For me, it's not about the cookout, or the day off, or hanging by the lake.
It's about remembering.
I live in a military town so the War on Terror is a daily reality for us. We've lost a lot of soldiers in our community this year, and those loses have reached out and touched all of us. And this year, it's even more poignant for me as the person I am remembering the most is one I never met - but I had her son in my fourth period class.
It's tough having a student who loses a parent under your watch. It's even harder when it's in the line of duty.
I've worried about Clever Boy a lot today. He doesn't have school to distract him and keep him busy and he lives in a really rural part of our community so it's not like he can just walk next door and find someone to hang out with. I hope he's finding something to keep him busy (he does love to read) and that he and his Dad can, finally, hopefully, find some common ground and do some Dad and Son things. But I still worry.
God Bless Clever Boy and his Mom. Rest in Peace Sgt.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Packing Up to Pack it In
So the last day of school for the kids was on Tuesday the 24th.
The last day for teachers, due to the fact that the kids were forgiven the ungodly number of snow days we had this year but the teachers were not, is Tuesday the 31st.
Which means we have had a lot of time to kill. Our days usually consisted of about 3 hours of in-services, meetings, workshops or whatever. Then lunch on our own. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent packing up our rooms, working with other teachers, and trying to keep from becoming completely bored before we could leave at 2:30. The 8th grade teachers - every one of which had to change rooms - really needed the time.
Just in case some of you were wondering, the 8th grade teachers had to change rooms for a variety of reasons. One, since our district is pushing a big huge STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiative into the 8th grade this next year, they finally saw the light and realized that science teachers probably need to be in the rooms with running water and sinks, since the social studies teachers who were in those rooms weren't using the running water and sinks. (No, I still do not have running water and a sink and it will be a cold day in hell before any of us in the old part of the building ever get those, even if we are teaching science.) The other reason is that we will again have a number of 8th grade teachers who will be picking up two7th grade classes next year, and it makes sense to have these teachers on the end of the 8th grade hallway that's closest to the7th graders. Last year we had 7th graders running all over the building (and consequently being late all over the time) because their teacher was way down on the end of the 8th grade hallway. So, truly, it all works out. Or it should.
Maybe because the admins solicited topics for the in-services, they actually were, for the most part, pretty interesting. We did a review of our first year of SWPBS (school wide positive behavior support) implementation which was interesting. Our discipline referrals are way, way, way down this year, but of course the grade with the most problems is 7th. Let's face it, they just lose their minds that year, regardless of all the positive reinforcement you give them. As Mr. Enforcer said, it's amazing the amount of stupid boy stuff that he sees out of the seventh graders. (Sort of like the kid who smuggled his friend onto the school bus in a duffle bag since he didn't have a permission slip from the principal to ride another bus. Gotta wonder about that one.)
We also had a great in service on what kind of information you can find in a cumulative file. The Principal is planning on giving us two days of in-service credit at the beginning of the year to work on the files of our 20% of kids who are considered most at risk so we can come up with some interventions - great idea, if you ask me. As luck would have it, my whole team knew exactly what file the Principal was using as soon as it went up on the document reader - even though the names had been blacked out - because it's one we worked with most of the year. Truly, this poor kid has one of the worst life stories I've ever heard and you could have heard a pin drop as The Principal went through his file and highlighted things that popped out at her that we needed to look at. Mother had him at 17, father deceased, did okay on state tests until the 5th grade, removed from the home twice, mother has a drug problem and was charged with abuse and neglect, not to mention the fact that she'd lock her kids in their bedrooms while she turned tricks for drug money, she'd lock them in the car, live-in boyfriend was on the lam for some sort of felony conviction, and it went on and on. (Is there any surprise here that this kid does not do well in school?)
And of course Mrs. Eagle and I spent a lot of time going through our files (and dumping a lot of stuff), going through our unit binders (and dumping and adding stuff) and generally coming up with some ideas for next year. Although STEM is going to be hit hard and heavy in 8th grade, we're being "encouraged" to attempt more of it on our own next year as well (no big deal as we did a lot of that this year anyway).
So, it's been productive, and unrushed, but we're all about at the end of finding things to keep us busy. So one more day, which includes our end of the year lunch, and then we're free.
