needless to say, I went to lunch and told some other faculty members that I had given out my first lunch detentions and I was freaking out about it! I told them that I felt awful, but I didn't know what else to do! They said that I did the right thing. One of them said I was nicer than she would have been. She said she would have marched them right down to the principal's office. At the end of lunch though, one of the teachers told me, "You'll toughen up. Nothing phases me anymore."
I guess we'll have to see how I "toughen up" over the years!
(And lets hope that my dear students don't hold grudges...)
-Ms. Damron-
I was pretty excited because my lovely friend Katie came and volunteered. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have volunteers in my classroom! There are so many students that need one-on-one help, so the more people I have in my classroom helping, the smoother things go.
During the passing period between Plus/Intervention and my 4th period, I went out into the hall and found three boys who had just been in my classroom, wrestling in the hall! They were pushing each other and ended up on the floor!
Awesome.
I didn't quite know what to do because there were no other teachers around, but clearly that was unacceptable behavior. Yes, they were laughing and just having fun, but seriously?
One of our school rules is keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself, so obviously action had to be taken.
I demanded that the three boys come over to me, where I explained that their behavior was inappropriate and I had no choice but to give them all lunch detention. Oh my goodness. The protests that exploded out of them almost crushed me! I was determined to follow through though, so I went back to my desk and started filling out the lunch detention slips. They followed me and and I was impaled with excuses as to why I should not give lunch detention,
"MS. DAMRON! I have football practice! I can't get another lunch detention."
"Ms. Damron - NO! I can't get another lunch detention or I'll have ISS!"
"I just pushed him once. Why do I need a lunch detention?"
Oh my goodness I was flustered. My heart truly broke because I had to give a lunch detention. I didn't know what else to do though. I couldn't just tell them that wrestling was wrong and please don't do it again. Plus, once you give a consequence, you can't back down.
I was freaking out the entire 4th period. Two of the students who I gave a lunch detention were in my 4th period and they were MAD. They just glared at me the whole time and refused to do work. I finally sat down with one student and helped him do his work and I think he was in a better mood by the end of the period. The student who had football practice after school was not in a forgiving mood though. When one of the paraeducators took him aside to help him with his science homework, I heard him say, "It isn't fair. So and so didn't get a lunch detention..." Yikes. When the period ended, he wouldn't play battleship to earn a piece of candy and he wouldn't make eye contact!
Needless to say, I went to lunch and told some other faculty members that I had given out my first lunch detentions and I was freaking out about it! I told them that I felt awful, but I didn't know what else to do! They said that I did the right thing. One of them said I was nicer than she would have been. She said she would have marched them right down to the principal's office. At the end of lunch though, one of the teachers told me, "You'll toughen up. Nothing phases me anymore."
I guess we'll have to see how I "toughen up" over the years!
(And lets hope that my dear students don't hold grudges...)
-Ms. Damron-
Friday, October 14, 2011
Random funniness
I thought I would take the time to share some random funny quotes or moments lately:
While walking down the hall before school one day, there were three students huddled by a door. One student had his violin out and he was playing it. His violin case was open on the floor, and I heard him say, "Spare change?"
One my fashion divas from 4th period came in today and told me she had a science worksheet to do during class and then she said, "You look really hott in jeans by the way." Then she walked off.
During that class meeting I had 2nd period this past Tuesday, I was commenting on the fact that one of the boys NEVER stopped talking. Do you know what his buddy said? "WE NEED TO LOBOTOMIZE HIM! It's the only option." Then he took the piece of paper I was writing notes on and wrote "lobotumize Bob." (I changed the name.) I couldn't stop laughing.
Another comment that happened during 2nd period one day was with regards to how organized I am! The new 7th grade student that joined the class asked where something was or how we did something (I can't quite remember) and one of the girls in the class said, "Ms. Damron is very organized. If she says its there - it's there."
-Ms. Damron-
While walking down the hall before school one day, there were three students huddled by a door. One student had his violin out and he was playing it. His violin case was open on the floor, and I heard him say, "Spare change?"One my fashion divas from 4th period came in today and told me she had a science worksheet to do during class and then she said, "You look really hott in jeans by the way." Then she walked off.
During that class meeting I had 2nd period this past Tuesday, I was commenting on the fact that one of the boys NEVER stopped talking. Do you know what his buddy said? "WE NEED TO LOBOTOMIZE HIM! It's the only option." Then he took the piece of paper I was writing notes on and wrote "lobotumize Bob." (I changed the name.) I couldn't stop laughing.
Another comment that happened during 2nd period one day was with regards to how organized I am! The new 7th grade student that joined the class asked where something was or how we did something (I can't quite remember) and one of the girls in the class said, "Ms. Damron is very organized. If she says its there - it's there."
-Ms. Damron-
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I'm not completely following you...
Before anything, I had to show this comic. A math teacher from my school posted it on facebook and it made me laugh:
Anyway, I had to share the most interesting story with you.
My 2nd period is full of seven 8th graders and one 7th grader. It was kind of a little wild before a certain 8th grade girl was added to my class, but I think the boys have a crush on the new girl or something because the talking, banter, middle school attempts at flirting, WHATEVER you want to call it, has increased exponentially since she entered my class! It has been driving me insane and I have been at a loss for what to do. I stand at the front and talk and absolutely no one listens or gives me the time of day because they're too busy making faces at each other and complaining about so and so breathing their air...you get the point. It's a little ridiculous if you ask me.
Monday was a block day, so I had my students for 85 minutes. We had been in class for maybe 30 minutes and they were out of control. I couldn't manage my class to save my life. I was a little frustrated to say the least, but of course I kept my cool and calmly told everyone to leave the stuff at the table they were at and move to a different table. ;)
I sat them all down and held a CLASS MEETING. I told them that I was at a loss because for the life of me I couldn't get them to listen to me. I asked them to tell me what I was doing wrong or what their side of the story was. I needed to know something.
