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Last week I left my teaching position. It was a difficult decision. I mean, we had a month left of school, the kids would have to have a substitute, and I might upset people at the school. However, stress and work hours had came to a point that I was feeling sick, having daily headaches and frequent migraines, and finding it difficult to get through the school day. So, I resigned. 

I thank those in my family that were there to support me and even send me a card from Michigan. After grading those last papers and handing them off to the substitute after entering the grades, I've been feeling a lot better. I'm feeling my old self again, something for which I'm grateful (and Isma is too). After working about 80 hours a week, it's been strange to have so much free time. Hopefully I'll find a new, less stressful, position soon.

Decomposition

As part of our ecosystem unit, I took the class outside to collect leaves in varying states of decomposition. Kids didn't get them very decomposed. I think they didn't want to get messy. After getting back upstairs, they put them in order from least to most decomposed in small groups. It was a fun activity to blow off some steam and complete the energy cycle.

Poster donated by a student.

Some Writing Charts

Sloppy hamburger

hangs on my wall

reminding of paragraphs

and bad school food.

Word Wall

Towards the beginning of the school year, Mom made cute letters for our word wall. We add five words to it each week. I'm happy that I'll be able to reuse it with my next class. I wish that we could add words other than high frequency words, though. High frequency words are words that, by the end of a certain grade level, students should be able to read and spell. Some of the words that my kids struggle with spelling aren't as simple as the high frequency list, which I feel should be learned in the younger grades. As I said, some are helpful for my students who flip letters in words and for my special education students, but the rest need something else for reference! If only there was more room in the classroom.

Organization, Organization, Organization

At the beginning of the school year I was constantly finding graded student work, newsletters I'd slaved over, and other papers meant to be seen by parents, stuffed inside student desks and hidden inside the recycling bins. A colleague suggested I use mailboxes to put all of their papers inside, and give them a moment at the end of the day to pick up their papers and put them in their backpacks. I, however, was not one of the lucky teachers to inherit all sorts of wonderful organizational materials. So, I took the books for guided reading out of their cardboard shelves, found another home for them, and labeled each shelf with a student name. It's been working well, and MOST students are much more organized and good at getting their papers to their parents. Now, what to do with those students who purposely lose their papers.

RAPP

It surprises me how much terminology and other teaching related things have changed in the four years since I graduated from college. One thing that the school does for reading responses is RAPP: repeat the question, answer the question, and prove it with two examples or details from the story. It's a great way to ensure students write in complete sentences and connect their answers back to the text! Below is a chart I made to help the students get started.

Vocabulary Fun with "Holes"

My fifth grade class is about halfway through the novel, "Holes" by Louis Sachar. As one of the daily stations, or independent language arts activities, that my students do while I teach small groups, I have them doing vocabulary cards. They write the word on a sentence strip then write the dictionary definition, a sentence using the word, and an illustration on an index card. I can't wait to see the board fill up!

Snow Day Haiku

We will be doing haiku this week, and as I have the Monday off because of the snow (yet again), I thought I'd practice a bit.

I.

Petals from grey clouds

floating down to grace the earth

blanket all with white

II.

Frigid flakes melt

on my cheek, not to blanket

the cold, barren ground

III. 

Snowflakes like dancers

flit and giggle while children

slip and slide on sleds

IV.

Winter is a long

bedtime in which the world sleeps

to awake in Spring

The hardest part for the kids is going to be coming up with similes and metaphors for their haiku and keeping the 5, 7, 5 syllable count. Hopefully they will be up to the challenge!

Are You Homeless?

The other day I mentioned to my 5th graders that I don't live in my house. It must have had something to do with our lesson, or so I hope. One girl piped up, "Ms. Vance, are you homeless?" I ignored the "Ms." for the millionth time, since some can't remember that I'm married or are used to calling all women "Ms." Instead, I quickly replied, "No, I live in an apartment. Don't worry." Worry I did, though, about her quick assumption. I wonder if she had been homeless, which I suspect, and if so for how long. I know that most of my students don't come from the most advantageous backgrounds. Their parents either work hard, long hours on second or third shift, or they are on welfare. Most live in a single parent household and others have had a parent in jail. It makes me grateful of the life that I had growing up and painfully aware of the limitations I have as their teacher.

