Does your principal stand outside in the morning and take attendance?

I slept in this morning. AWESOME. And what is sleeping in you might ask? 6:40am folks. When I realized it was 6:40 in the morning and I was still in bed, I just about had a heart attack. Most days, I would shrug it off and look a little grungy. But today was picture day, so there was no possibility of looking ridiculous! EEK.
Alyssa was supposed to pick me up around 7:00am so that she could get back to her apartment to get ready for the day and everything. Well, I knew there was no way I would be ready by 7:00am, so it turned out I would have to walk. I showered as quickly as I could and then started making breakfast. (I can't survive even an hour without breakfast. I would rather be late and get in trouble then miss breakfast!)
Just as I had come to the conclusion that I was just going to have to be super late, my wonderful roommate woke up and offered me a ride! Hallelujah!
I was already dressed in workout clothes (I don't wear my work clothes when I walk or ride my bike because I get sweaty gross.) and so I grabbed my lunch and backpack and off we went! I made it right at 7:30 and saw my principal outside about to make his rounds!
I quickly ate my breakfast, then went through my backpack to find my clothes and everything else I had brought to get ready. Imagine my disdain when I realized I had not brought an extra bra. I had a cute shirt ready to wear for picture day, but I was wearing a neon yellow sports bra! NOOOOOO! Fortunately, by some sort of inspiration, when I was packing my backpack, I decided to bring an extra shirt that totally worked out. Heavenly Father - thank you! So, I put on my cream colored shirt, wore my Middle School sweater that they gave every teacher, and (hopefully) ended up with a decent picture. :)

Possible leader?

I have a student in my 7th period who is a bit of a challenge. He has given himself a nickname, "BillyBilly" and has instructed me to call him that and say it fast. He actually complimented me the second or third day of school because I was the first teacher who remembered his name(s) - he has given me several.
Now, the reason this particular student is a challenge is because he is perfectly fine academically, but his behavior is what inhibits his learning. He struggles with handing in assignments, having a good attitude, refraining from saying negative comments, etc. I have been puzzled as to how I should handle the situation because while my other students are in the class for academic IEP (Individualized Education Program) goals, he is in my class merely because of behavior goals. So, what do you do with a student who is on grade level, while everyone else is not, but has a hard time doing the assignments and acting appropriately in class? Hmmm...
This is going to take some work.

Today I made a little discovery though. I gave each student a packet called Understanding Your Learning Style. The reading in the packet was at a higher level then most students could read or understand, so I would read it out loud while my students followed along, then we would discuss it until I could tell my students understood the material. Well, BillyBilly volunteered to read and surprised me by reading the paragraph perfectly. In fact, he wanted to read more and more. Yay! I found something that he can be successful at and that will help boost his self-esteem...and give him something to do.
He is the cutest kid and he works really hard once he gets started, but sometimes (sometimes being every day so far) he likes to push my buttons...and everyone else's buttons...and see what our reactions are. Yeah...we'll have to work on that.

Nevertheless, I find him endearing and my favorite part about him is that he loves Monk and Psych. Who happens to LOVE those tv shows? Me. That's right folks. We have something in common. And one of my favorite moments from today? When we were discussing how visual learners sometime have photographic memories and BillyBilly said, "Like in Psych?!"

Yup. I'm proud to be his teacher.

-Ms. Damron-

I am a VISUAL learner.

Today was the second day of block classes and I think it went much smoother then yesterday. I have to say that reflecting on your day and recognizing things you did well and that you could change is very beneficial. ESPECIALLY as a new teacher.

My focus last week and this week has been teaching my students about Learning Styles. I think that understanding how you learn and taking advantage of that is CRUCIAL to being successful in school. My students on the other hand, would rather play games on the computer all day instead of listen to me give them small nuggets of wisdom. ;)
Still, we press forward. I'm going to have them start writing their letters to their regular ed teachers tomorrow and hopefully they can use some of the things they learned about learning styles in their letters. (I know - I know. I'm really a genius in disguise.)
Some of my students are really into the topic though and they are trying really hard to understand what their learning style is and use the tips that I am providing (through the help of Google).

Last week we took a couple of quizzes (one online and one on paper) to see what your learning style is. If you are curious, here is the link to the online quiz we took:

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/lstyleqz.htm

Now - try to contain your excitement about what your dominant Learning Style is and finish reading this entry first.