The first student who raised his hand is notorious for always having a rebuttal to everything I say. I like him, but for heaven's sake you do not have to say something every time I speak! What he said completely shocked me. (Just so you can get an idea of how out of control this class was that day, while he was talking, at least two other people were talking or making some sort of noise. He tried to get everyone to be quiet by shouting, "BE QUIET!" but not even that worked...) To summarize, he said that they all talk because they like my class and they like me. All the other teachers are mean and they yell, but I have fun with them and I laugh and think they're funny. Basically, they like my class, so they don't stop talking.
WHAT?!
I told him that I thought it was horribly rude to talk while I was talking and I thought they were doing it to be mean and rude. This student very sincerely said, "No! We don't mean to be rude. We like you!"
I'm sorry...I'm not completely following you. You're saying that you won't stop talking and you won't show me respect because you...like me? The rest of the students backed him up and said,
"Yeah! We like this class!"
"This is one of the few classes I like."
"You don't yell at us."
I couldn't believe it. I told them that what I was getting out of what they were saying though was that I needed to be mean and strict in order to get them to listen to me. They didn't really have an answer to that. I continued to ask them things such as, "what can I do better?" "what do you like/dislike in teachers?"
When we gathered back at the other table before the period ended, we had no time to accomplish anything else on my list of things to do, but I asked them again what I could better. More specifically, I asked them what they considered good consequences. One student said, "Going to the desk in the back of the room does nothing for me. If a teacher were to take me out of the classroom and go on a little walk and chew me out, that would be scary."
Hmm...
That same students also said, "You need to be more strict. Well, not strict, but...firm. Yeah. Firm."
I thought that was very insightful. That student is actually the most out of control student when it comes to talking out. He's funny and likes attention, so he NEVER STOPS TALKING.
I changed my consequences after I talked with them, so hopefully it will start to work out better. Even though my students seemed at ease that day, as soon as the period ended, I wanted to just sit there and cry. I was so on edge and frustrated. I can't control my students! Something needs to change!
I talked to Mrs. Radant across the hall about the whole ridiculous amount of talking thing, and she empathized with me and said that her 5th and 6th period are completely ridiculous. It's good to know that even an experienced teacher has some periods that are a little hectic to say the least. We're both similar in the sense that we like to be liked and our personalities are very "let's all have fun and just enjoy life!"
I am so grateful for other teachers who take time to listen to me and provide me with support and a little bit of encouragement.
-Ms. Damron-
Anyway, I had to share the most interesting story with you.
My 2nd period is full of seven 8th graders and one 7th grader. It was kind of a little wild before a certain 8th grade girl was added to my class, but I think the boys have a crush on the new girl or something because the talking, banter, middle school attempts at flirting, WHATEVER you want to call it, has increased exponentially since she entered my class! It has been driving me insane and I have been at a loss for what to do. I stand at the front and talk and absolutely no one listens or gives me the time of day because they're too busy making faces at each other and complaining about so and so breathing their air...you get the point. It's a little ridiculous if you ask me.
Monday was a block day, so I had my students for 85 minutes. We had been in class for maybe 30 minutes and they were out of control. I couldn't manage my class to save my life. I was a little frustrated to say the least, but of course I kept my cool and calmly told everyone to leave the stuff at the table they were at and move to a different table. ;)
I sat them all down and held a CLASS MEETING. I told them that I was at a loss because for the life of me I couldn't get them to listen to me. I asked them to tell me what I was doing wrong or what their side of the story was. I needed to know something.
The first student who raised his hand is notorious for always having a rebuttal to everything I say. I like him, but for heaven's sake you do not have to say something every time I speak! What he said completely shocked me. (Just so you can get an idea of how out of control this class was that day, while he was talking, at least two other people were talking or making some sort of noise. He tried to get everyone to be quiet by shouting, "BE QUIET!" but not even that worked...) To summarize, he said that they all talk because they like my class and they like me. All the other teachers are mean and they yell, but I have fun with them and I laugh and think they're funny. Basically, they like my class, so they don't stop talking.
WHAT?!
I told him that I thought it was horribly rude to talk while I was talking and I thought they were doing it to be mean and rude. This student very sincerely said, "No! We don't mean to be rude. We like you!"
I'm sorry...I'm not completely following you. You're saying that you won't stop talking and you won't show me respect because you...like me? The rest of the students backed him up and said,
"Yeah! We like this class!"
"This is one of the few classes I like."
"You don't yell at us."
I couldn't believe it. I told them that what I was getting out of what they were saying though was that I needed to be mean and strict in order to get them to listen to me. They didn't really have an answer to that. I continued to ask them things such as, "what can I do better?" "what do you like/dislike in teachers?"
When we gathered back at the other table before the period ended, we had no time to accomplish anything else on my list of things to do, but I asked them again what I could better. More specifically, I asked them what they considered good consequences. One student said, "Going to the desk in the back of the room does nothing for me. If a teacher were to take me out of the classroom and go on a little walk and chew me out, that would be scary."
Hmm...
That same students also said, "You need to be more strict. Well, not strict, but...firm. Yeah. Firm."
I thought that was very insightful. That student is actually the most out of control student when it comes to talking out. He's funny and likes attention, so he NEVER STOPS TALKING.
I changed my consequences after I talked with them, so hopefully it will start to work out better. Even though my students seemed at ease that day, as soon as the period ended, I wanted to just sit there and cry. I was so on edge and frustrated. I can't control my students! Something needs to change!
I talked to Mrs. Radant across the hall about the whole ridiculous amount of talking thing, and she empathized with me and said that her 5th and 6th period are completely ridiculous. It's good to know that even an experienced teacher has some periods that are a little hectic to say the least. We're both similar in the sense that we like to be liked and our personalities are very "let's all have fun and just enjoy life!"
I am so grateful for other teachers who take time to listen to me and provide me with support and a little bit of encouragement.
-Ms. Damron-
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Just my luck
So apparently the Special Ed meeting god has it in for me!