Except I have a science lab in-service on June 1st. Maybe I can sleep in on the 2nd...
The last day for teachers, due to the fact that the kids were forgiven the ungodly number of snow days we had this year but the teachers were not, is Tuesday the 31st.
Which means we have had a lot of time to kill. Our days usually consisted of about 3 hours of in-services, meetings, workshops or whatever. Then lunch on our own. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent packing up our rooms, working with other teachers, and trying to keep from becoming completely bored before we could leave at 2:30. The 8th grade teachers - every one of which had to change rooms - really needed the time.
Just in case some of you were wondering, the 8th grade teachers had to change rooms for a variety of reasons. One, since our district is pushing a big huge STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiative into the 8th grade this next year, they finally saw the light and realized that science teachers probably need to be in the rooms with running water and sinks, since the social studies teachers who were in those rooms weren't using the running water and sinks. (No, I still do not have running water and a sink and it will be a cold day in hell before any of us in the old part of the building ever get those, even if we are teaching science.) The other reason is that we will again have a number of 8th grade teachers who will be picking up two7th grade classes next year, and it makes sense to have these teachers on the end of the 8th grade hallway that's closest to the7th graders. Last year we had 7th graders running all over the building (and consequently being late all over the time) because their teacher was way down on the end of the 8th grade hallway. So, truly, it all works out. Or it should.
Maybe because the admins solicited topics for the in-services, they actually were, for the most part, pretty interesting. We did a review of our first year of SWPBS (school wide positive behavior support) implementation which was interesting. Our discipline referrals are way, way, way down this year, but of course the grade with the most problems is 7th. Let's face it, they just lose their minds that year, regardless of all the positive reinforcement you give them. As Mr. Enforcer said, it's amazing the amount of stupid boy stuff that he sees out of the seventh graders. (Sort of like the kid who smuggled his friend onto the school bus in a duffle bag since he didn't have a permission slip from the principal to ride another bus. Gotta wonder about that one.)
We also had a great in service on what kind of information you can find in a cumulative file. The Principal is planning on giving us two days of in-service credit at the beginning of the year to work on the files of our 20% of kids who are considered most at risk so we can come up with some interventions - great idea, if you ask me. As luck would have it, my whole team knew exactly what file the Principal was using as soon as it went up on the document reader - even though the names had been blacked out - because it's one we worked with most of the year. Truly, this poor kid has one of the worst life stories I've ever heard and you could have heard a pin drop as The Principal went through his file and highlighted things that popped out at her that we needed to look at. Mother had him at 17, father deceased, did okay on state tests until the 5th grade, removed from the home twice, mother has a drug problem and was charged with abuse and neglect, not to mention the fact that she'd lock her kids in their bedrooms while she turned tricks for drug money, she'd lock them in the car, live-in boyfriend was on the lam for some sort of felony conviction, and it went on and on. (Is there any surprise here that this kid does not do well in school?)
And of course Mrs. Eagle and I spent a lot of time going through our files (and dumping a lot of stuff), going through our unit binders (and dumping and adding stuff) and generally coming up with some ideas for next year. Although STEM is going to be hit hard and heavy in 8th grade, we're being "encouraged" to attempt more of it on our own next year as well (no big deal as we did a lot of that this year anyway).
So, it's been productive, and unrushed, but we're all about at the end of finding things to keep us busy. So one more day, which includes our end of the year lunch, and then we're free.
Except I have a science lab in-service on June 1st. Maybe I can sleep in on the 2nd...
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
So Long, Farewell!
Today was the last half day of school!
It's fair to say that the seventh grade teachers were probably more excited than the kids. I'm not sure why we even have a half day as the day, truly, serves no purpose. We managed to get the report cards printed and issued yesterday (in the hopes that the little darlings would stay home), but they came anyway. Pretty much the day is spent showing a movie, letting them run around in the gym for a while (the weather has been awful), and hoping they don't annoy the daylights out of us on this last day.
Fortunately for me, all the kids in my home room (with one glaring exception) that gave me hives were gone today - either in alternative school, suspended (for fighting the day before), in school suspension or they didn't come. That made for a pleasant day - one of the most pleasant we've ever had. I put on a movie, but most of the kids chose to go through the game club games and spent the morning playing Apples to Apples and Monopoly. Nicely. Without causing a fuss.
