I normally like to stick to the December 1st rule for Christmas stuff. No decorating, no music, no nothing until December. This year I was forced to break that rule. Last post I mentioned the Christmas program I'm doing. Well I'm right in the thick of it, and it is a LOT of work. Being myself, I never seem to choose the easy way out. Rather than beg, borrow and steal as I was told to do, I decided to start from scratch and create the entire thing myself. So I wrote the play (all rhyming in the style of "T'was the Night Before Christmas") and then took regular old Christmas songs, and re-wrote the words to fit. I thought this was all fine and dandy (though admittedly, a lot of work) until the question of accompaniment came up. Since there weren't any piano players banging down my door to help, I decided to scour the internet for background tracks - the songs without words. This proved to be a very difficult task as most of them were karaoke style with the most cheesy, fake instruments you can imagine. After hours of searching (thank goodness for iTunes) I did manage to find suitable versions for each one. I am now officially sick of Christmas music (and it's not even December!).
So yesterday the whole thing (script, songs, music) went out to the teachers. This will be the moment of truth! I hope they like it. Of course it's all in their hands from now on, since they have to get their classes together to perform. Fingers are crossed!
The last part of my job is the choir. We had our first practice last week, which went really well. A LOT of kids came out and were really well behaved. This afternoon is our second practice where we'll actually do some singing. I'm nervous, but I think it's going to be tons of fun! I sure hope at least a few of them can carry a tune!! Eek...
In other news, as of yesterday I have handed in all of the required paper work to be officially added to the Occasional Teachers (supply teachers) List! I'm finally going to be payed for doing what I do! Yay. So, now all I have to do is sit by the phone and wait for it to ring! If only it were that easy... Needless to say I'm very glad I've been spending these past couple months volunteering - I feel like I've got at least a few good connections made to teachers/principals who will call me when they need someone...
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I'm back
Well, moving is done, the renos are done (for now), the thesis is done, and it's September. There's no better place to be than in a classroom. So I walked down the street to the closest school and asked what I could do. The principal sent me to a grade two classroom where I have been working with students on reading. It's great.
After two weeks of this, I had the crazy idea (put into my head through repeated encouragement from my mom) of finding out about the school's music program to see if I could help out with this year's Christmas concert (if you're trying to get into teaching, you know that you do anything to make yourself an appealing hire). So I spontaneously stopped in at the principal's office.
"Do you have a choir here? I was thinking I might be able to help out with the Christmas program."
"No. Two summers ago the music teacher, who had been doing the music program here for 18 years, left. We had a beautiful music program. They were supposed to send me a new music teacher but I never got one. So now we have no music - no singing, no nothing."
"Wow... Okay... Well then, what I was wondering was - "
"Yes, I would like a choir."
Holy Smokes. What have I gotten myself into. I am working together with the drama teacher to put together a Christmas concert. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me" the principal said. This is more than a little intimidating since I have never lead a choir of any kind, nevermind coordinated an entire school Christmas program...But, this just might be my ticket in. If I can impress the principal with this, who knows what could happen.
Now, this is where I put into practice one of the key lessons you learn in teacher's college - BEG, BORROW AND STEAL. Where can I find a fantastic little Christmas (I should say "holiday") program that is all set up and ready to go? Hmmm...
And, no post is complete without at least a little story from the kiddies. So, our new word for today is "reaser" (pronounced ree-acer). This is a little thing on the end of your pencil that reases things. You can also get magic reasers from Disney. They put magic on them so that with just one stroke your pencil marks are reased. Amazing.
After two weeks of this, I had the crazy idea (put into my head through repeated encouragement from my mom) of finding out about the school's music program to see if I could help out with this year's Christmas concert (if you're trying to get into teaching, you know that you do anything to make yourself an appealing hire). So I spontaneously stopped in at the principal's office.
"Do you have a choir here? I was thinking I might be able to help out with the Christmas program."
"No. Two summers ago the music teacher, who had been doing the music program here for 18 years, left. We had a beautiful music program. They were supposed to send me a new music teacher but I never got one. So now we have no music - no singing, no nothing."
"Wow... Okay... Well then, what I was wondering was - "
"Yes, I would like a choir."
Holy Smokes. What have I gotten myself into. I am working together with the drama teacher to put together a Christmas concert. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me" the principal said. This is more than a little intimidating since I have never lead a choir of any kind, nevermind coordinated an entire school Christmas program...But, this just might be my ticket in. If I can impress the principal with this, who knows what could happen.