I had my first official IEP today and I was pretty excited. I figured it would be pretty simple. I figured a lot of the stuff out yesterday, but during 5th period today I went and talked to my facilitator about this particular student to double check a few things. Today was a block day, so 5th period was 85 minutes. Guess what? We talked THE ENTIRE 85 MINUTES. Yup. That really happened.
She was super awesome and she helped me write the goals I needed to and went over the entire IEP with me. It was fantastic! While I was in there we also talked about a few other things and sorted some stuff out for some other periods. It was a much needed chat and I wish I got one at least once a week, BUT, today probably wasn't the best time to have it. Then again, there's no time like the present, right? haha
The 5th period bell rang and thankfully I had lunch next. What did I do during my lunch though? Panic about the IEP I had to write! EEK. So, thankfully my 6th period is a good little class and I had them take turns reading the novel we're reading this month. Some of them were a little hesitant to read out loud, but they were so good. When I started class I told them I had some really important paperwork to get done and I needed them to do me a huge favor by reading while I finished some paperwork. I finished right around the time they were going stir crazy, so it worked out wonderfully. Now that I think about it, I should have given them all a little treat for being so good and reading while I was doing something in the back of the room. Maybe I'll take care of that tomorrow. :)
My 7th period ended at 2:50 and my meeting was supposed to start at 3:00.
I dashed to the restroom, filled up my water bottle, and then ran to the faculty room to print off the IEP. It took forever to load and print, so I was about 7 minutes late to my meeting. Greeeat. There were also two other IEP meetings going on today, so I had no where to hold my meeting! I felt guilty that I was so disorganized when I first met with mom and her son, but it got sorted out easily enough. We ended up having the meeting in my classroom and I actually really liked it that way. Usually IEP's are held in the conference room in the main office or the special ed team room, but I've always liked having them in your classroom. You feel so much more confident and comfortable.
So, overall it worked and and went smoothly. I just thought it was a little ironic that things were a little hectic yet again. One of these days I'll be super on top of it and not do everything the day of! (Let's not get a head of ourselves though...)
-Ms. Damron-
Monday, October 10, 2011
Out of Compliance
Special Education is all about being "in compliance." This means that all things dealing with special ed need to be in compliance (obeying the rules of) with special ed laws.
A huge part of compliance is doing things within a certain amount of time. For example, every year we hold IEP meetings. (Remember, IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan.) This ensures that parents are involved with their child and the child's needs are reviewed at least annually. Well, to stay in compliance, we need to have this meeting at least one day earlier than they had it the year before. So, if an IEP meeting is held October 10, 2011, it needs to be held October 9, 2012. Does that make sense? Along with IEPs, we have three year re-evaluations every...(can you guess how long?) THREE YEARS! These re-evaluations determine if a student re-qualifies for special ed. They can be kind of time-consuming if you have to do a lot of testing to determine if a student qualifies or not. Just like the annual IEPs, they need to be done the day before they were done three years earlier. So, if a re-eval is done October 10, 2011, then the next one is due October 9, 2014. Yay for special ed! haha And when I say due, that means that is the day we hold a meeting with the parents.
Whew. That was an awful lot of technicalities, but hopefully it will help you understand my serious situation.
Monday, September 12 I was assigned specific special ed students. (The split up all the students in the school among the 5 special ed teachers.) I am now called their "Case Manager." When I looked over my students and when their IEPs and Re-evals were due, I realized that one was due that Thursday, September 15. Was there anyway that was going to get done in a couple of days? No way! So was I in compliance? No way! Awesome. AND little new teacher me had no idea what I was doing or how to go about getting things done, SO I finally got this Re-Eval done last Friday. Let's see...how many days late was that? 22 if I counted correctly.
So, I finally got all of the paperwork filled out, and got the meeting set up. Oh! And half the reason it took me so long to get it done is that the parents speak Spanish, so I couldn't just call them up and set up the meeting because I don't speak Spanish! When I finally had the teacher across the hall call, we couldn't get a hold of the parents with the phone number we had. Double awesome. What I ended up doing was talking to the kid the next day at school, and what do you know? He called home and got a hold of his parents and set up the meeting. You mean I could have done that all along?! For pete's sake.
To make it even better, he was getting checked out that very day he set up the meeting, so I figured why not meet with the parents then!
What did that mean? Complete chaos. I had to get everything sorted out, figure out who would watch my class and who would watch another teacher's class so they could attend the meeting, and the most important question of all - WHO WOULD TRANSLATE? Well, as it turns out, they parents didn't have time because they had an appointment to go to, so all of that stress was for nothing.
The official meeting was held Friday, October 7th at 2:00pm.
This day was also a bit hectic because I had to get the paperwork all sorted out and what do you know, I got observed 6th period, and my meeting was held 7th period. I ended up totally missing my 7th period because of this meeting. (I wasn't happy about that because I seriously needed to chew out my 7th period because their behavior was horrific with the sub the day before.)
Anyway, I had also spent my entire 3rd period prep searching for people to come to my meeting, and most importantly, hunting down someone who could translate! The ESL person only worked until noon, the Spanish speaking counselor only worked until noon, the science teacher who had 7th period prep spoke Portuguese instead of Spanish, and no one else had a free period. That means I would have had to find someone to cover someone else's class while they translated my meeting! At the last minute though, the vice principal said he was free to attend so he could translate for me.
Hallelujah!
The meeting went smoothly and the mom was really nice. Mrs. Radant, the Special Ed reading teacher across the hall had a 7th period prep so she attended the meeting to act as an extra support to me. She was so great.
I was so relieved when I found out that I was done with that re-eval and it was good to go! (even if it was done so late)
What do you know though, I was informed that the Speech services person at my school hadn't added her stuff to the Re-eval form and we didn't talk about it at the meeting, so now we don't know what to do!
Is there no end to this Re-Eval? Sheesh.
Anyway, I guess we'll just have to hope for the best. Wish me luck!