It was actually quite pleasant. Which goes to show that when they want to be, they can be well mannered and a lot of fun.
So, we sent them on their way, most to 8th grade, others to other states (we have quite a few of our military kids moving out of the area now that their military parent is back from Afghanistan), and some to who knows where. But we waved the buses goodbye (my favorite tradition), and wished them all a wonderful summer.
The bittersweet moment for Mrs. Social Studies and I was saying goodbye to two of our boys from last year. These two young men are kids that I would not hesitate to give a home to should they need one. They are polite, well-mannered, and just delightful. (They also happen to be best friends practically joined at the hip.) Neither one was a star student in 7th grade (one is a sped kid) but they flourished in 8th grade. And they never let a day go by that they didn't stop and give each of us a hug. I kid you not - they'd be walking down the hall with all their basketball buddies and they'd stop, come visit us (making their friends wait) and off they'd go. Their friends quickly figured out that this was something they were going to do regardless of how much they teased them, and the teasing ceased and pretty soon these kids were coming by to say hi even though we never had them as students.
I love these two. And I know they'll be okay. We had a talk with them a bit today about high school, and what they hoped to accomplish - they have managed to stay clear of the gangs and drugs that so many of our kids fall prey to, and that's a blessing. (They ascribe this to good role models and the fact that "it's not something Jesus would approve of or do.") They know they'll be fine because they have people that love and support them, both at home and in school.
I'm looking forward to their graduation in four years.
So to T and T, I love you both, God bless, and I'll miss my daily hug from the two of you. I'd be glad to call either one of you my son.
It's fair to say that the seventh grade teachers were probably more excited than the kids. I'm not sure why we even have a half day as the day, truly, serves no purpose. We managed to get the report cards printed and issued yesterday (in the hopes that the little darlings would stay home), but they came anyway. Pretty much the day is spent showing a movie, letting them run around in the gym for a while (the weather has been awful), and hoping they don't annoy the daylights out of us on this last day.
Fortunately for me, all the kids in my home room (with one glaring exception) that gave me hives were gone today - either in alternative school, suspended (for fighting the day before), in school suspension or they didn't come. That made for a pleasant day - one of the most pleasant we've ever had. I put on a movie, but most of the kids chose to go through the game club games and spent the morning playing Apples to Apples and Monopoly. Nicely. Without causing a fuss.
It was actually quite pleasant. Which goes to show that when they want to be, they can be well mannered and a lot of fun.
So, we sent them on their way, most to 8th grade, others to other states (we have quite a few of our military kids moving out of the area now that their military parent is back from Afghanistan), and some to who knows where. But we waved the buses goodbye (my favorite tradition), and wished them all a wonderful summer.
The bittersweet moment for Mrs. Social Studies and I was saying goodbye to two of our boys from last year. These two young men are kids that I would not hesitate to give a home to should they need one. They are polite, well-mannered, and just delightful. (They also happen to be best friends practically joined at the hip.) Neither one was a star student in 7th grade (one is a sped kid) but they flourished in 8th grade. And they never let a day go by that they didn't stop and give each of us a hug. I kid you not - they'd be walking down the hall with all their basketball buddies and they'd stop, come visit us (making their friends wait) and off they'd go. Their friends quickly figured out that this was something they were going to do regardless of how much they teased them, and the teasing ceased and pretty soon these kids were coming by to say hi even though we never had them as students.
I love these two. And I know they'll be okay. We had a talk with them a bit today about high school, and what they hoped to accomplish - they have managed to stay clear of the gangs and drugs that so many of our kids fall prey to, and that's a blessing. (They ascribe this to good role models and the fact that "it's not something Jesus would approve of or do.") They know they'll be fine because they have people that love and support them, both at home and in school.
I'm looking forward to their graduation in four years.
So to T and T, I love you both, God bless, and I'll miss my daily hug from the two of you. I'd be glad to call either one of you my son.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Girl Drama - A Theory Behind the Madness?