Now, this is where I put into practice one of the key lessons you learn in teacher's college - BEG, BORROW AND STEAL. Where can I find a fantastic little Christmas (I should say "holiday") program that is all set up and ready to go? Hmmm...
And, no post is complete without at least a little story from the kiddies. So, our new word for today is "reaser" (pronounced ree-acer). This is a little thing on the end of your pencil that reases things. You can also get magic reasers from Disney. They put magic on them so that with just one stroke your pencil marks are reased. Amazing.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
furnaces, skeletons and real life mysteries
Now that we've moved, I haven't been teaching at all. I miss it. I went in to visit my old school the other day to collect some of my things and was reminded of a few stories I still had kicking around.
I was in a kindergarten class while they were eating lunch. One boy put up his hand and asked, "Can I go get my hot furnace?" by which of course he meant thermos. Very cute.
Also in kindergarten, the teacher was talking to the kids at the carpet. One particularly rambunctious boy was having some trouble sitting still. "I need to see your listening ears!" said the teacher. "Show me that you're listening with your whole body" she said. "And my skeleton?" he asked. "Yes, your whole body". :)
I love kindies for their wonderful stories!
Grade twos are also amazingly funny. My teaching partner told me this one about one of the students I used to teach.
"Mrs. Spright! Mrs. Spright! Me and Alex are solving a real life mystery!!"
"Oh! What is it?"
"Are there aliens."
"Really!"
"And we already have some real life evidence!"
"And what is that?"
"We found some circles!"
"Wow!"
"Yes, Alex found some bigger ones and I found some smaller ones. Alex says that he thinks his circles are from the mother ship."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, and he says mine are from the father ship."
He he he. Sometimes teachers have to work so hard at their "yes, I'm taking you seriously" face...It's so hard not to laugh!
But really, their logic astounds me. Thermos - furnace. Sound the same, and do almost the same thing. If I need to show you my listening body, my skeleton must be listening too. Obviously. And if there's a mother ship, there has to be a father ship right?
Oh kids. I miss you!
I was in a kindergarten class while they were eating lunch. One boy put up his hand and asked, "Can I go get my hot furnace?" by which of course he meant thermos. Very cute.
Also in kindergarten, the teacher was talking to the kids at the carpet. One particularly rambunctious boy was having some trouble sitting still. "I need to see your listening ears!" said the teacher. "Show me that you're listening with your whole body" she said. "And my skeleton?" he asked. "Yes, your whole body". :)
I love kindies for their wonderful stories!
Grade twos are also amazingly funny. My teaching partner told me this one about one of the students I used to teach.
"Mrs. Spright! Mrs. Spright! Me and Alex are solving a real life mystery!!"
"Oh! What is it?"
"Are there aliens."
"Really!"
"And we already have some real life evidence!"
"And what is that?"
"We found some circles!"
"Wow!"
"Yes, Alex found some bigger ones and I found some smaller ones. Alex says that he thinks his circles are from the mother ship."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, and he says mine are from the father ship."
He he he. Sometimes teachers have to work so hard at their "yes, I'm taking you seriously" face...It's so hard not to laugh!
But really, their logic astounds me. Thermos - furnace. Sound the same, and do almost the same thing. If I need to show you my listening body, my skeleton must be listening too. Obviously. And if there's a mother ship, there has to be a father ship right?
Oh kids. I miss you!
Monday, April 6, 2009
back to the supply world
As I mentioned earlier, I have been back to my old little school a few times since my LTO ended. And it has been great. All the teachers are glad to see me, I get to peak in on my old class, and it's so easy since I know all the school's routines and where everything is, and all that jazz.
So I was in a grade one class for two days, because the teacher had tonsillitis and strep throat at the same time (eek). I got there and understandably a few of the kids were confused. "Are you going to be our teacher today?" they asked. I told them yes and they were happy. I was obviously familiar, but in some ways they thought I belonged somewhere else... One student asked, "What grade do you really teach?" "I did teach grade two, right down the hall, but now I'm just a supply teacher," I answered. "So is it going to be hard today?" "No, no no," I said, trying to sound reassuring, "I'm not going to teach you grade two stuff! That would be too hard! Don't worry, we're just going to do what you normally do". "Oh," she said, sounding relieved. The poor thing thought that since I was a grade two teacher I was going to teach them grade two stuff! So cute!
