Almost time for schooooooooool :)

What I'm Doing:

I've been able to cross several things off of my to-do list yesterday! These things included, but weren't limited to:

-Emergency substitute plans

-Alternative work for the Reflect and Refocus Room (...the detention room...)

-Collect resources for classroom library

-Label some boards in my room

-Establish a handout/supplies system

-Compile all student information (IEPs/OHIs/504/ILL)

Even when I'm being productive and focused, I somehow squeeze in random tasks.  I wanted to cover the brittle and peeling masking tape labeled with several different room numbers fading away from years of sharing amongst teachers.  Also, I put up some pictures from Africa behind my desk.  

To encourage students not to fear making mistakes, I put up a board
pointing out the great things that have come from mistakes :)

I added a title

What I'm Reading: The Brave

I'm about halfway through this book, and it's quite interesting.  It toggles between the story of a young boy growing up and suddenly learning who he really is, and his actress mother and her story.  From time to time, we get some insight into the mother's new boyfriend-- which in Tommy's eyes, is just as good as a real cowboy.  Also, we flash forward to Tommy in his 50's and the present-day issues he's facing as well.  It's quite a ride in time and bouncing between different people's heads.  I feel like I'm at a tipping point in the book, where everything is just about to fall apart.  There was a bit of a giveaway in the beginning that things are about to go terribly wrong. 

School starts on Tuesday--if I'm ready or not, they're a-comin!

The Joy of Reading

One week and two days until opening day....

I see teaching, as a teacher, like a performance I put on everyday.  However, instead of a soliloquy or monologue, the show is very audience-interactive, intermingling elements of improvisation, yet trying my best to execute my planned script.  In order to prepare for the show, I have to do a bit of preparation My latest project, again, involves Seedfolks, which is kicking off Language Arts this year for our sixth graders.  I wanted to do a border much like this one I found on Pinterest:

I can't find the original maker of this board, so if you recognize this as your work, e-mail me so I can give you the credit you deserve! :)  Anywho, I love this idea, so I was talking about making something like this for my classroom.  My roommate is all about having me incorporate tech-inspired things that are ubiquitous in the lives of middle schoolers today--like instagram, twitter, vine, etc.  Facebook is almost old news at this point, and an even older, passe (accent ague) fad was "Farmville."  However, a Farmville-inspired board would fit perfectly with this book, so I'm rolling with it :)  Thanks again Jean! Here's what I started:

I'll post the actual board when it's up and active in my classroom.  I'm imagining adding the person each day, after reading their chapter as well as the crop they added to the community garden.  

-           -              -              -              -                 -                -                 -                    -                -      

Luckily for me, summer allowed me ample time to do a lot of choice reading.  

What it is: A very scientifically accurate, detailed, hilarious look at the alimentary canal (which is a fancy way of saying the digestive system from mouth to the pooper).  Mary Roach writes on subjects by throwing herself completely into it, getting into the nitty gritty.  

My takeaway:  I made sure to fold down the corners of some pages I found particularly fascinating, so I could bring up tidbits at dinner parties and impress all my friends with my trivial knowledge.  

Let me start by mentioning Alexis St. Martin, a living science experiment, who had an opening through his torso that led directly into his stomach.  This allowed the scientist William Beaumont access to study the process of digestion.  I understand that we do something similar with cows nowadays, with our advanced knowledge of medicine and avoidance of cross-contamination or infection, but this ongoing experiment began in 1822- a time of discovery for both medicine and science.  

Other big learnings I'm taking away from this book derive from the chapter entitled "Eating Backward; Is the digestive tract a two way street?"  To avoid spoiling this fascinating section, I will only leave you with the name of the chapter, and just know that I closed the book that day wondering if there was anything scientists wouldn't do in the name of discovery.  

Lastly, there were some staggering statistics on the number of objects smuggled into prisons each year, and not hidden in pockets...

Have I mentioned she's one of my favorite authors? 

I'm nearing the end of this book now, and will probably finish it tonight.  It makes me think of something someone had posted on Facebook about finishing books, and the way they said it was beautiful and true--however, I can't find it now.  The message was something like finishing a book is bittersweet.  You finally get to the end, but that means the story is over.  

What it is:  This is a fictional story, telling the experience of a cast of characters in North Korea.  Through reading this, I learned some true things about North Korea, and continue to hold questions about several things I read.

My takeaway:  The way the main character's story unfolds is misfortune after misfortune.  Luckily, he realizes the truth about things around him, while it seems either everyone else is acting loyally out of fear or knowing no better.  One similarity I drew from this story, and my experience in Africa was how the nation looks at the problems in America.  I remember Ugandans asking me about gun ownership.  "But aren't you scared?  Anyone can own a gun.  You could just get shot going to work."  They would pity me after hearing about the economically-challenged urban communities, or the divorce rate.  It was always a strange conversation for me because the things they were mentioning were true, but in comparison to third world problems, it was like a flightless bird pitying the parrot for having to lug around his heavy, colorful feathers when he flies.  The similar story in The Orphan Master's Son is that as the main character's story is told over the loudspeakers (located in all of the North Korean's homes) but is twisted to make America seem like a terrible place to live--where dogs roam free and everything costs money.  