As you know doubt have read over my past few posts, we've just had an amazing amount of girl drama this year. We are not alone. The eighth grade as well as the sixth grade report mass amounts of girl drama as well. It's almost as if a damn has broke and we're just flooded with girls gossiping, arguing, threatening, fighting and just generally acting like a bunch of horrid little brats.
It really takes the fun out of everything, truth be told. But there's always hope. We did have one nice day this week when our main instigator was absent and all the girls were, surprisingly, well mannered and actually kind of nice. But she came back the next day to stir the pot and life was hell again.
So, I'm on the telephone the other night talking to my cousin who lives in Colorado. We call about every other week or so and chat and catch up on what's going on and all that sort of thing. Like me, she doesn't have any kids of her own, but she's the favorite aunt for her sister's three children so she does have some kid experience. I began to tell her about all the girl drama we were having and she commiserated. And then she said something that had never, ever occurred to me.
"Did you ever wonder if all this increase in girl drama is a result of too much reality TV? I mean after all, that's all it is, a bunch of grown women running around fighting with each other and acting horrible."
Oh. My. Gosh. I think she may be on to something here. I have NEVER watched a reality television show. EVER. (They hold absolutely not interest for me. None at all. I teach middle school, why would I want to subject myself to the same bad behavior but this time in adults?) Although I've never seen one of these shows, I've seen enough advertisements for them to realize that they seem to have a bunch of grown ups acting like children. Badly behaved children.
It's often been said that kids model what they see. Well, if all our kids are doing is watching sitcoms where people are rude to each other and reality television where they fight and argue with each other all the time, is it any wonder they act like this themselves?
Counting the days...one and a half to go.
It really takes the fun out of everything, truth be told. But there's always hope. We did have one nice day this week when our main instigator was absent and all the girls were, surprisingly, well mannered and actually kind of nice. But she came back the next day to stir the pot and life was hell again.
So, I'm on the telephone the other night talking to my cousin who lives in Colorado. We call about every other week or so and chat and catch up on what's going on and all that sort of thing. Like me, she doesn't have any kids of her own, but she's the favorite aunt for her sister's three children so she does have some kid experience. I began to tell her about all the girl drama we were having and she commiserated. And then she said something that had never, ever occurred to me.
"Did you ever wonder if all this increase in girl drama is a result of too much reality TV? I mean after all, that's all it is, a bunch of grown women running around fighting with each other and acting horrible."
Oh. My. Gosh. I think she may be on to something here. I have NEVER watched a reality television show. EVER. (They hold absolutely not interest for me. None at all. I teach middle school, why would I want to subject myself to the same bad behavior but this time in adults?) Although I've never seen one of these shows, I've seen enough advertisements for them to realize that they seem to have a bunch of grown ups acting like children. Badly behaved children.
It's often been said that kids model what they see. Well, if all our kids are doing is watching sitcoms where people are rude to each other and reality television where they fight and argue with each other all the time, is it any wonder they act like this themselves?
Counting the days...one and a half to go.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Cursed Class...Part Two
The 8th graders finally - FINALLY - got in their field day.
Granted, it rained most of yesterday so it was (of course) canceled. Today it was dry, but cold (at least for this time of year). I don't think the temperature ever reached above 55 and it was cloudy and windy. But by golly, they got field day in.
So that was the good news.
The bad news is that on field days for the other two grades, we're more or less trapped with our kids all day with no planning or breaks. So, during first and second period when they usually go to their elective classes such as PE, art, band, and the like, they stay with their homerooms (because the PE, art, and band teachers are all out running field day). Usually what we end up doing is giving them some fun time - a movie or something easy like that because, after all, these are their fun elective periods.
Today, however, guidance wanted us to give them an on-line career inventory survey to help them do career planning with them as they get into 8th grade and high school. The good part was that it was all done on line.
The bad part was that it was all done on line.
The Guidance Goober saw to it that we all had the computer labs delivered to our rooms, as well as an individualized instruction sheet for each kid that gave them all the user name, password, and other information (including birthdays as some didn't know their own birthdays last year!) that they needed.
All they had to do was follow the directions and everything would be fine.
Let me say that again. All. They. Had. To. Do. Was. Follow. The. Directions.