Since they were learning how to do procedural writing (the steps for how to do something), the teacher had set up an activity where they had to take the steps for a task that they knew about, and put them in the right order. One of the kids said, in the tone of voice you'd expect from a teenager, not a six year old, "Soooo, we have to be able to read all this?" "Yes," I said, trying not to laugh at his smart alec comment. How do kids come up with this stuff?
So I was in a grade one class for two days, because the teacher had tonsillitis and strep throat at the same time (eek). I got there and understandably a few of the kids were confused. "Are you going to be our teacher today?" they asked. I told them yes and they were happy. I was obviously familiar, but in some ways they thought I belonged somewhere else... One student asked, "What grade do you really teach?" "I did teach grade two, right down the hall, but now I'm just a supply teacher," I answered. "So is it going to be hard today?" "No, no no," I said, trying to sound reassuring, "I'm not going to teach you grade two stuff! That would be too hard! Don't worry, we're just going to do what you normally do". "Oh," she said, sounding relieved. The poor thing thought that since I was a grade two teacher I was going to teach them grade two stuff! So cute!
Since they were learning how to do procedural writing (the steps for how to do something), the teacher had set up an activity where they had to take the steps for a task that they knew about, and put them in the right order. One of the kids said, in the tone of voice you'd expect from a teenager, not a six year old, "Soooo, we have to be able to read all this?" "Yes," I said, trying not to laugh at his smart alec comment. How do kids come up with this stuff?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
God's Kingdom
Everywhere I look, kids continue to amaze me. I read this book called "Amazing Grace" written by Jonathan Kozol about kids living in a place called Mott Haven, a ghetto in New York City. It is a sobering, depressing read, but necessarily so.
This is what a 12 year old (grade 6 or 7) wrote in response to the question, what is heaven like? I found it really challenging, amusing at times, and even enlightening. As children usually tend to be...
This is what a 12 year old (grade 6 or 7) wrote in response to the question, what is heaven like? I found it really challenging, amusing at times, and even enlightening. As children usually tend to be...
God's Kingdom
God will be there. He'll be happy that we arrived.
People shall come hand-in-hand. It will be bright, not dim and glooming like on earth. All friendly animals will be there, but no mean ones.
As for television, forget it! If you want vision, you can use your eyes to see the people that you love. No one will look at you from the outside. People will see you from the inside. All the people from the street will be there. My uncle will be there and he will be healed. You won't see him buying drugs, because there won't be money. Mr. Mongo will be there too. You might see him happy for a change.
The prophets will be there in heaven. There will be no guns or drugs or IRS. You won't have to pay taxes. You'll recognize all the children who have died when they were little. Jesus will be good to them and play with them. At night he'll come and visit at your house.
God will be fond of you.
How will you know that you are there? Something will tell you, "This is it! Eureka!" If you still feel lonely in your heart, or bitterness, you'll know that you're not there.
God will be there. He'll be happy that we arrived.
People shall come hand-in-hand. It will be bright, not dim and glooming like on earth. All friendly animals will be there, but no mean ones.
As for television, forget it! If you want vision, you can use your eyes to see the people that you love. No one will look at you from the outside. People will see you from the inside. All the people from the street will be there. My uncle will be there and he will be healed. You won't see him buying drugs, because there won't be money. Mr. Mongo will be there too. You might see him happy for a change.
The prophets will be there in heaven. There will be no guns or drugs or IRS. You won't have to pay taxes. You'll recognize all the children who have died when they were little. Jesus will be good to them and play with them. At night he'll come and visit at your house.
God will be fond of you.
How will you know that you are there? Something will tell you, "This is it! Eureka!" If you still feel lonely in your heart, or bitterness, you'll know that you're not there.
The author adds:
...on the back there is a picture of a bird with flapping wings. From the mouth of the bird...he has drawn a line to a bubble, as in a cartoon. Inside the bubble he has written in big letters: "NEVER MORE!"
...he is just a 13 year old, in many ways mysterious and even mystical and still a fairly normal kid and not a "child prophet"...but a thoughtful person nonetheless who has been forced by life to think more often about death than are most children of his age.
...on the back there is a picture of a bird with flapping wings. From the mouth of the bird...he has drawn a line to a bubble, as in a cartoon. Inside the bubble he has written in big letters: "NEVER MORE!"
...he is just a 13 year old, in many ways mysterious and even mystical and still a fairly normal kid and not a "child prophet"...but a thoughtful person nonetheless who has been forced by life to think more often about death than are most children of his age.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A few stories about the last week.