-Ms. Damron-
A huge part of compliance is doing things within a certain amount of time. For example, every year we hold IEP meetings. (Remember, IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan.) This ensures that parents are involved with their child and the child's needs are reviewed at least annually. Well, to stay in compliance, we need to have this meeting at least one day earlier than they had it the year before. So, if an IEP meeting is held October 10, 2011, it needs to be held October 9, 2012. Does that make sense? Along with IEPs, we have three year re-evaluations every...(can you guess how long?) THREE YEARS! These re-evaluations determine if a student re-qualifies for special ed. They can be kind of time-consuming if you have to do a lot of testing to determine if a student qualifies or not. Just like the annual IEPs, they need to be done the day before they were done three years earlier. So, if a re-eval is done October 10, 2011, then the next one is due October 9, 2014. Yay for special ed! haha And when I say due, that means that is the day we hold a meeting with the parents.
Whew. That was an awful lot of technicalities, but hopefully it will help you understand my serious situation.
Monday, September 12 I was assigned specific special ed students. (The split up all the students in the school among the 5 special ed teachers.) I am now called their "Case Manager." When I looked over my students and when their IEPs and Re-evals were due, I realized that one was due that Thursday, September 15. Was there anyway that was going to get done in a couple of days? No way! So was I in compliance? No way! Awesome. AND little new teacher me had no idea what I was doing or how to go about getting things done, SO I finally got this Re-Eval done last Friday. Let's see...how many days late was that? 22 if I counted correctly.
So, I finally got all of the paperwork filled out, and got the meeting set up. Oh! And half the reason it took me so long to get it done is that the parents speak Spanish, so I couldn't just call them up and set up the meeting because I don't speak Spanish! When I finally had the teacher across the hall call, we couldn't get a hold of the parents with the phone number we had. Double awesome. What I ended up doing was talking to the kid the next day at school, and what do you know? He called home and got a hold of his parents and set up the meeting. You mean I could have done that all along?! For pete's sake.
To make it even better, he was getting checked out that very day he set up the meeting, so I figured why not meet with the parents then!
What did that mean? Complete chaos. I had to get everything sorted out, figure out who would watch my class and who would watch another teacher's class so they could attend the meeting, and the most important question of all - WHO WOULD TRANSLATE? Well, as it turns out, they parents didn't have time because they had an appointment to go to, so all of that stress was for nothing.
The official meeting was held Friday, October 7th at 2:00pm.
This day was also a bit hectic because I had to get the paperwork all sorted out and what do you know, I got observed 6th period, and my meeting was held 7th period. I ended up totally missing my 7th period because of this meeting. (I wasn't happy about that because I seriously needed to chew out my 7th period because their behavior was horrific with the sub the day before.)
Anyway, I had also spent my entire 3rd period prep searching for people to come to my meeting, and most importantly, hunting down someone who could translate! The ESL person only worked until noon, the Spanish speaking counselor only worked until noon, the science teacher who had 7th period prep spoke Portuguese instead of Spanish, and no one else had a free period. That means I would have had to find someone to cover someone else's class while they translated my meeting! At the last minute though, the vice principal said he was free to attend so he could translate for me.
Hallelujah!
The meeting went smoothly and the mom was really nice. Mrs. Radant, the Special Ed reading teacher across the hall had a 7th period prep so she attended the meeting to act as an extra support to me. She was so great.
I was so relieved when I found out that I was done with that re-eval and it was good to go! (even if it was done so late)
What do you know though, I was informed that the Speech services person at my school hadn't added her stuff to the Re-eval form and we didn't talk about it at the meeting, so now we don't know what to do!
Is there no end to this Re-Eval? Sheesh.
Anyway, I guess we'll just have to hope for the best. Wish me luck!
-Ms. Damron-
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Last car in the parking lot
Gotta love the life of a first year teacher. I am frequently the last car in the parking lot at the end of the day and it's a little disheartening sometimes! Thank heaven the sun was shining and the mountains looked beautiful or else I would have been horribly gloomy. Once it starts getting dark around 5:30 pm I'll be doomed.
This morning started off a bit rocky because instead of getting to school around 7:00 am, I got there around 7:45 am. And yes, that's 15 minutes late according to teacher contracted time. Cameron called me at 7:18 am and when I realized what time it was I freaked! I was definitely a little flustered when school started. I was feeling pretty good after 5th period because I had accomplished a lot during my prep period, but for some reason, after/during lunch, I started feeling a little gloomy and bogged down. By the end of the 7th period, I just wanted to put my head on my desk and cry for a couple of minutes. Ug.
My Writing Skills class, which is 6th period, isn't too bad. There's always stuff to teach and do in that class. The kids are extremely talkative and have a difficult time with the whole raising your hand and staying on task thing, but they mean well and they are good kids. My 7th period on the other hand is getting to be very difficult for me.
There are only 6 students in my 7th period, but they are a handful. With the exception of one, maybe two students, they are getting to be quite rude, demanding and non-compliant. (Non-compliant meaning they do not follow directions!)
I'm struggling because Resource Learning is a class meant to teach study skills and organization and hugely to help students finish homework and get help on assignments they don't understand. Well, 4 out of the 6 students in my 7th period have mostly A's and B's. One of them has had straight A's in every single class every single day so far! She never has anything to do in my class! She is one of the demanding ones actually. Sheesh.
Anyway, I let my students have free time on the computer if they have all A's and B's and have silent read for at least ten minutes. I figure if we they have pretty good grades and silent read for ten minutes, they should deserve some free time. Well I have definitely changed my mind! All these kids live for is free time on the computer. I made the mistake of letting my students listen to music on the computer while they have free time and now they demand free time and headphones.
Today I was just sick of it, so I said that no one could have any headphones or listen to music today. That totally threw them for a loop.
Sorry to vent, but I'm just struggling a little bit because I don't know what to do when I have two students who really need some one-on-one help with assignments and they need that time to get work done BUT I also have four students who don't have homework or missing assignments from other classes, so they just wander around without a cause. And I hate having my kids play on the computer every day. They are still in school and there are lots of things they could be working on or something!