You know where this is going, don't you? Just last week we did a Periodic Table of Elements project that involved FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS and many of them were amazed that I'd hand it back to them and tell them to "read number six again and follow the directions." They assured me they had followed all the directions, but it one glance I could tell if they had or hadn't. They just want to jump in, and not do anything so borrrrrring as reading directions.
So. Today they had to go to a website, set up a user account, and answer 60 easy questions about what they liked and did not like to do. Easy, right?
I had three - three! - kids who took over 45 minutes to set up their user account because they couldn't (wouldn't?) follow the directions on their sheet which told them EXACTLY how to set up their user account and what their user account was called.
I am not kidding here. Between the account issues with my kids, and then having to listen to them whine about pages loading slowly - "good gracious, there are 300 seventh graders logging in all at once, give it time!"- it was a solid two periods of aggravation. I think Mrs. Social Studies next door was ready to toss at least one kid and computer outside and slam the door behind him.
It was definitely a day that called for chocolate.
Counting the minutes.
Granted, it rained most of yesterday so it was (of course) canceled. Today it was dry, but cold (at least for this time of year). I don't think the temperature ever reached above 55 and it was cloudy and windy. But by golly, they got field day in.
So that was the good news.
The bad news is that on field days for the other two grades, we're more or less trapped with our kids all day with no planning or breaks. So, during first and second period when they usually go to their elective classes such as PE, art, band, and the like, they stay with their homerooms (because the PE, art, and band teachers are all out running field day). Usually what we end up doing is giving them some fun time - a movie or something easy like that because, after all, these are their fun elective periods.
Today, however, guidance wanted us to give them an on-line career inventory survey to help them do career planning with them as they get into 8th grade and high school. The good part was that it was all done on line.
The bad part was that it was all done on line.
The Guidance Goober saw to it that we all had the computer labs delivered to our rooms, as well as an individualized instruction sheet for each kid that gave them all the user name, password, and other information (including birthdays as some didn't know their own birthdays last year!) that they needed.
All they had to do was follow the directions and everything would be fine.
Let me say that again. All. They. Had. To. Do. Was. Follow. The. Directions.
You know where this is going, don't you? Just last week we did a Periodic Table of Elements project that involved FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS and many of them were amazed that I'd hand it back to them and tell them to "read number six again and follow the directions." They assured me they had followed all the directions, but it one glance I could tell if they had or hadn't. They just want to jump in, and not do anything so borrrrrring as reading directions.
So. Today they had to go to a website, set up a user account, and answer 60 easy questions about what they liked and did not like to do. Easy, right?
I had three - three! - kids who took over 45 minutes to set up their user account because they couldn't (wouldn't?) follow the directions on their sheet which told them EXACTLY how to set up their user account and what their user account was called.
I am not kidding here. Between the account issues with my kids, and then having to listen to them whine about pages loading slowly - "good gracious, there are 300 seventh graders logging in all at once, give it time!"- it was a solid two periods of aggravation. I think Mrs. Social Studies next door was ready to toss at least one kid and computer outside and slam the door behind him.
It was definitely a day that called for chocolate.
Counting the minutes.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Cursed Class
Last year's seventh graders got a raw deal towards the end of last school year.
For those keeping track, last May was The Flood. Something like 13" of rain fell in one weekend and most of middle Tennessee looked like a lake. We ended up missing a week of school due to flooding, and we still have businesses that are just now reopening after last year's disaster.
As a result of The Flood, we ended up canceling a lot of events. We canceled the school play. We canceled a band concert. We even canceled our weekend camping trip to the local recreation area. (Now that, I might add, wasn't solely because of The Flood. A lot of it had to do with the fact that The Flood caused every snake in the entire region to hike on up to dry land to places they've never been before. The camping area was overrun with them. The thought of seventh graders + camping + snakes = chaos didn't appeal to any of us.)
And of course, this was the group of kids who never got in field day due to tornadoes.
So can you guess what's happening to them this year? Anyone?
Yup, you got it.
Friday was supposed to be field day for the 8th grade. It rained. It was cancelled.
It has rained all weekend.
Tomorrow it's going to be in the 50's (cold for this time of year) and raining.
We may run out of school before we run out of bad weather.