We were having a little class discussion (class discussions are the best times, when you just get to sit and talk with the kids and find out what's really going on in their little minds), about air pollution. I was teaching them about fuel, and how using less is better and how planes use a LOT of fuel (yes, I'm brainwashing them). Of course just at the mention of the word "plane" a million hands shoot into the air, eager to tell their plane stories. After dealing with those, I talked about how you can drive your car almost anywhere in Canada, but if you want to go somewhere like China (I have two international students in my class, one of which was adopted from China), you have to take a plane because there's an ocean between us and China.
I asked them, "How do you think people traveled across the ocean before we had planes?" One suggested helicopters. Another, submarines. I explained that they did use submarines a long time ago, but not for traveling long distances, and that if we didn't have planes, we didn't have helicopters either. Of course a few of the kids knew this whole discussion was silly, because the answer was obviously boats. They used boats. "Oh!" said one kid upon discovering the idea of boats, "like a ferry!" This brought on another avalanche of stories, this time about ferries, and how they are scary when there's an 18 wheeler on board... I explained that the boats that go across the ocean are MUCH bigger than a ferry, and how it would take WEEKS to make the trip. This was totally beyond them. The whole discussion was very entertaining, and if I may say so, I think they did learn a thing or two.
So, through out the year I have implemented a system of noodle jars. This is where each table group (4 or 5 desks pushed together) has a jar, and their goal is to fill it with noodles first. They get noodles added when they are behaving well, and removed when they are not. When the jar is full, they get to have a "noodle party". Of course when I explained this system to them, they knew they were supposed to be excited about having a "noodle party" (because of the tone of my voice), but they obviously weren't quite sure what it was. The obvious response was "You'll see!!" (with the appropriate voice again), which, as far as I know, they have not realized means "your guess is as good as mine!" It's shocking how much we teachers make up as we go along.
Anyway, it just so happened that they were nearing the top of their noodle jars by the time it was my last week there. So I was especially generous with the noodles and all of the jars were declared full on my second last day. We were to have the so-called "noodle-goodbye party" the next day. So we prepared by painting our noodles. I dumped the jars into trays, squeezed out the paint and away we went. The pictures above depict this colourful and exciting event (no pictures of kids though, sadly, I'm trying to be responsible here). They LOVED the fact that I suggested they put the noodles on the tips of their fingers to get the best control. And that they got to paint as many as they wanted, however they wanted. And, since it was my second last day and I had forgotten about the stress of report cards and all that jazz, I was in a fantastic mood. I put on our favourite cd and we had a ball. I'll never forget it.
In the midst of all this, my teaching partner snuck in (which is normal) and suddenly clapped her hands to get the students' attention (which is not normal when I'm teaching). She then presented to me a book of writing that the students had done for me about why they think I'm such a great teacher and what they're going to miss about me. Working VERY hard not to cry, I graciously accepted the very thoughtful and meaningful gift. Sigh.
At our "noodle-goodbye party" on Friday afternoon, we made our painted noodles into necklaces. Many noodles ended up crushed on the floor, and there was a significant amount of frustration with keeping the noodles on the string until I could come over to tie it for them. But overall, the noodle party was a success.
After finishing our necklaces I opened a few gifts. I told them I would gladly open them after school but of course they insisted I open them in front of the class. Those two who had given me their gifts earlier, were sure to mention that so as not to miss out on the glory of giving me a present. They are so sweet and adorable. I read them one of my favourite stories Scaredy Squirrel, and reminded them of the moral of the story, that it's okay to take risks. We talked about the message I had put in each of their cards, "What makes you different is what makes you special" which we had learned a while back in a unit we were doing on making connections. I blabbed on and on about how each of them is special and if we were all the same we wouldn't be special...and on and on. They humoured me by listening and appearing to care ;)
Of course all this time I am continuing to fight the tears and trying to keep on smiling and laughing. And then, to make matters so much worse, I told the kids to come up and get their cards, and give me a hug. Well, then the fight was on. The tears were insisting and the smiles were starting to waver. One little girl sitting right at my feet said "I think I'm going to cry!" "So am I!" I responded, with a forced laugh.
I did manage to keep it all under control, realizing that if I cried, our entire class would be a giant ball of snot and tears and weepy 7 year olds. But on the way home from school that night I ended up having to pull over because my makeup was getting in my eyes and I couldn't see through the tears.
Sigh. Yes, it was a hard day. I couldn't have asked for a better school, class, teaching partner... and the list goes on. I am regrettably aware, however, of the fact that I am now doomed to find every experience following this one, sadly disappointing...
