Journal for 10/14/09 I'm Lengthy Today...

Domain 7, 6, 5, 4
Communication, Management, Methodology, and Rights and Responsibilities

Lots on my mind today…(nothing new, I guess)

The big thing…the management of this class is so frustrating! AH! I say that with a smile. My poor teacher…she is so wonderful and really wants to have control, but she is not consistent, not firm, and tries too many things in the course of a day to really be effective. I took the kids to the restrooms today (woohoo), and I contemplated whether or not to be myself and make them mind me, and I did; I figured for one, it reflected on me as a teacher and for two, they need to get used to it. They did so well. I noticed her trying some of the things she has seen me do, but again, none of it is effective because they don’t take her seriously, and there is no consistency. Since I mapped out my plan yesterday, I created most of it today and showed her after lunch. I asked if I could start implementing it to get the kids in the swing of things (now that I think of it, I’m not really quite sure why I decided to ask her if I could begin it now instead of when I begin to teach). I really just want to get them under control. It’s hard knowing when to make them behave for just a few minutes (since I’m not their teacher yet) and just letting her have uncontrolled control. But she asked that I wait till I teach so that the students KNOW who has the authority. I completely understand. I just know I’m so excited because I think this is really going to work for them. I just want to see the results, but I need to be patient and allow her to still be the teacher. I felt bad for being selfish in that; I should have thought through that more. I don’t think she was upset by any means, but there was no reason for me to ask for that at this time.

I created a behavior checklist for a student today. She had me work with him this morning to get him caught up on work. We had to all go talk to the Assistance Principal about him, and that was a neat experience…then the Title aide stopped in to ask if he had gotten his HW done because he had helped him write it all down yesterday…Between the Assistant Principal situation and the aide, I realized that I was a little disappointed at how this student was being handled. My teacher and the Title aide talked about him and his situation in a way that made it all seem like his fault. But, nothing has seems to have really been done to help him. She said she tells the students multiple times in the day to fill out their assignment notebooks, but obviously, that is not enough for this student. I guess I was just surprised because she has a special ed background and the Title aide (to me) should know to do something else as well. I was impressed with how the As. Principal handled the situation…calling mom, encouraging her to contact my teacher, talking with the student about self-respect, etc. Mom asked that his assignments be written clearly so the solution to that is to have the teacher initial his book everyday. I think it is more than this so that is why I created a checklist. She said I could go for it; we’ll see how it goes!

I get to teach multiplication. I’m going to research some methods but if you have any you want to share, I would SURE appreciate it! Also, have you heard of the “Sundae” multiplication facts activity, where the kids have to build a sundae by memorizing all their facts? When I have seen this done in the past, I have thought that it wasn’t the best thing to display that to all students. What if a student is struggling? What if they never master their facts…etc. I asked my teacher about it, and she said that it hasn’t been a negative thing in the past (she is the one that told me about doing this – a suggestion). I was just curious what you think…

Something else that caught my attention…At the end of the day, my teacher called out the grades for their spelling pre-tests. She had all the 100’s come up to get their tests, all those that missed one, and then the rest. Maybe I am just paranoid about these kinds of things, but I did not think that was the most appropriate thing in the world nor do I think having a sticker chart with stickers that represent 100% on spelling tests is either. I think this could build community, and it could be a positive thing in the class, but it definitely depends on the class.

Just one more – I had asked my teacher if I could do centers in the morning to get students started (that’s the firs thing they come in and do – news station, post office, etc.) she was all for it. Then today, she made a comment about morning work. She just said that if I wanted to use it, I could find it “here” and that it might be good to stick to that routine. So, I just need to figure out how to work both of these in because I have the centers planned, and I really want to try them. I don’t think she was x-ing those out; I just think she forgot or didn’t realize that they were to replace morning work. I don’t like morning work, and too much time is wasted in the morning with uninterested students.