For those keeping track, last May was The Flood. Something like 13" of rain fell in one weekend and most of middle Tennessee looked like a lake. We ended up missing a week of school due to flooding, and we still have businesses that are just now reopening after last year's disaster.
As a result of The Flood, we ended up canceling a lot of events. We canceled the school play. We canceled a band concert. We even canceled our weekend camping trip to the local recreation area. (Now that, I might add, wasn't solely because of The Flood. A lot of it had to do with the fact that The Flood caused every snake in the entire region to hike on up to dry land to places they've never been before. The camping area was overrun with them. The thought of seventh graders + camping + snakes = chaos didn't appeal to any of us.)
And of course, this was the group of kids who never got in field day due to tornadoes.
So can you guess what's happening to them this year? Anyone?
Yup, you got it.
Friday was supposed to be field day for the 8th grade. It rained. It was cancelled.
It has rained all weekend.
Tomorrow it's going to be in the 50's (cold for this time of year) and raining.
We may run out of school before we run out of bad weather.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Girl Drama
I hate middle school girl drama.
I realize that as a female I was once myself a middle school girl, and although my memories of that era are long ago and quite foggy (probably by choice, middle school is a miserable time), I'm sure I had my share of drama as well. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Especially when it's causing so many issues in our classrooms this week.
Remember how good they were for field day? Well it was a one-time thing, I'm afraid. Since then we've had fights pop up all over the place, good kids doing the most outrageously stupid things (shooting straightened staples out of click pencils comes to mind), and just general mayhem.
And of course we've had the girl drama.
You gotta like boys. They get annoyed at someone, they'll duke it out, then shake hands and be best buds afterwards. It's forgotten. They move on. Girls on the other hand will stir the pot over and over and over and over, making threats, telling tales, dragging in other girls and pretty soon you have a team in an uproar. And Mrs. Eagle's team in an uproar because we're getting "cross-team pollination" between our girls. Apparently the trash talking starts in their elective classes, where the teams are merged together, then spills over.
It's enough to make me want to pull my hair out.
It got particularly bad on Friday. Mrs. Social Studies and I had a number of girls request to talk to a guidance counselor about "issues" they were having with other girls. Unfortunately, guidance was buried in end of the year crap, we were one counselor short, and they had to deal with fall out of actual fights. As far as guidance and the admins were concerned (they'd been mediating all sorts of girl drama that day among other things), if they couldn't get along, and caused trouble, it was a big time write up and it wouldn't be pretty. So, the girls didn't get called in, and Mrs. Social Studies and I decided to take things in our own hands. We actually ended up moving kids between our classrooms to separate some of the girls, but felt we needed to take more action.
We yanked a few out in the hallway for some candid discussion, took names, got different sides of the stories, and realized that we had Had It Up To Here with the disruption and the drama. This is your typical girl drama story:
"Well Girl A is mad at me because she said I stole her boyfriend, but I didn't, he's just a creep, and she told Girl B and Girl B told Girl C and now Girl C and Girl D along with Girl A and Girl B are threatening to jump me and I can't go in your class because Girl A and Girl D are there."
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously.
By the way, Mrs. Social Studies and I have rooms that are next to each other and have doors that are separated by a mere 14". When we take kids out in the hall for a chat, and close the doors, it's amazing how well behaved the kids in the rooms are (we can see them through the glass). Why? They're desperately trying to hear the conversation. Cracks me up every time.
So, we called Mr. Math, who has an inclusion teacher during sixth period, and asked if he'd watch our rooms while we went around to the other team classrooms and basically laid it on the line. We have six days of school left and by golly, they weren't going to make it a living hell for the teachers and other students. Two of our team classes had subs (who were probably a bit surprised to see the two of us at the door, asking for a minute with the kids), but they seemed really happy to turn the room over to us for a few minutes. The girls were warned (and so were the boys, we told them the same deal held for them although they've been a lot better behaved than the girls - however, Monday is another day) and as far as everyone is concerned, that was a final warning.
Let's hope it works. But I'm not placing any bets on it.
I realize that as a female I was once myself a middle school girl, and although my memories of that era are long ago and quite foggy (probably by choice, middle school is a miserable time), I'm sure I had my share of drama as well. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Especially when it's causing so many issues in our classrooms this week.