Ah well, such is life. And on the bright side, I am scheduled to be a supply teacher in my very own class on the Wednesday after March break. Yay!
Monday, March 9, 2009
the end is near and so is spring
So this is my last week of teaching grade two! I can't believe that it's already March break and I'm writing report cards and packing up my stuff. Most people ask if I'm excited to be done work, looking forward to getting back to my thesis and a few other things that have been put off...the truth is, I'm not! I'm actually sad about leaving my little kids and my classroom and my school. As I usually do, I have gotten too sentimentally attached to all of these things and it doesn't feel right to let someone else come and take my place...I don't want anyone else teaching my class! It just feels like a bit of a rip to have to leave in the middle of everything...
But, such is life, and in reality it is a good thing. The timing has worked out perfectly. I can take some time to get my brain out of grade two and into my masters thesis, and then pack up and move! Wow.
Besides crying about being done my LTO, I also wanted to post a little story. It's not about my grade twos, but about a 3 year old that I happen to know. She is the most wonderful little girl you can imagine, and two nights ago during the thunder storm her mom said to her "it's a thunder storm! That means spring is coming!" In her adorable three year old voice she asked, "Where? Where is spring?"
Her parents later filled in a bit of background explaining that, after telling her that spring is "just around the corner", she continually asked "what corner?" and while riding the car would ask "this corner? Is spring here?"
How sweet!
So, it's back to the world substitute teaching: shorter days, the ability to say "no thanks!", and nothing to do in the evenings...Truth be told, I can't complain about that!
But, such is life, and in reality it is a good thing. The timing has worked out perfectly. I can take some time to get my brain out of grade two and into my masters thesis, and then pack up and move! Wow.
Besides crying about being done my LTO, I also wanted to post a little story. It's not about my grade twos, but about a 3 year old that I happen to know. She is the most wonderful little girl you can imagine, and two nights ago during the thunder storm her mom said to her "it's a thunder storm! That means spring is coming!" In her adorable three year old voice she asked, "Where? Where is spring?"
Her parents later filled in a bit of background explaining that, after telling her that spring is "just around the corner", she continually asked "what corner?" and while riding the car would ask "this corner? Is spring here?"
How sweet!
So, it's back to the world substitute teaching: shorter days, the ability to say "no thanks!", and nothing to do in the evenings...Truth be told, I can't complain about that!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
measurement
We are just beginning our measurement unit in grade two. In grade one they do measurement, but they only learn to use non-standard units. That is, they measure things using blocks, or their feet, or little plastic counters or whatever. They learn to say the unit when they state the measurement of something, such as "the pencil is 9 cubes long".
So, I started them off by telling them that our custodian wants to put a carpet going up the wheel chair ramp so it isn't so slippery. How long should the carpet be? I ask them. So off they go, whispering in the hall, measuring the wheel chair ramp. We meet back at the carpet in our room to discuss the findings. I ask each group how they measured it. Some lined up rulers, others used blocks and a few groups used their feet. "We used our feet to measure the wheel chair ramp and we figured out that the wheel chair ramp is 41 millimeters long." Of course I tried to hold back my giggle. "Millimeters?" I said. "But I thought you used your feet to measure it," I say. "Yes, we did, but we decided it was millimeters."
Hilarious. So they obviously have a bit of learning to do about the meaning of a few standard units. And that your foot is not a millimeter long. And that the wheel chair ramp is most certainly not 41 millimeters long...
So, I started them off by telling them that our custodian wants to put a carpet going up the wheel chair ramp so it isn't so slippery. How long should the carpet be? I ask them. So off they go, whispering in the hall, measuring the wheel chair ramp. We meet back at the carpet in our room to discuss the findings. I ask each group how they measured it. Some lined up rulers, others used blocks and a few groups used their feet. "We used our feet to measure the wheel chair ramp and we figured out that the wheel chair ramp is 41 millimeters long." Of course I tried to hold back my giggle. "Millimeters?" I said. "But I thought you used your feet to measure it," I say. "Yes, we did, but we decided it was millimeters."
Hilarious. So they obviously have a bit of learning to do about the meaning of a few standard units. And that your foot is not a millimeter long. And that the wheel chair ramp is most certainly not 41 millimeters long...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Here comes Valentine's! Watch out!
As of yesterday morning, the legend is growing by the minute.
