Quotes from 1st grade

You may know that I have been subbing long term in 1st grade and have been saving up some winning quotes for you all. I am SURE you will enjoy. (Names are changed to protect the (less than) innocent.)

Me: Haley, you like to tell people what to do an awful lot. I sure hope you're going to be a teacher.

Haley: I am. Well, actually my husband's going to work, I'll stay home.

Chelsea: I am feeling like a burrito is in my brain. (No, I do not know what that means.)

Johnny: I don't really want to subtract.

Me: There's a lot of things I don't want to do. But we have to do them anyway.

Johnny: No we don't. Just tell us not to. You're the teacher. You can tell the President what to do.

Mandy: I am so excited my Mommy is coming on the field trip!

Me: I am too!

Mandy: No, my mom is coming... You can't bring yours too...

Jenny: I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America. And to the retublic, of which it lands, one nation, under God, unbelievable, with liderby and Justine for all. (And no, Jenny will not be going to say the pledge on the morning news tomorrow.)

Me: Kyle, what time does the clock say?

Kyle: I don't know. I can only tell time on the Successmaker clocks.

Me: They are the same as real clocks.

Kyle: No. Successmaker clocks have a minute hand.

Me: So do.. Never mind.

Carlos: Ms. J, I don't know where my pencil is.

Me: I don't either. Why didn't you put it in your desk?

Carlos: Because it's messy! I can never find anything in there!

Haley: Are we making more mother's day crafts?

Me: Not today.

Haley: Good. That lady really got a lot today.

(While we are watching Cara the Sea Turtle)

Heather: Wait- the mom turtle doesn't get to see the baby turtles?

Me: Just watch the movie.

Evan: Maybe she comes back when they hatch.

Me: Keep watching, they'll tell you.

Heather: I don't know who this "intuition" lady is, but she's talking an awful lot.

Evan: The mom never gets to see them?!

Johnny: Why doesn't Melissa talk to me?

Me: Maybe she doesn't like you.

Johnny: Ms. J, that's silly. She likes me.

Me: She does?

Johnny: Does she?

Me: I don't know. She doesn't talk to you...

Johnny: She likes me. Everyone likes me. And she doesn't talk to Alex either and he's the nicest boy here.

Me: Maybe she doesn't like him either.

Johnny: Now you're being ridiculous.

Me: Evan, we need to do your sight words today.

Evan: cat, bat, sat. It's the same every week. I'm surprised I don't know them by now.

Heather: Only one Monday left of school!

Me: No.. there's 5. But you don't have to go to school on one of them.

Heather: What?

Me: It's true, sorry.

Heather: I'm not coming on Mondays anymore. We need longer weekends.

Me: Don't let me forget to do prizes for group points tomorrow.

Molly: The same group wins every time.

Me: Maybe your group should stop talking so much.

Molly: We have a lot to say...

There, in a nutshell, is what I am dealing with every day. Pretty great stuff!

Subtraction with Regrouping is NOT for the Faint of Heart

Especially if you are teaching first grade.

Recently I started 6 weeks with some pretty great first graders, and it has been a pretty seamless transition. The kids have been great, planning has been easy and they really seemed to be learning.

Until Thursday.

I knew it would be difficult. I knew it would take a little more than it had before. I even knew there would be kids that didn't understand.

But... I never could have imagined this.

The first example went really well. They were really impressed by what I had done and how easy it seemed. Subtraction with regrouping? Ha! No problem, we've got that!

The second example was when I started asking questions, hoping that with some prompting they'd be able to fill in the blanks. Cue the chirping crickets.

So, we did another... and another... and another.

And again, and again, and again.

I wanted to beat my head against the cement wall.

The things that were said to me were mind boggling. Despite what I thought, I have no idea how the brain of a 7 year old works.

If I have 1 cube, can I give 8 away?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. (You think at some point they would get that I was trying to find a different answer and someone would say no.)

So I tried something else. If I have 1 piece of pizza, can I give pizza to 8 of you?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

No, I can't.

Why Ms. J? Why won't you share?

Clearly that strategy wasn't working.

So I tried showing it with cubes, with crayons, with fingers, with human examples. While I think the muddy waters slowly began to transcend to murky, I still didn't have much hope that they understood.

So I went to telling them. We have to regroup. "We do?" Yes, we do. Because I said so, we have to regroup.

When we regroup we borrow from our tens. If I'm in my ones and I need to borrow, where do I borrow from?

The ones. The ones. Blue cubes (No, she did not have blue cubes in the tens, they were in the ones.) The ones. The ones. Add the ones (What? Where did that come from? Who is whispering lies in your ears? Help! Please! Someone save me!) The ones. The ones. The tens.

Yes! Hooray! Victory! Hallelujah! We borrow from our tens.

If I have 5 tens, and I need to take one how many are left?

One. Six. Three. Ten. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! (<-----That one was me.)

Four. We have four left.