    This story interweaves several different characters' stories seamlessly.  There's so much more to say about this story but my mind is drawing blanks at this hour.

      To do list tomorrow:  Write some sample lesson plans, draft behavior matrix for my classroom--oh, and attend my mother's SEVENTIETH birthday dinner! :D

Different classroom concept

The seeds have been planted

My second post, and the year hasn't even begun!  Our language arts team met today, and we began to get the ball rolling on what our first week and unit will look like.  The book we're working with is inspiring in more ways than one--it made me want to make a new friend and plant a garden.

I'm reading:

A community made up of people from all over the world and different walks of life, Seedfolks highlights how tensions develop and suspicion breeds when people cease talking to each other.   One small member of this community begins a garden on an abandoned lot, and before long, neighbors who had never even said hello before are giving each other advice on how to water their Swiss chard.  What was once a unofficial dumping ground becomes a beautiful medley of flowers, vegetables and lots and lots of lettuce.

I'm working on:

1,001 creative ideas of how to save money on school supplies.  Ideas?

A new blog adventure

Greetings! :)  I'm a teacher.  Kind of.   I consider this my first real year of teaching because I am actually starting out in a classroom right from the beginning of the year.  I really enjoyed blogging while I was in Peace Corps, and it was a great way to keep a journal of thoughts, learnings, and memories along my journey.  I think life is one big journey, so I hate letting it go by without a trace.  And so, I am embarking upon a new blogging adventure.

To begin:

I'm READING:

Let's just say that my last teaching opportunity, in my eyes, was a big failure on my part.  And so, I'm digging deep, doing some serious reflection and preparation, and I will go into this coming teaching year hopefully not making half of the mistakes I made initially.  I'm giving myself two years, and if I don't feel like I'm leaps and bounds better than I was last semester, then I'm finding a new direction for my life.  This book is helping me step back and remember the popular mantra among educators, "Students may not remember what you teach them, but they'll remember how you made them feel."  I think this is true, and I cringe at the thought of how I must have made my students feel last semester.
    I have only ten pages left of this book (why don't you just finish it before you write this, Mary?)  and my big takeaways so far are the following:

From Chapter 2
Follow the four guidelines:
1. Don't let students fast talk you (I ALWAYS let this happen in my last job)
2. Stay focused on the problem (Things would start as a simple misbehaving issue and turn into a drawn-out multi-layered saga)
3. See the big picture (I feel like I did an OK job with this last semester, but I would almost negotiate too much in order to accommodate some situations)
4. Don't sell out your values (In order to do this, I think I'm still figuring out what it is I value the most.  I value honesty, integrity, creativity, high-quality/effort, order and respect.  I'm sure there's more...)

    What I like about this book is that Ridnouer discusses several typical situations that teachers face, and she describes how to approach each one with keeping these four guidelines in mind, all while treating the student with respect.  Like several classroom management books, she gives a case study of the "bad" teacher here and there, and sadly, I could imagine myself doing and saying many of those same things that the "bad" teacher did, in my last placement.  I remember scoffing while reading these case studies in college, saying, "what self-respecting teacher would run a class like this?  Does this teacher find any joy in teaching even?  Her students must hate her."  Ha.  This makes the following quote really hit home for me (from author Ashly Lorenzana)

“No one truly knows what they will do in a certain situation until they are actually in it. It's very easy to judge someone else's actions by what you assume your own would be, if you were in their shoes. But we only know what we THINK we would do, not what we WOULD do.” 

As I say all of this, I realize I could make these same mistakes this year, and feel crappy at the end of each day, just as I did before.  What I'm working hard towards is that those same mistakes won't be made, and I will face each day with an attitude of excitement, joy and the readiness to inspire readers and writers!  (Ok, I know I sound like a Hallmark Teacher card, if they even have those...)

I'm DOING

   Aside from stockpiling inspirational pieces on pinterest, I've been slowly setting up my room.  :)  It's a process.  My goal with my classroom is to make it feel less institutional-y and non-typical cutesy-classroom-ish (i.e. the rampant trends of chevron, owls and comic-sans inspired fonts).  Here are my before pictures:

Completely empty filing cabinets!

Most of my storage--up high

Some of my bill-boards

Corner 1950's-style table

Divider wall

Staple-able wall

Lots of wall...

The semi-smart board ;)

And here's what I've done so far:

Like I said, work in progress.  I have some stuff to hang up on Monday :)  Thank you Pinterest.














This is the start of my blog.  I don't know how consistent I will be, but I'm hoping this will be the space where I can track my ups and downs in my new teaching position, as well as share inspiring or hilarious stories that emerge from my classroom.  Sixth graders can be hilarious.  I can't wait :)