When I began to teach students about learning styles, they frequently asked me, "Is this good?" or "Is this one bad?"
It took awhile, but I hope they are finally understanding that every person is unique and learns differently. I explained that just like we have different colored hair, different colored eyes, different personalities, likes, and interests, we all learn differently. It also taught my students that you can learn in more than one way. Remember - we are all different, but it's okay!
I absolutely love teaching about learning styles and I hope my students can feel my enthusiasm and catch on.

I am a visual learner - there is no doubt in my mind! Every quiz I take says I'm a visual learner, but even without the quizzes I can tell. These are a few characteristics of visual learners:

--love books, magazines, and the written word
--generally good at spelling
--tends to be detail oriented
--tends to be tidy and organized
--needs a quiet place to study
--gets frustrated if unable to take notes
--color coding, using highlighters, flashcards, diagrams, charts, etc. is useful
--can picture where things are on a page

Those are just a few, but if you know me very well, you will agree that I am a VISUAL learner.
What are you?

Worst bell schedule ever...

When I came to my school the week before school started, I had the chance to talk with the Special Ed facilitator. When we went over the bell schedule, she said that this school has one of worst bell schedules because every day can be different! Therefore, it can be a bell schedule nightmare for students who have issues remembering where to go and when. It is also difficult for students who have Autism because they are very time oriented and need a set schedule and routine. Therefore, you can see how students who need a consistent schedule struggle when their class schedule changes so often!

So, Monday and Tuesday are block schedule days. Monday has periods 1-3, and Tuesday has periods 4-7. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are regular periods (1-7).

Today was my first experience with the block schedule.
Saturday night when I was preparing my lessons for Monday, I realized that it was a block schedule. It's nice because I don't have as many classes to prepare for, but I have to prepare enough material to take up 85 minutes.
Period 1 went pretty well. They are a chatty bunch though, so I need to work on that habit.
Period 2 was a bit more tricky. Like I said previously, 8th graders are just too cool for lots of things. BUT, they are all such great kids, I just need to hound my rules!

I'm getting a little frustrated with myself because I know I need to have better follow-through with my classroom rules. My students DO NOT STOP TALKING and it's hard to get anywhere when you're waiting for your students to stop talking. Sheesh. So, my goal this week is to follow though with my rules! I need to teach my students that I mean business!

We had a team meeting today and it lasted almost an hour. I really like my team, but I realized that when I have stuff to do, it's so hard for me to stay focused on what else is going on. I definitely need to work on that...

Other than having an awfully chatty group, my day went pretty well. I finally organized which teacher has which of my students. Now I can start collaborating and meeting with other teachers to see how my students are doing and get work in advance. Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything runs smoothly when it comes to me collaborating with and getting information from the general education classes!

-Audryn-

Oh! I almost forgot. In my 2nd period class, I was telling my students that later on this week we would be working letters to their general ed teachers. The previous teacher gave me that great idea and I've heard lots of positive feedback from other teachers regarding these letters.
Well, when I mentioned this to my students, they told me that they hate writing those letters because their teachers single them out and treat them like babies afterwards. This threw me for a loop because I never thought of that.
My students said that they hate it when a teacher comes up to them and asks, "Did you get all of that?"
"Do you need me to read this for you?"
Now, it's good that these teachers are checking up on their students who need a little extra help, but my students explained that they feel stupid when that happens.

So, the million dollar question is how do I talk to my students about how to properly convey that they need help? I brought this situation up in our team meeting, and they suggested I tell my students that considering they are older, they need to figure out ways to let their teachers know they need help. They can figure this out and need to be responsible for informing their teacher. Hopefully I can figure out some way to help my students understand this.

Back to School Night

Back to School Night was on Thursday from 6-8pm. It came up quite suddenly and I wasn't quite sure what to do. Basically, the parents just went around the school and met teachers and whatnot.
I went home at 5pm and took a quick nap and ate dinner. I got back to the school right at 6pm and didn't leave until about 9:30pm. Another long day.

Earlier that day, I had an interesting situation arise with one of my students. We'll call him...Calvin. My 4th period has 14 8th graders. This is my largest class considering my other classes don't have more than 8 students each. I have 7 computers in my classroom, and I wanted to use them for an activity. Therefore, I divided the students into Group 1 and Group 2. Students in Group 1 were at the computers while Group 2 students read silently. They switched after about 10 minutes. Well, one of the students in Group 1 had to go to the bathroom, so I moved one of the students (Calvin) in Group 2 over to Group 1. Calvin was not happy about this switch. I couldn't let him move back to Group 2 just because he complained about it, so I told him that moving to Group 1 was my direction, and he needed to follow it.
He dragged his feet to the computer, and then refused to do the work. He sat and stared at the wall. When Group 1 was finished, they silent read. Calvin still sat and stared at the wall during this part. Awesome.