Creeping into Summer

Our second school cancellation, if I haven't lost track, was this past Monday. That puts us into June for make-up days. I think that the day off was a gift to me. After getting back from Chicago, Isma asked me to not go into work, and I didn't resist. I was tired from the trip back, and had little desire to be in the car for another hour, round-trip. So, I planned to go in early to finish up lesson plans. However, with that morning off, I cranked out some pretty good plans, if I say so myself, and got small group reading plans on the way for next week too. It was a great morning! I treated myself to vegging out the rest of the day. :)

March is Poetry

March's writing theme is poetry. We started out with "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Longfellow, doing mad libs and learning about meter and alliteration. Then, we went into parodies of songs and wrote "I am" poems. I'm kind of losing steam, though. I remember poetry being kind of dull in school, only interesting when I wrote it myself, not from an assignment. If your teachers made poetry interesting, what did they do? What made writing poetry come alive to you?

Rare Snow Day

Monday began with me telling my incredulous students that we weren't starting ISTEP until Tuesday. I say incredulous, because they tend to be pretty incredulous about anything, even about the fact that six minus zero is NOT the same as zero minus six. Seriously, I've had a girl argue vehemently that I was doing it wrong. In fifth grade. Well, this Monday morning they were willing to put aside their doubt for the feeling of relief that there was no testing that day. Only one was still worried, since, as she told me, we weren't going to have school on Tuesday, and we wouldn't be able to take ISTEP. It was going to storm. And she KNEW we wouldn't have school. I guess she should be a fortune teller or weather forecaster when she grows up. I might have believed her if she wasn't the same child that, given evidence of "nothing" or quantity of zero, thought that she could take 6 pencils away from thin air.

Tuesday morning came, and she came to school on time, mentioning nothing about our certain cancellation. Wednesday, however, the storm she had scheduled for earlier rolled into town. I knew that universities had been cancelled in Chicago, that my brother working in Chicago had been sent home from work early, and that we were expecting around 6-9 inches overnight, so I eagerly awaited at least a two-hour delay. Most of Fort Wayne's area schools and schools in the surrounding counties are cancelled today, leaving me with an extra vacation day. It's sad though, after rejoicing that I could sleep in, the next two thoughts that went through my mind were the following, "maybe this means that "Michael" who went home sick Tuesday will be back to take ISTEP Thursday," and, "I'm so glad I brought work home so I can get some grading done." So sad, but true.

6 + inches of snow on our balcony

ISTEP

The first part of the state's standardized tests for 3rd - 5th graders are underway this week. Teacher pay-checks and our school's rating are based on the students' scores. Sharpened number 2 pencils, materials under lock and key, silent classrooms, strict rules, and anxiety will rule the school this week and again in April when round two begins. One of my girls cried today out of frustration over one hard question she couldn't figure out how to solve. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and tell her that it was ok, that it was just a test, and that we would go on soon. Another showed his work where it might not be seen for credit by the test graders. I wanted to help him too, but I can't! It's frustrating. But, it is not the be all or end all of learning. Even so, I hope that all of my students are ready, have slept well, and have eaten breakfast before we begin!

Circle Back

Back in the United States, things have been different than I've expected. Plans have changed that no longer include Chicago, and that has led me back to where I began before going to Spain. When I left to go to Spain, my dream was to learn to speak Spanish more fluidly, immerse myself in the culture, and return to Fort Wayne to work at the Spanish immersion school here where I student-taught. It seemed so exciting and interesting. After four years in Spain, that dream began to fade, like a mirage that fades away when you examine it more closely. I explored other opportunities, as life does change and old dreams need to be revised, never dreaming that my path would come in full circle. Recently, I applied for a 5th grade teaching position at the school I'd dreamed of teaching at and was offered the position pending school board approval. Excitement, butterflies, and an almost frightening sense of responsibility fill my body as I prepare to lead and teach beginning in a few weeks. Please pray for me in this new endeavor. I know it will be as challenging as it will be rewarding.

Complexities

Have you ever tried to move from one state to the other? After living in Spain, I've come to realize that moving from one state to the next is almost as complicated as moving from one European country to another. First, you need new IDs: in Europe that means going to get a residency paper, in the US that means getting a new driver's license. And second, you have to transfer professional licenses: I have to get an Illinois teaching license even though I have an Indiana teaching license.


I can't decide whether to rejoice at the states' independence from each other or bemoan the fact that now I have to fill out a stack of paperwork, take exams, and pay for a new license all before I can be hired for a teaching job in Chicago. If only Chicago was in Indiana!! Yes, redrawing state lines sounds like the perfect solution...