I talked to my neighbor teacher after school today and shared my concerns. She gave me a couple ideas and provided me with some books that had worksheets that could be used when there is free time. I hate busy work, but I think that if there is something that could be a supplement, or reinforce what they are doing in their other classes, then let's have it!
I have a lot of organizing and prep to do before I figure out a good system for some of these worksheets I found, but hopefully I'll get some sort of system figured out before I go stark raving mad!
-Ms. Damron-
Monday, October 3, 2011
Secret Ninjas
Pencils are the bane of every teacher's existence. No teacher seems to have a fool proof pencil retaining plan. Pencils disappear like nobody's business when they're in a classroom!
I set out a little yellow pail labeled SHARPENED PENCILS and a pink and red striped pail labeled UNSHARPENED PENCILS. Students are allowed to get a pencil out of the yellow can while I'm teaching, but they can't sharpen pencils. All I ask is that students return my pencils. Do they get returned? No. Is it on purpose? Not exactly. I know that students aren't evil little pencil stealing devils. They just use a pencil and forget to return it, then they forget whose pencil it is, and then it's lost forever.
At the beginning of the school year I put about 10-15 brand new pencils into the yellow pail. After about three weeks, there were no pencils left. Maybe three weeks is a record for how long pencils will last. I had a sub the next day, so I decided to re-stock my pencil pail. When I came back that Friday, there were maybe two or three pencils left. No. Stinking. WAY. Where did all of my pencils go?!
Well, I was venting to my students about how my pencils just disappear, and bless their hearts they were giving me all sorts of ideas.
"Tape plastic spoons to them!"
"Mrs. Radant is going to tape spoons to them, then put them in styrofoam and number them so that she knows if any are missing when class is almost over."
They provided several other ideas, but my favorite was the following:
"I know what you can do! If someone steals a pencil, secret ninjas could jump down from the ceiling and get them!"
I couldn't help but laugh. All I could respond was, "Ooo. That's what I need to do. Get some secret ninjas."
Man I love my students.
Today was a block day, which means 85 minutes of 7th and 8th graders with absolutely NO attention span. I decided that my classroom management needs a little bit of a booster, so combined with the fact that I did not prepare any lesson plans, I decided to review procedures like crazy. My students didn't particularly enjoy it. My 7th graders were much more up for the role playing then my too-cool-for-school 8th graders, but nevertheless, we practiced.
I felt validated for my review of procedures when I was working with one of my 8th graders. I told her to grab a piece of paper and a pencil. She asked about a pencil and then said, "Wait! We learned about this earlier!"
YES. Finally I can see my teaching get through to someone. How often are we going to have to review rules and procedures though? EVERY SINGLE DAY. My poor students are not going to like this!
-Ms. Damron-
P.S. Did I mention that I don't particularly care if they don't enjoy going over the rules every day? One of my 8th grade boys petitioned me that if they could say all of the rules perfectly for a week, we would never have to say them again. I said no because I haven't seen everyone obey them perfectly yet. Another student started singing, "Nobody's perfect..." at which point I said, "Thank-you for pointing out why we will have to repeat the rules every single day."
Bahahahaha haha for some reason they didn't laugh with me. ;)
I set out a little yellow pail labeled SHARPENED PENCILS and a pink and red striped pail labeled UNSHARPENED PENCILS. Students are allowed to get a pencil out of the yellow can while I'm teaching, but they can't sharpen pencils. All I ask is that students return my pencils. Do they get returned? No. Is it on purpose? Not exactly. I know that students aren't evil little pencil stealing devils. They just use a pencil and forget to return it, then they forget whose pencil it is, and then it's lost forever.
At the beginning of the school year I put about 10-15 brand new pencils into the yellow pail. After about three weeks, there were no pencils left. Maybe three weeks is a record for how long pencils will last. I had a sub the next day, so I decided to re-stock my pencil pail. When I came back that Friday, there were maybe two or three pencils left. No. Stinking. WAY. Where did all of my pencils go?!
Well, I was venting to my students about how my pencils just disappear, and bless their hearts they were giving me all sorts of ideas.
"Tape plastic spoons to them!"
"Mrs. Radant is going to tape spoons to them, then put them in styrofoam and number them so that she knows if any are missing when class is almost over."
They provided several other ideas, but my favorite was the following:
"I know what you can do! If someone steals a pencil, secret ninjas could jump down from the ceiling and get them!"
I couldn't help but laugh. All I could respond was, "Ooo. That's what I need to do. Get some secret ninjas."
Man I love my students.
Today was a block day, which means 85 minutes of 7th and 8th graders with absolutely NO attention span. I decided that my classroom management needs a little bit of a booster, so combined with the fact that I did not prepare any lesson plans, I decided to review procedures like crazy. My students didn't particularly enjoy it. My 7th graders were much more up for the role playing then my too-cool-for-school 8th graders, but nevertheless, we practiced.
I felt validated for my review of procedures when I was working with one of my 8th graders. I told her to grab a piece of paper and a pencil. She asked about a pencil and then said, "Wait! We learned about this earlier!"
YES. Finally I can see my teaching get through to someone. How often are we going to have to review rules and procedures though? EVERY SINGLE DAY. My poor students are not going to like this!
-Ms. Damron-
P.S. Did I mention that I don't particularly care if they don't enjoy going over the rules every day? One of my 8th grade boys petitioned me that if they could say all of the rules perfectly for a week, we would never have to say them again. I said no because I haven't seen everyone obey them perfectly yet. Another student started singing, "Nobody's perfect..." at which point I said, "Thank-you for pointing out why we will have to repeat the rules every single day."
Bahahahaha haha for some reason they didn't laugh with me. ;)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Parent - Teacher Conferences
Don't worry folks. Parent - teacher conferences are happening RIGHT THIS SECOND and I am in the middle of a lull. Parent - teacher conferences are from 1:30-7:30 and I have an hour and a half left!
I've actually really enjoyed meeting the parents. It's been really helpful and now I can put a face with the names. For all of you reading this, be a parent that attends parent-teacher conferences and whatnot. It is huge for your children! And I think it means a lot to the students.