I was silly enough to give into the temptation to go into the dollar store and buy some Valentine's decorations. As exceedingly simple as it would have been to make them myself, I spent a few bucks on some cheesy window stickers and some hanging shiny hearts.
I came in yesterday morning and put them up around the door. The hanging hearts are very light and move whenever someone walks by, which has a really nice effect. And I'm quite proud (although somewhat disappointed) to be the only with with decorations up...
So as the day went on, the legend came together. At first I only overheard it being talked about and then got the low down.
If you touch a pink heart - no, a red heart - no, it doesn't matter what colour it is! , you will fall in love. With the closest person around. Even if you are a teacher. Even if you are already in love with someone else. And you will stay in love with that person until Valentine's - no, until the end of February - no, until next Valentine's day! And if you touch a heart twice, you will stay in love until the Valentine's day after that!! Currently there are about four girls who are officially in love in our class. Clearly they are not being careful enough around the hearts! Oh, and there is no way to get out of being in love.
Aren't they amazing? How do kids come up with this stuff? And almost instantaneously! It makes me want to buy more decorations just to see what else they could come up with!
I was silly enough to give into the temptation to go into the dollar store and buy some Valentine's decorations. As exceedingly simple as it would have been to make them myself, I spent a few bucks on some cheesy window stickers and some hanging shiny hearts.
I came in yesterday morning and put them up around the door. The hanging hearts are very light and move whenever someone walks by, which has a really nice effect. And I'm quite proud (although somewhat disappointed) to be the only with with decorations up...
So as the day went on, the legend came together. At first I only overheard it being talked about and then got the low down.
If you touch a pink heart - no, a red heart - no, it doesn't matter what colour it is! , you will fall in love. With the closest person around. Even if you are a teacher. Even if you are already in love with someone else. And you will stay in love with that person until Valentine's - no, until the end of February - no, until next Valentine's day! And if you touch a heart twice, you will stay in love until the Valentine's day after that!! Currently there are about four girls who are officially in love in our class. Clearly they are not being careful enough around the hearts! Oh, and there is no way to get out of being in love.
Aren't they amazing? How do kids come up with this stuff? And almost instantaneously! It makes me want to buy more decorations just to see what else they could come up with!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
a new name, a brilliant idea and an indoor recess
First, the new name. I thought it should be added to this blog that I was called "Mrs. Sherkoch" (pronounced sure-coke) the other day. My teaching partner was away and I was in for her (on a day I don't normally teach) and so the poor confused students decided to call me a combined version of our two names...
Second, the brilliant idea. Whenever I need the kids to stop what they're doing, I count down. Rather than asking them to stop immediately, this gives them a chance to finish up. One time, I was counting down and they obviously didn't want to stop what they were working on. One smarty-pants said "I know guys! We can slow her down if we put up our hands and ask lots of questions!" Ha ha. It's true. If someone asks me a question I usually lose track of the count, or at the very least there is a long pause between numbers. Good thinking.
Lastly, the indoor recess. You might not know that when the temperature gets below a certain level, the kids stay inside for recess. This, I believe, is a board policy. Last week was awfully cold and therefore awfully crazy. Indoor recess is never fun - it only leads to way too much unused energy in the classroom. One of these days I had outdoor duty for first break. I knew the temperature was low, and asked the principal what the plan was. She said they would go out for 10 minutes of recess and then come in for the second 10 minutes and spend it in the gym. Apparently this is what we do for indoor recess - the entire school is in the gym. Sounds crazy, I thought, but okay. I hadn't yet experienced an indoor recess.
So after 10 minutes outside the bell rang and I told the students to line up as usual. Suddenly, a bunch of students started moving towards the other door and everyone started going in. Since that door was closer to the gym, I assumed there was a teacher there directing them in, so I didn't argue. Soon, the entire school was attempting to cram into one door. I made my way over to the door and decided to wait and let the other teacher direct the mob. Since nothing seemed to be happening, I slowly started wading my way through the students, into the tiny lobby and towards the gym. No one seemed to actually be going anywhere, although mysteriously there were less and less people outside. The mob was compressing - a process accompanied by lots of screaming, yelling, pushing and shoving. I used my unnaturally loud (and now useful) clap to get their attention. Since I had again assumed there was a teacher at the gym not letting them in for some reason, I told them they needed to be quiet and patient and stop all this nonsense. They did. But we kept waiting.