I asked Calvin to stay after class for a quick chat, and when it was just the two of us in the classroom, I asked him what happened in class. He refused to answer my question three times, and finally mumbled that I switched him to the group he didn't want to be in. I told him that I understood he didn't want to be in Group 1, but that was the direction, and next time he needed to follow my direction.

I was curious whether his parents would show up to Back to School night, and this is what happened:

I was sitting at my desk working on something when the door opened and a mom and dad walked in. They were trying to get their child into the classroom, and kept saying, "Come inside! You need to see the teacher."
Well, what do you know, I walked over and caught a glimpse of dear Calvin fleeing the scene. The teacher next door laughed and said, "Ms. Damron! You already have a reputation!"
All I could answer was, "Then my goal is accomplished."

I was talking to the mom and said that her son might not be very happy with me because we had a difficult time in class. I explained that I switched him to a different group and he did not appreciate that. The mom replied, "All you did was switch his group?"
Yeah...
His parents were very nice though, and Calvin is a sweet kid.

I was interested as to how the next day would go considering I had apparently traumatized Calvin, but he was a complete angel the next day. He was quiet, got right to work, and followed all of my directions.
Needless to say, I now have a soft spot for him!

8th graders are soooooo cool.

Monday was 7th grade day. This allowed the "new kids" to get a feel for their teachers and the school. Tuesday was the first official day of school, so the 8th graders joined us.

What to say about my dear 8th graders...
These are some of the things that are "in".

--drawing all over your hands, arms, palms, and legs with markers or pens

--informing Ms. Damron of what the previous teacher did: "Ms. Damron? Are you going to let us go to lunch early like our old teacher?"

--joking around in a manner similar to that of my brother Ethan Damron and my cousin Scott Cook (I'll never understand boys...)

--never ending chatter due to the fact that they know each other from last year

--too cool for school

My 7th graders are fairly malleable, but my 8th graders are a different story. Fortunately, I love them still.

Just a quick introduction...

Hello dear friends and family!

I know I had a blog for Jerusalem, but I wanted to start a blog to share my teaching stories with you. It's only been a week, and I already have some great ones.
First and foremost, I need to explain a few things. Due to confidentiality, I can't say any names, so I will make them up. I also won't say which school I work at, but suffice it to say, I work at a middle school with 7th and 8th graders. Lastly, I can't post any pictures of my students, so this blog will be filled mostly with words. I might add pictures of my classroom, or myself (heehee), but there will be no pictures of my actual students. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I just graduated from BYU in Special Education, and I accepted a job in Provo, UT.
I live less than five minutes away from the school, which allows me to ride my bicycle to work. I love riding my bike because it is economical, and it gives me a few minutes of physical activity and fresh air. Sadly, I haven't been able to ride my bike because the tire has a hole in it. Every time I wake up, the tire is flat...definitely not a good thing. So, poor Alyssa has had to wake up early to take me to work. (she's not a fan of waking up before 7:00am...but then again, neither am I)

This week has been crazy and I put in 12 hour days about every day. I would arrive at the school between 7:15 and 7:30, and then leave some time after 6:00pm. Yikes.

As for what I teach, my schedule is as follows:

PERIOD 1: Resource Learning
PERIOD 2: Resource Learning
PERIOD 3: prep time
PERIOD 4: Resource Learning

lunch

PERIOD 5: prep time
PERIOD 6: Writing Skills
PERIOD 7: Resource Learning

Resource Learning is the catch all class. There is a resource math teacher, a resource reading/writing teacher, so I am there to help with the other classes such as History, Science, etc. Resource Learning is also meant to help teach the students organization skills, planning, advocacy, etc. I also keep track of all of their classes, and we graph their grades in each of their classes once a week. Hopefully that gives you an idea of what Resource Learning is about.
Writing Skills is an addition to their English classes. It is meant to slow things down, re-teach when necessary, practice writing and grammar, etc.

I don't know how I ended up with two prep periods, but I'm not complaining. We'll see how long it lasts! I'm certainly not complaining. :)

There is a quick introduction about what I am up to Monday - Friday.

-Ms. Damron-