Here's a picture I snuck using PhotoBooth. Someone probably saw me making faces and thought twice about coming to talk to me.
Funny story of the day. We had a shortened schedule because we only had a half day of school to make time for parent-teacher conferences. I usually have a prep period after lunch, so after lunch today I went to make some copies. When I arrived back to my classroom, I looked at the schedule and realized that 6th period had already started and had been going on for TWENTY MINUTES. No. Stinking. Way.
I couldn't possibly have missed that much of a class period. And where were my six students? I panicked for a couple of seconds contemplating where they were. What do you do in that sort of situation? Was in trouble? WHERE WERE MY STUDENTS?! I walked out the door headed to the office when I decided to check next door. Sure enough, my dear 6th period students were in Mr. Davidson's room just hanging out. By some miracle, it was his prep period and when he realized that I was not showing up, he took them under his wing.
Oh the questions they had for me.
"Where were you Ms. Damron?!"
They were really quite upset and distraught. Possibly even worried! We had about 15 minutes left of class, so we did what we could.
As soon as 6th period ended, I went out into the hall and the two teachers across the hall gave me grief. Also, several students have brought up what happened here at parent-teacher conferences. Needless to say, I think I learned my lesson. I've been recovering from the experience all day long!
Wish me luck the next hour or so!
-Ms. Damron-
I've actually really enjoyed meeting the parents. It's been really helpful and now I can put a face with the names. For all of you reading this, be a parent that attends parent-teacher conferences and whatnot. It is huge for your children! And I think it means a lot to the students.
Here's a picture I snuck using PhotoBooth. Someone probably saw me making faces and thought twice about coming to talk to me.
Funny story of the day. We had a shortened schedule because we only had a half day of school to make time for parent-teacher conferences. I usually have a prep period after lunch, so after lunch today I went to make some copies. When I arrived back to my classroom, I looked at the schedule and realized that 6th period had already started and had been going on for TWENTY MINUTES. No. Stinking. Way.
I couldn't possibly have missed that much of a class period. And where were my six students? I panicked for a couple of seconds contemplating where they were. What do you do in that sort of situation? Was in trouble? WHERE WERE MY STUDENTS?! I walked out the door headed to the office when I decided to check next door. Sure enough, my dear 6th period students were in Mr. Davidson's room just hanging out. By some miracle, it was his prep period and when he realized that I was not showing up, he took them under his wing.
Oh the questions they had for me.
"Where were you Ms. Damron?!"
They were really quite upset and distraught. Possibly even worried! We had about 15 minutes left of class, so we did what we could.
As soon as 6th period ended, I went out into the hall and the two teachers across the hall gave me grief. Also, several students have brought up what happened here at parent-teacher conferences. Needless to say, I think I learned my lesson. I've been recovering from the experience all day long!
Wish me luck the next hour or so!
-Ms. Damron-
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Classroom pictures!
Well, I left the school at 8:40pm. I didn't go home once. Talk about a long day! Parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow and I had a lot of prep to do. Let me tell you, being in Special Ed adds about an entire other job amount's worth of work to your load. Not only do you have to prepare lessons every day, but then you have all of this paperwork and so many meetings! AND you HAVE to do it all correct or else it can get you in legal trouble. Awesome. All I can say is thank heavens for Erin Radant who guides me every step of the way. :)
I finally took pictures of my classroom! It only took a month, right?
I didn't want to take the pictures until my classroom was complete, and that finally happened about a week ago when I got my bookshelf. Yay! So here you go:
As you walk in the door
This is from the opposite side of the room. Yay for cupboard space!
My desk area:
The Reading Corner:
My fancy door. I took a picture of all of the kids in my "Wolfpack" (it's basically homeroom) and put them on the door. Let me tell you, kids in middle school are strangely shy of the camera! I had to pretty much force about half of them to let me take their picture. They were terrified of the fact that their picture would be on my door for everyone to see. Who has the most popular door now? That's right. Me.
And in case anyone was wondering if I am a legitimate teacher or not, here is the hard evidence:
I finally took pictures of my classroom! It only took a month, right?
I didn't want to take the pictures until my classroom was complete, and that finally happened about a week ago when I got my bookshelf. Yay! So here you go:
As you walk in the door
This is from the opposite side of the room. Yay for cupboard space!
My desk area:
The Reading Corner:
My fancy door. I took a picture of all of the kids in my "Wolfpack" (it's basically homeroom) and put them on the door. Let me tell you, kids in middle school are strangely shy of the camera! I had to pretty much force about half of them to let me take their picture. They were terrified of the fact that their picture would be on my door for everyone to see. Who has the most popular door now? That's right. Me.
And in case anyone was wondering if I am a legitimate teacher or not, here is the hard evidence:
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Are you coming back?
I figured I'd write a quick entry about my wonderful weekend in Montana!
Friday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave, one of my students came in to drop his backpack off. I reminded him that I was leaving and I wouldn't be there that afternoon and he got the most worried look on his face and said,
"Are you ever coming back?"
My heart just about melted. So cute! I assured him that I was just leaving for the weekend and would be back. He said, quite relieved, "Oh good."
:)
So, I took half of Friday off and flew to Great Falls, Montana where my dad picked me up. We went horseback riding Saturday morning and then went to the Harvest Moon Ball in East Glacier that night.
We rode to Ptarmigan Tunnel which is a beautiful ride. It's 5.3 miles one way and let me tell you, I sure was grateful to be on a horse! Especially when we began the climb up the mountain. When we first started up the mountain, there was a man behind us that was pretty close behind us. In fact, it appeared that we were slowing him down. We let him pass us and he zoomed up that hill! I don't think I could walk that fast on flat ground let alone up a mountain. Sure enough, he beat us up there. Once the man had a head start, my dad jokingly whispered to the horses,
"You should be ashamed of yourselves! Look at that man go!"
I love my dad.