Remember how good they were for field day? Well it was a one-time thing, I'm afraid. Since then we've had fights pop up all over the place, good kids doing the most outrageously stupid things (shooting straightened staples out of click pencils comes to mind), and just general mayhem.
And of course we've had the girl drama.
You gotta like boys. They get annoyed at someone, they'll duke it out, then shake hands and be best buds afterwards. It's forgotten. They move on. Girls on the other hand will stir the pot over and over and over and over, making threats, telling tales, dragging in other girls and pretty soon you have a team in an uproar. And Mrs. Eagle's team in an uproar because we're getting "cross-team pollination" between our girls. Apparently the trash talking starts in their elective classes, where the teams are merged together, then spills over.
It's enough to make me want to pull my hair out.
It got particularly bad on Friday. Mrs. Social Studies and I had a number of girls request to talk to a guidance counselor about "issues" they were having with other girls. Unfortunately, guidance was buried in end of the year crap, we were one counselor short, and they had to deal with fall out of actual fights. As far as guidance and the admins were concerned (they'd been mediating all sorts of girl drama that day among other things), if they couldn't get along, and caused trouble, it was a big time write up and it wouldn't be pretty. So, the girls didn't get called in, and Mrs. Social Studies and I decided to take things in our own hands. We actually ended up moving kids between our classrooms to separate some of the girls, but felt we needed to take more action.
We yanked a few out in the hallway for some candid discussion, took names, got different sides of the stories, and realized that we had Had It Up To Here with the disruption and the drama. This is your typical girl drama story:
"Well Girl A is mad at me because she said I stole her boyfriend, but I didn't, he's just a creep, and she told Girl B and Girl B told Girl C and now Girl C and Girl D along with Girl A and Girl B are threatening to jump me and I can't go in your class because Girl A and Girl D are there."
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously.
By the way, Mrs. Social Studies and I have rooms that are next to each other and have doors that are separated by a mere 14". When we take kids out in the hall for a chat, and close the doors, it's amazing how well behaved the kids in the rooms are (we can see them through the glass). Why? They're desperately trying to hear the conversation. Cracks me up every time.
So, we called Mr. Math, who has an inclusion teacher during sixth period, and asked if he'd watch our rooms while we went around to the other team classrooms and basically laid it on the line. We have six days of school left and by golly, they weren't going to make it a living hell for the teachers and other students. Two of our team classes had subs (who were probably a bit surprised to see the two of us at the door, asking for a minute with the kids), but they seemed really happy to turn the room over to us for a few minutes. The girls were warned (and so were the boys, we told them the same deal held for them although they've been a lot better behaved than the girls - however, Monday is another day) and as far as everyone is concerned, that was a final warning.
Let's hope it works. But I'm not placing any bets on it.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Field Day? Without a Hitch? Really?
All the seventh grade teachers had been dreading Field Day this year. After all, our kids have been absolutely wild since we finished The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Testing. We had a really nice day during testing week, took them outside to blow off steam, and ended up breaking up fights left and right. (The upside to that was some of our biggest pains in the rear ended up getting suspended for about ten days which was a nice break for everyone.)
So, to say that we were NOT looking forward to Field Day was an understatement.
And now that it's all said and done (on a lovely day in the low 70's with NO TORNADOES), it turned out to be one of the Best. Field. Days. Ever.
Strange.
These kids, who prior to field day were doing everything in their power to cause drama and stir up fights were actually well behaved. We had Mrs. Reading's substitute (Mrs. Reading had a baby a few weeks ago) stay inside in a "holding room" where trouble-makers got sent and they could spend the rest of the day reading or doing piles of worksheets. She had only four customers and these were kids who got sent to her by The Enforcer after doing something stupid at breakfast.
Seriously. We didn't have to send a single kid in for getting into trouble. Not. One. The Enforcer told me he kept checking the holding room to see how many kids were stacked in there and he was astounded to see that the only kids in there were the ones he'd put in.
What's kind of funny is that after we practically had to threaten kids to sign up for events, we ended up having kids begging to participate (once they saw how fun it was). We had some new events this year and they were a lot of fun, for both the kids participating and those watching (and some of them were a lot harder than we expected).