It didn't matter whether I showed them with numbers on the board, whether I demonstrated it with cubes on a work mat. Whether I prompted or whether I stood on my head. At the end of an excruciating 50 minutes I had 3 students who could successfully subtract with regrouping (with or without the help of cubes) and 11 who thought I was punking them. It was a big, fat teaching failure. We've all had them before and we'll all have them again. But that doesn't mean it was any easier to stomach. I still felt beaten down, exhausted, and like I needed a drink.

Luckily, all 5 of my first grade team members were experiencing similar fates, so I knew it wasn't just me.

So I am taking the weekend to regroup (ha ha) and hopefully on Monday I will feel refreshed and revitalized and be ready to dive back in to the depths of regrouping.

It can't be any worse than it was, right? Right? No, seriously- It can't get worse? Can it? Please... someone... anyone...

The more I teach 3rd grade...

The more I love it!

I have always fancied myself to be more of a primary kind of girl, loving my K-2 kids and wanting nothing to do with the older grades. But more and more I'm finding that not only do I like the 3rd graders... I get excited when I know I will be with them for a day.

They are able to do so much more! I can give them a task and.... THEY DO IT! I love my first grade babies, but they do not always get it done :/

I know, you may be thinking that it's not too much of a stretch from 2nd to 3rd grade, but really- it is. It is one of the biggest leaps in between grade levels. In 2nd grade you are still coddled a bit, still given a lot of extra chances, and still allowed to not take things so seriously. The first half of the year is a lot more like advanced first grade, where you still get that "little kid" treatment. In third grade, all of that stops. There's no coddling anywhere. You have to suck it up, be a big kid, and make things happen. There are no extra chances. If you leave a question blank on a test, it's wrong where before you would have been allowed to go back and answer the missing question. You don't get that chance anymore. Because now things are serious. The FCAT is coming up and it's do or die. No one will let you answer a blank question on the FCAT.

So, 3rd grade is tough. And not just for the kids. As a teacher the pressure to make sure that all of your students pass the FCAT is immense. If they don't pass it reflects poorly on the school, as well as on you. Not to mention, if a kid doesn't pass- they don't pass 3rd grade. And who wants that on their conscience?

But even though I know all of this, even though I understand the pressures, and even though they aren't quiiiiite as cuddly as 6 year olds, I still like 3rd grade.

And I'd teach it every day, if only someone would let me.... :)

4th Grade Writes!

Looking back on my own personal education, 4th grade stands out as the year that I was really and truly introduced to writing. Today when I was spending the day with some 4th grade darlings I got the opportunity to read some of their writings. WOW. I was in awe of what I read and they were so incredibly proud of themselves as they shared their writing with me.

The writing prompt was a narrative: Imagine you are walking home and find a $100 bill. Think about what you would do with a $100 bill. Write a story about the day you found a $100 bill.

I was so impressed by what they wrote that I want to share some of it here with you. Please note that this is paraphrased to the best of my ability.

"Listen... Do you hear that? It's the sound of all my fans cheering for me. I know you may be surprised at the amount of people that are cheering for me, but I'm not. I'm used to it. Now. "How did you get all these fans?" you might be asking. It's a long story, you see. Let me take you back to the day I found that $100 bill."

I know, you're impressed, right? Here's some more.

"I have this problem. When I tell you what it is, you'll scoff and think, "That's not a problem! If this girl thinks she's got problems she should try living a day in my life!" And I might just take you up on it. Because I do have a problem, and it's a big one. The day I found my $100 bill I exploded with happiness. I couldn't contain my excitement. But that $100 bill started to stink worse than a grandma putting on panty hose faster than cheetah runs a race. If you stick around, I'll tell you all about that fateful day when I found my $100 bill."

I am not sure what a grandma putting on panty hose smells like, but I am definitely going to give her an A for creativity on that. Here's one more.

"What a day! I have been going non-stop! First to the bank, then to the gym, then a quick trip into the grocery store before I began my walk home. I glanced down at my feet and saw something quite surprising. "Why, hello there Mr. Franklin," I said as I bent down and picked up the $100 bill lying beneath my shoes. "I have big plans for you," I said as I slowly turned around and started heading away from home and back out toward the world, where my new friend and I could get into some trouble."

Seriously, they made me want to write a 5 paragraph essay about finding a $100 bill. Heck, I just might do it! Except, I would probably want to steal some of their incredible ideas. And that would not be all that great.... I hope you enjoyed those excerpts as much as I did! I cannot wait to hear how these babes do on their Florida Writes this spring!

How to Deal

I have been struggling for over a week trying to decide the best way to word, phrase, and approach this blog post.

You never know who is going to see what you're posting and of course I do not want to upset or offend anyone. Not that I would ever name names, etc., but it's still a slippery slope. So, let's hope that I can write this with grace and tact and not in a manner that will hurt anyone.

Recently I received an email from a substitute teaching trainer asking me what I do to battle apathy in the classroom. I gave it a lot of thought before emailing her back and telling her I had not been in a classroom with students who were apathetic to me and what I was doing. But it got me thinking about all of the classrooms I have worked in and made me realize that while I have not been somewhere where I was confronted with apathy, I have been in a room there was little to know class room management present.