It slowly occurred to me that there were no other teachers anywhere to be seen. No one had let them in these doors, and no one was directing them to the gym. It was just two little students, trying to do the right thing, who were preventing everyone from going into the gym. They were waiting for me to let them in! Of course this was unbeknownst to me, and I had, in the mean time, been waiting around, deferring to a non-existent other teacher! So eventually I made my way through the masses to the gym and let them all in. And in they poured. Before long, it was me and a gym full of 180 crazy kids (give or take), bundled from head to toe sitting on the floor or wandering aimlessly with nothing to do. A recipe for disaster. I made a quick dash to the staff room and asked "Sooooo, in the gym, do they all just sit on the floor? Are they supposed to do anything?" Confirmed, everything was the way it was supposed to be. This was it.
Since we had wasted so much time coming in, we really only had about 5 minutes to spend in the gym. Then everyone went back to class and back to normal. But for a while there, things were pretty ridiculous. Can I just say that had there been an emergency of any kind, we would all have died. As it was, little people were nearly being trampled, there was screaming and yelling and pushing of all kinds...It was a complete debacle. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
Second, the brilliant idea. Whenever I need the kids to stop what they're doing, I count down. Rather than asking them to stop immediately, this gives them a chance to finish up. One time, I was counting down and they obviously didn't want to stop what they were working on. One smarty-pants said "I know guys! We can slow her down if we put up our hands and ask lots of questions!" Ha ha. It's true. If someone asks me a question I usually lose track of the count, or at the very least there is a long pause between numbers. Good thinking.
Lastly, the indoor recess. You might not know that when the temperature gets below a certain level, the kids stay inside for recess. This, I believe, is a board policy. Last week was awfully cold and therefore awfully crazy. Indoor recess is never fun - it only leads to way too much unused energy in the classroom. One of these days I had outdoor duty for first break. I knew the temperature was low, and asked the principal what the plan was. She said they would go out for 10 minutes of recess and then come in for the second 10 minutes and spend it in the gym. Apparently this is what we do for indoor recess - the entire school is in the gym. Sounds crazy, I thought, but okay. I hadn't yet experienced an indoor recess.
So after 10 minutes outside the bell rang and I told the students to line up as usual. Suddenly, a bunch of students started moving towards the other door and everyone started going in. Since that door was closer to the gym, I assumed there was a teacher there directing them in, so I didn't argue. Soon, the entire school was attempting to cram into one door. I made my way over to the door and decided to wait and let the other teacher direct the mob. Since nothing seemed to be happening, I slowly started wading my way through the students, into the tiny lobby and towards the gym. No one seemed to actually be going anywhere, although mysteriously there were less and less people outside. The mob was compressing - a process accompanied by lots of screaming, yelling, pushing and shoving. I used my unnaturally loud (and now useful) clap to get their attention. Since I had again assumed there was a teacher at the gym not letting them in for some reason, I told them they needed to be quiet and patient and stop all this nonsense. They did. But we kept waiting.
It slowly occurred to me that there were no other teachers anywhere to be seen. No one had let them in these doors, and no one was directing them to the gym. It was just two little students, trying to do the right thing, who were preventing everyone from going into the gym. They were waiting for me to let them in! Of course this was unbeknownst to me, and I had, in the mean time, been waiting around, deferring to a non-existent other teacher! So eventually I made my way through the masses to the gym and let them all in. And in they poured. Before long, it was me and a gym full of 180 crazy kids (give or take), bundled from head to toe sitting on the floor or wandering aimlessly with nothing to do. A recipe for disaster. I made a quick dash to the staff room and asked "Sooooo, in the gym, do they all just sit on the floor? Are they supposed to do anything?" Confirmed, everything was the way it was supposed to be. This was it.
Since we had wasted so much time coming in, we really only had about 5 minutes to spend in the gym. Then everyone went back to class and back to normal. But for a while there, things were pretty ridiculous. Can I just say that had there been an emergency of any kind, we would all have died. As it was, little people were nearly being trampled, there was screaming and yelling and pushing of all kinds...It was a complete debacle. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
back to the "real" world
Well, after a long and lovely Christmas break, I've successfully handled one week back to school. Before the break, my teaching partner and I shuffled things around a bit. So I am now teaching all of math (rather than half), art, drama/dance, gym, and computers. To be honest, I am thrilled about these new arrangements, since I LOVE art. However, with this shuffling, our schedule has also been rearranged, resulting in a full block (80 minutes) of math each day that I teach. If you have ever spent more than 10 minutes with a 7 year old, you know that that's about as long as you can get them to focus on one thing. So 80 minutes of math is slightly over the top. Thus, I must re-work my planning to include a wide range and variety of activities that are actually math, but don't usually seem like math. The key to working with little kids is tricking them into learning by disguising the learning as just having fun. That's the real challenge.