Are You My Mother?

This month I've been taking a course to teach Spanish children reading in English through phonics and vocabulary teaching...making "reading natives" in the sense that every single word they read is a word they already understand orally. It is interesting, a combination of review and new concepts. For the end of the month long course we have to represent a story for the class like we might do with the children and present a song and phonics plan to use with the book. Here are some props I've made. It's been a fun day.

Apart from doing kid things and cleaning, I've also looked at more wedding dresses. Pretty!

My Little Room

Like the view from my little room? It's a subway clinic (whatever that is). Well, stop looking out the window and look around inside!

This is the view I normally have when we start class.

"Good morning class! How are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, and you?"
"Our weather person today is..."

One of my favorite parts of the classroom is the computers. I love them because:

1. They allow the kids to listen to phonics and practice reading.
2. They are very motivating.
3. They give me an even smaller class size.
4. I can show videos in class.

Come stop by the next time you're in Madrid!
.

New Job

A week ago Monday I had two interviews, one for a school that wanted a preschool English teacher, and one who wanted a conversation teacher for 1st-3rd graders. I got the job from the second interview, and started Monday at the school. I'm very happy with the situation.

And so begins again the daily commute beginning before the sun rises. This year the commute is much better, though. I listen to sermons, books, or music on the i pod on the bus, and then two more subway stops until Porvenir, the school. The first day I was so confused, but the teachers and other staff were very friendly and helpful. At lunchtime I found the cafeteria (goal #15 accomplished!!), but couldn't find the food. Imagine being faint with hunger, seeing a room full of teachers eating good smelling food, and no fount of said food in sight! So, I decided to solve the problem by forgetting my language skills of any sort, staring, and then asking, "¿Qué hago?" (What do i do?) I couldn't have asked...where do we pick up the trays? -or- Could someone show me where lunch is served? Instead of my caveman sounding question. Oh well. I survived. And even had someone to talk to during lunch (shouting over our echo off the concrete walls). After lunch I found the bathrooms (goal #2). After lunchtime I filled my water bottle at the same newly found bathroom, trying to end the huge headache I'd gotten by lunchtime probably from dehydration (perhaps stress too). Filling water bottle (goal #4).

By today I had a rough schedule of my classes. I will be seeing each 1st-3rd grader once a week. I'll start teaching in a couple weeks. Up till now I've gotten some keys, rearranged the desks, put up posters, cut out a bazillion visuals, read through the kids' text books, made copies, and done recess duty.

I'll keep you posted...things will pick up more when the kids start coming to my class closer to October.

Pet Peeves and Neat Treats

Classroom pet peeves:

= having no visual aids (if it's not my turn to bring them)
= when kids interrupt the explanation to say "I don't understand" angrily, when the teacher hasn't finished explaining
=when kids complain loudly about others' farting (and then blame the one whose stomach is upset on their inability to be quiet in class)
=when students walk to the front of the room to ask to go to the bathroom during a lesson
=moving desks
=students mocking others
=random standing up
="surprised" faces when they are scolded for talking
=incessant nose blowing at trash can

Here is a list of the good things I saw today:

=students helping others
=one of the compulsive talkers paying attention and participating
=a quiet boy who understands little English smiling and actively participating
=a good show-and-tell about pets
=talking with one of the 6th graders on way to school
=enthusiastic singing
=intelligent questions
=chocolate cake because of two teachers' birthdays. yum
=one of the girl's birthday...Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo...

Let's just say that that was a rant about the day, and then the second list to remind me why I like teaching so much.

Say what?

I have a private class every Thursday with three friends, Rosa's girl, and two boys, all in second grade. They are slightly crazy, intelligent, and fun to be with when they're motivated...horrible when they're bored. Last week, like after each class, the four of us cleaned up the room. One erased the dry erase board, another put the chairs away, and the last put the game or flashcards in an envelope while I collected the books and the rest of my things.
A few seconds into this activity, I hear one of the boys say clearly, "Hey baby."
Surprised, I turned around and asked, "What did you say?"
"Hey baby," he repeated, and then continuing in Spanish said, "you know, when someone who speaks English has a baby boy or girl, sometimes they say to them, "Hey baby" instead of saying their name.
That made me laugh. Where do they get these ideas?