Once we got to the top, this was our view:
I asked a man from Missoula to take a picture of me and my dad. I love my doctor dad dressed up like a cowboy. :)
The tunnel was built in 1930 because the tip of the mountain was too jagged and dangerous to cross. I think it's pretty neat!
Sunday we went to church in our old branch in Cut Bank. The number of people we know there is slowly fading, but I'm still always humbled when I attend church there. The people are truly "the salt of the earth" as my dad says.
Sunday night I flew back to Salt Lake. Man it was a fast weekend. It sure was a good one though.
Friday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave, one of my students came in to drop his backpack off. I reminded him that I was leaving and I wouldn't be there that afternoon and he got the most worried look on his face and said,
"Are you ever coming back?"
My heart just about melted. So cute! I assured him that I was just leaving for the weekend and would be back. He said, quite relieved, "Oh good."
:)
So, I took half of Friday off and flew to Great Falls, Montana where my dad picked me up. We went horseback riding Saturday morning and then went to the Harvest Moon Ball in East Glacier that night.
We rode to Ptarmigan Tunnel which is a beautiful ride. It's 5.3 miles one way and let me tell you, I sure was grateful to be on a horse! Especially when we began the climb up the mountain. When we first started up the mountain, there was a man behind us that was pretty close behind us. In fact, it appeared that we were slowing him down. We let him pass us and he zoomed up that hill! I don't think I could walk that fast on flat ground let alone up a mountain. Sure enough, he beat us up there. Once the man had a head start, my dad jokingly whispered to the horses,
"You should be ashamed of yourselves! Look at that man go!"
I love my dad.
Once we got to the top, this was our view:
I asked a man from Missoula to take a picture of me and my dad. I love my doctor dad dressed up like a cowboy. :)
The tunnel was built in 1930 because the tip of the mountain was too jagged and dangerous to cross. I think it's pretty neat!
Sunday we went to church in our old branch in Cut Bank. The number of people we know there is slowly fading, but I'm still always humbled when I attend church there. The people are truly "the salt of the earth" as my dad says.
Sunday night I flew back to Salt Lake. Man it was a fast weekend. It sure was a good one though.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Hungry fish?
You know when you drop some food into a pond and all of the fish hone in to that one spot where you dropped that chunk of bread? Sometimes I feel like that piece of bread. I have taught the procedure "Independent Time" several times. You follow these simple steps:
Stay in proper area
Approved materials only
Low noise level
Besides teaching that, I have put four copies of APPROVED FREE TIME ACTIVITIES on the walls of my classroom. Some of the suggested activities include read a book, draw, make/study flash cards, study for a test, etc. What happens every single day regardless? I become that piece of bread.
"TEACHER! TEACHER! What should I do?"
"Ms. Damron?! I need help!!!"
"Ms. Damron? Can I do (insert something not necessarily academic here)?"
Aimless wandering around the classroom.
"Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Ms. Damron? Can I get a drink of water?"
Sometimes I just stand there for a second while I have three or four bodies surrounding me and I think of those hungry fish. I can only ponder this image for a few moments, but it is quite appropriate if you ask me.
On a similar note, but a different situation, something interesting happened to me last week.
At the end of a class, I was busy dealing with several students when I saw a boy walk back into my class holding my huge bag of Peppermint LifeSavers. He had walked out of the classroom with my entire bag and I hadn't even noticed. I had the bag up on a shelf, and some how I missed him taking it down and carrying it out of the classroom. He informed me that he had never intended on actually stealing it, but (here's my favorite part) "Can I have one?"
Seriously?! You just walked out of my classroom with MY STUFF and then you have the nerve to ask me if you can have one? Well, remember the fish? Like magic, 5 or 6 more kids surrounded me and started asking me if they could have one. Holy smokes what just happened?! I was stunned and I had no idea what to do in that situation. I informed the young man that if he had just asked for one, I probably would have given him one, but considering he walked out of my classroom with the entire bag and didn't even ask, NO, he could not have one.
During my prep period later on that day, I wrote him a note and thanked him for returning my bag of LifeSavers. I told him that it meant a lot to me and I was very impressed. I included a LifeSaver in the note. I don't know if that was the right thing to do considering he took the bag out of my classroom without me even knowing, but I wanted to let him know that I was grateful that he was honest and he returned it. Interestingly enough, the kid is actually much more respectful around me now. Who would have thought?
-Ms. Damron-
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
"Can't you feel the love?"
My fourth period is chaos, but all of the kids are hilarious. They are not bashful in the least and they say the craziest things.
Yesterday was a block day, so I had my fourth period for 85 minutes. During that time, I had them hand draw 6 or 7 graphs on graph paper - one for each period - so that they could graph their grades weekly. The previous teacher gave me this idea and I liked it. Even though the students look at their grades several times a day, this will help them track their grades and see their progress or need for progress.
Anyway, it took me about 10 minutes to draw 6 graphs. How long did it take my very special students? A good 70 minutes. Some students finished pretty quickly, but for the most part, it took them forever! I had so much more planned for the block period, but we barely finished making those graphs! Sheesh. You would think I was asking them to do the most horrible thing because they complained and complained and looked at me in complete and utter shock when I said they needed to make 7. 8th graders these days.
I was sitting in the middle of the kidney tables with two boys on my left and two girls on the right. (I'm about to make up some names here FYI.) Josh and Robby were laughing about this and that and just non-stop chatter. I don't know how it got started, but Josh started talking about how Abby had a crush on him last year. Abby denied the claim, but looked very guilty. Josh was enjoying the whole thing too much and he would not give it up. At one point he was waving his hand in front of my face saying, "LOOK! JUST LOOK AT HER FACE!" He could tell by the way she was reacting that he had definitely said the truth. Robby was just loving this and he said, "Can't you feel the love in the air?" This only made things worse! He said it several times though. I just love middle school romance.
-Ms. Damron-
Yesterday was a block day, so I had my fourth period for 85 minutes. During that time, I had them hand draw 6 or 7 graphs on graph paper - one for each period - so that they could graph their grades weekly. The previous teacher gave me this idea and I liked it. Even though the students look at their grades several times a day, this will help them track their grades and see their progress or need for progress.