Those days have, by far, been my biggest challenges.

What I can tell you for sure is that it is easier if you are expecting a struggle when you walk in the door. I have had days where I had no idea what I was walking into and I have had days of being forewarned, where I have been told about the lack of management and procedures in the room.

When you know there is no real management system in place you have to make the choice: fight a battle to whip them in shape for just one day-- or just keep your head above water in the chaos that is the norm for that room. After all, everything will just go back to the way it was when you leave anyway..

My choice is always to fight the battle. I'm not going to lie, sometimes you lose. Usually you lose. The students are not going to suddenly snap into a perfectly pleasant, on task, quiet bunch. They will however see that you mean business and generally they just want to make it through the day as well. It's difficult, they tell you you're mean, and sometimes they make you want to cry. But it hones your skills and keeps you from getting taken advantage of.

So fight the battle, lick your wounds and come back for more the next day.

Even the tough days have bright spots and they ALWAYS have an end!

Forever Young

Today I began the day with the "big kids." I tend to lean toward the intimidated side when I am working with 4th or 5th grade because of how comfortable I am in the primary grades, and this morning with 5th grade was no different. Throughout the course of the morning though, I came to see that really, these 5th graders were no different than the 1st and 2nd graders am used to working with. In a refreshing change of pace, I was reminded just how young these "big kids" really are.

When a 10 year old boy shows you the dragons he drew, just because he's excited, not because he's looking for praise (which he obviously got anyway).

When an 11 year old girl gets excited because her purple pen actually writes purple!

When a 10 year old boy skips to the office because the wind is blowing and the birds are chirping, and skipping just makes sense.

When an 11 year old boy tells you all about the lego creations he made last night.

When a 10 year old girl still reads her Junie B. books- "They're kind of below my level, but Junie B. is so funny!"

When they get excited for kindergarten book buddies because they get to look at picture books, instead of "boring" chapter books.

When they giggle as they draw their pajamas for an adjective assignment.

When an 11 year old girl hugs you just for being you.

It's nice that these big kids have been able to maintain such a playfulness and excitement for the little things in life. Because as you and I know, being a big kid isn't always all that great. Sometimes I want to play with legos, read Junie B., draw a picture, and write with purple pen, and it was a delightful change to see these 5th graders not only as top of the heap, kings and queens of the school, but also as children with light in their eyes and love and their hearts and an eagerness to just have fun.

Self Fulfilling Prophecies

My 1/2 day in kindergarten began with a particularly mischievous looking blonde walking up to me holding the fortune from last night's cookie, asking me to read it to her. The fortune was this:

"Watch out for little problems that could get a lot bigger."

As I looked down at her smiling face I instantly knew that she was going to be my very own little problem for the afternoon.

Thanks for the warning, Confucius...

But, I am unsure if she was just particularly trying because I thought she was going to be, or if that is just a part of her personality. The most difficult thing about this job is trying to make sure that a child or class does not become what someone has told you they might. If I walk in to a room with the lingering thought that I am going to be spending the day with a bunch of hellions, chances are they will morph into what I am expecting them to be.

So, my little angel this afternoon- truly a problem child or a self fulfilling prophecy?

Some time after the glue was covering the table, the snack was on the floor, and the marker was up her nose but before she broke the tape player, ripped the book pages, and knocked over the center bucket, I decided that she really was a problem child.

My biggest issue came when she and two other students needed to walk themselves to the classroom where they get their reading tutoring. The directions I was given stated that I was to send the three children to the classroom, and that they would walk themselves there and back.

Which is not what happened.

They made a pit stop in the parking lot where the third graders were visiting the ice cream truck, and they tried to go to see my little friend's brother in first grade.

Not great.

When they were returned to me by a very upset volunteer, I was faced with the problem of what I should do. Of course I knew the regular classroom procedures involving discipline but, in my opinion, this transgression was worthy of a punishment slightly greater than what they would receive if they were talking out of turn. But is it my place to administer such a consequence? I didn't want to let the instance go by without addressing it, but I also didn't want to overstep my bounds with the classroom teacher.

So I compromised.

Rather than flipping their cards from green to yellow, I sent them straight to red. (This elicited tears from my other two offenders who both swore that they were merely followers in the whole troublesome incident, but fair's fair, and they were more than capable of making the right choices for themselves.) I then sat them down and reminded them that their tutoring help was a privilege, and they had to show they were trustworthy enough in order to keep their privilege.

I also had a talk with the teacher (who was still on campus while I was filling in for her) and let her know what I did so that when she was handling the children tomorrow she would know what I had done and what the next step should be.

It's a fine line, trying to determine how you should handle your one "problem child" in a classroom, especially when they repeatedly break the rules and your standard options have run out.

But after all that, my little friend was still the first one to run up and give me a hug at the end of the day :)