Anyways, things are going pretty well, and everyone has been really flexible. And I am getting better at two things: a) not having 40 minutes of extra time at the end of my math lesson, b) making up random math activities for the kids to do when I have 40 minutes of extra time at the end of my math lesson... :)
Here are two stories from this week. The day before school started someone asked me if I missed my students. I confidently said no - I had really enjoyed the two weeks off. But, as it turns out, I missed them more than I thought once I actually saw them again.
On Tuesday I went around the room and asked the kids what their favourite part of Christmas was. After hearing about Wii after Wii after iPod after Xbox, one girl, an absolute darling and an only child, said her favourite thing was getting her new kitten, Frost. I was pleased to see that some parents have the wear-with-all to buy something other than expensive, eye-popping, electronics. Later, the french teacher was asking the kids what they had done over the holidays. She asked them whether or not they had played with their families. The same girl asked "Does your cat count as your family?" She's so cute.
Later that day two students came up to me while we were working on art and looked like they had something very important to tell me.
Chris: "Mrs. Sherwood?"
me: "Yes?"
Chris: "James, Ashley, David and me are going to the centre of the earth".
me: "Really?"
Chris: "Yes, when we get older we are going to go to the centre of the earth because it's what we all want to be - I want to be a paleantologist, and Ashley wants to be an archeologist, and - "
David: "But the annoying thing is that I have to carry all the supplies. Because once you go down there you can't get anything, so we have to bring everything we need."
Ashley: "Like big chunks of meat."
me: "Why do you need big chunks of meat?"
David: "Well we don't know what's down there. There might be meat-eating animals so we will just throw huge chunks of meat at them when they try to get us."
me: "I see, that sounds like a good strategy."
Ashley: "And there's hot lava down there."
me: "Mmmhmm....Alright well, I think we've done enough planning for that, and now it's time to get back to work..."
Afterwords I overheard Chris telling another student that he had wanted to tell his dad about this plan but he didn't because he knew his dad wouldn't believe him. I suppose I ought to count myself lucky as one of the trusted few who get to hear about about these wonderfully ambitious, future plans...
Their creativity and curiousity never ceases to amaze me.
Anyways, things are going pretty well, and everyone has been really flexible. And I am getting better at two things: a) not having 40 minutes of extra time at the end of my math lesson, b) making up random math activities for the kids to do when I have 40 minutes of extra time at the end of my math lesson... :)
Here are two stories from this week. The day before school started someone asked me if I missed my students. I confidently said no - I had really enjoyed the two weeks off. But, as it turns out, I missed them more than I thought once I actually saw them again.
On Tuesday I went around the room and asked the kids what their favourite part of Christmas was. After hearing about Wii after Wii after iPod after Xbox, one girl, an absolute darling and an only child, said her favourite thing was getting her new kitten, Frost. I was pleased to see that some parents have the wear-with-all to buy something other than expensive, eye-popping, electronics. Later, the french teacher was asking the kids what they had done over the holidays. She asked them whether or not they had played with their families. The same girl asked "Does your cat count as your family?" She's so cute.
Later that day two students came up to me while we were working on art and looked like they had something very important to tell me.
Chris: "Mrs. Sherwood?"
me: "Yes?"
Chris: "James, Ashley, David and me are going to the centre of the earth".
me: "Really?"
Chris: "Yes, when we get older we are going to go to the centre of the earth because it's what we all want to be - I want to be a paleantologist, and Ashley wants to be an archeologist, and - "
David: "But the annoying thing is that I have to carry all the supplies. Because once you go down there you can't get anything, so we have to bring everything we need."
Ashley: "Like big chunks of meat."
me: "Why do you need big chunks of meat?"
David: "Well we don't know what's down there. There might be meat-eating animals so we will just throw huge chunks of meat at them when they try to get us."
me: "I see, that sounds like a good strategy."
Ashley: "And there's hot lava down there."
me: "Mmmhmm....Alright well, I think we've done enough planning for that, and now it's time to get back to work..."
Afterwords I overheard Chris telling another student that he had wanted to tell his dad about this plan but he didn't because he knew his dad wouldn't believe him. I suppose I ought to count myself lucky as one of the trusted few who get to hear about about these wonderfully ambitious, future plans...
Their creativity and curiousity never ceases to amaze me.
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