Anyway, it took me about 10 minutes to draw 6 graphs. How long did it take my very special students? A good 70 minutes. Some students finished pretty quickly, but for the most part, it took them forever! I had so much more planned for the block period, but we barely finished making those graphs! Sheesh. You would think I was asking them to do the most horrible thing because they complained and complained and looked at me in complete and utter shock when I said they needed to make 7. 8th graders these days.
I was sitting in the middle of the kidney tables with two boys on my left and two girls on the right. (I'm about to make up some names here FYI.) Josh and Robby were laughing about this and that and just non-stop chatter. I don't know how it got started, but Josh started talking about how Abby had a crush on him last year. Abby denied the claim, but looked very guilty. Josh was enjoying the whole thing too much and he would not give it up. At one point he was waving his hand in front of my face saying, "LOOK! JUST LOOK AT HER FACE!" He could tell by the way she was reacting that he had definitely said the truth. Robby was just loving this and he said, "Can't you feel the love in the air?" This only made things worse! He said it several times though. I just love middle school romance.
-Ms. Damron-
Monday, September 12, 2011
A bit forgetful...
Oy vey! (yes, I looked up the expression and that is actually how it is spelled!)
Today I have been a bit forgetful. I was barely on time to school at 7:30am this morning because as soon as I pulled into the school and turned my car off, I realized I had left my school keys at home. Awesome. Thank heavens I only live 5 minutes away! I rushed into school hoping that I would beat my kids there so that I could lock the door and run and make some copies before they got there. At about 7:45am, I realized that I was late to PLC (Personal Learning Community). PLCs are when all of the teachers get together in their specific subject and collaborate (ie-8th grade english teachers, 7th grade english teachers, history, science, etc.). We also have faculty meeting. It's a late start day, so students don't have to be to school until 9:15am.
Now, remember how my principal keeps attendance? Don't worry. As soon as I walked in FIFTEEN MINUTES LATE, he started writing on his clipboard! EEK! The funny part is that I actually waved to him while he was on his way to the library for PLC, but it didn't even register where he was going.
After school today, we had a Special Ed team meeting. I was next door getting some computer help when the teacher (who is also in Special Ed) asked if we had team meeting? Neither one of us had heard anything, but my neighbor headed on down and I dropped my stuff off. I called the team room just to make sure that we had the meeting, and the facilitator replied, "Yep. Every Monday at 3:00." Ouch. My forgetfulness is catching up to me! I'm going to have to try extra hard to be on time to things next Monday because this Monday did not work out so well.
This week is a regular schedule week, so we have block days today and tomorrow. I actually really enjoy block days. I probably enjoy it more because I have two prep periods and they happen to fall in such a way that I get a prep Monday and Tuesday. Not all teachers are as lucky. (In fact, I would dare to say no other teacher is that lucky because I don't think any other teacher has two prep periods. Hmm...)
I am finally getting around to having my students make a graph for each of their class periods so that they can graph their grades every week. The previous teacher told me that she did this and I really liked it. I think it will help students have accountability and be much more aware of how they are doing overall.
My 1st period is full of 7th graders and they BARELY finished making the graphs and plotting their grades before the bell ring. When I originally made my plans, I figured that drawing the graphs and then plotting their grades would take 30 minutes max. NO WAY. It took about 70 minutes. I had to try really hard to keep myself in check because they were going at a snail's pace! Thank heaven that is done though. Now that their graphs are made, it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to check their grades and plot it on each of their graph.
2nd period is full of 8th graders and they finished with about 25 minutes left of class! It still took longer than I thought it would, but they were pretty good sports about it.
We'll have to see how 4th period does tomorrow. Although they are 8th graders, there are 15 of them and they can get a bit rowdy/side tracked. Wish me luck with that one!
-Ms. Damron-
Friday, September 9, 2011
Three weeks down!
Can you believe that it has been three weeks since school started?! I can't even believe how fast time is going.
It's about time I gave a little shout out to my CMS co-workers. I absolutely love the people I work with. The middle school environment is definitely different from the elementary school environment that I student taught in, but I am loving it. The thing that makes me a little sad is that it's a bit more tricky to get to know everyone because it's such a big school. For example, when I ate lunch at Westside Elementary, there were at least 15 people who ate in the faculty room. At the middle school I'm at now though, there are only a few teachers who eat in the faculty. I know this is because we get a very short lunch (25 minutes) and everyone is crazy busy, but I don't think I could stand eating in my classroom. First of all, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to strange smells in compact spaces without good ventilation (hence why I could never eat a hot lunch in my room because it would smell funny the rest of the day), but second of all, it is so nice to get out of your classroom and talk to the other teachers! I'm getting to know the other teachers that I eat with pretty well. My day was totally made when I when I went to sit at another table, and the teachers waived me over and pulled a chair out for me to sit at! Ka-ching! I'm totally in! haha
As a side note, there is a math teacher that I absolutely adore and I've only talked to her maybe 5 times. She is the technology/computer wizard and helps out when something funky is going on with your computer. She took time out of her schedule at the beginning of the school year to help me figure things out with my computer. She's great. Anyway, she is a huge blogger and during lunch today she brought in a book she had made out of her blog. I guess she makes a book out of her blog every year and she uses the website blurb.com (you can google it - I tried to embed the website and it didn't work - lame). She let me look through it and it is really cool! I was planning on making this blog into a book when I was done with this school year, but now there's no question! It must be done!
I am also in love with the Special Ed staff at CMS - particularly the two women who teach in my hall. The woman next door to me teaches students with significant disabilities, and the woman across the hall teaches resource reading and writing. They are an inspiration and joy to be around. Sometimes I wish none of us had anything to do so we could just sit around and share stories all day! They have been a great support to me and the treat me as an equal and someone who they enjoy being around. I am truly grateful for them.
-Ms. Damron-
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