So it went off without a hitch. Which is almost scary considering this group. We kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did.
But never fear...we may have had a wonderful field day on Friday, but on Monday they were back to their old tricks and they celebrated by having a knock down drag out fight between a couple of our boys in between 2nd and 3rd period.
Counting the days...just counting the days.
So, to say that we were NOT looking forward to Field Day was an understatement.
And now that it's all said and done (on a lovely day in the low 70's with NO TORNADOES), it turned out to be one of the Best. Field. Days. Ever.
Strange.
These kids, who prior to field day were doing everything in their power to cause drama and stir up fights were actually well behaved. We had Mrs. Reading's substitute (Mrs. Reading had a baby a few weeks ago) stay inside in a "holding room" where trouble-makers got sent and they could spend the rest of the day reading or doing piles of worksheets. She had only four customers and these were kids who got sent to her by The Enforcer after doing something stupid at breakfast.
Seriously. We didn't have to send a single kid in for getting into trouble. Not. One. The Enforcer told me he kept checking the holding room to see how many kids were stacked in there and he was astounded to see that the only kids in there were the ones he'd put in.
What's kind of funny is that after we practically had to threaten kids to sign up for events, we ended up having kids begging to participate (once they saw how fun it was). We had some new events this year and they were a lot of fun, for both the kids participating and those watching (and some of them were a lot harder than we expected).
So it went off without a hitch. Which is almost scary considering this group. We kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did.
But never fear...we may have had a wonderful field day on Friday, but on Monday they were back to their old tricks and they celebrated by having a knock down drag out fight between a couple of our boys in between 2nd and 3rd period.
Counting the days...just counting the days.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Field Day Fiasco
Field Day for the Seventh grade is this Friday.
As long as it doesn't flood, hail, storm, snow, whatever. Heavens, last year we spent most of field day in a hallway while tornado warning after tornado warning was issued. Such fun. So we shall see if the weather holds and we do indeed have field day. (We have a frost warning tonight, of all things. In May.)
In any case, many of the Seventh Grade teachers have said all along this year that this bunch of kids really, really don't like each other and really, really don't have any team or school spirit. They are a cantankerous group. I've often said that individually, most of the kids are pretty good kids, but put them in groups (or classrooms) and you fell like you're on mile 1,999 of a 2,000 mile car trip with six kids who can't stand each other and who've fought the whole way.
It's been that kind of year.
So on Monday I had The Team talk to their homerooms and get kids signed up for Field Day events. The idea was that I'd take all the names, do a spread sheet in Excel and then make sure that each kid got to do at least one of the events they wanted to do. (It actually works out pretty well this way.) Our kids responded pretty well and we ended up fielding pretty full teams for all the events, including some of the new ones the kids were unfamiliar with. (For the record, everyone wants volleyball, kickball and tug-of-war).
Mrs. Eagle's team, however, had a different response. They pulled all the kids together during seventh period on Tuesday and they couldn't get kids to sign up for anything, even the three most popular events. They were rude, the didn't want to participate, they wouldn't listen, they didn't care. According to Mrs. Eagle, all they want to do on field day is run around and talk with their friends. Participating in the actual events wasn't on their agenda.
So, she went and talked with Coach Cool, who pretty much organizes the whole thing, and told him that we might have a problem. (The fact that we only have two seventh grade teams this year is making it even more difficult, especially since so many of our kids are cross-teamed. There's not a lot of team identity or spirit like their used to be.) Mrs. Eagle pretty much said that unless something dramatic happened, they'd probably end up forfeiting all the events because she couldn't get kids to sign up.
So, The Principal, who we also talked to, suggested that on Field Day, Mrs. Eagle's team dismisses the few kids that did sign up to go to the gym and begin the volleyball tournament, whole the teachers keep the rest of the kids back in class and put them to work on something. She figured that after about an hour of seat work they may actually want to sign up for kickball.
Coach Cool decided to announce that little gem to the PE classes and lo and behold, we had kids crawling out of the woodwork wanting to sign up for events. I needed only a few kids to fill a few empty spots, and managed to get those filled without any effort. Mrs. Eagle said kids were practically running to her room to volunteer to sign up.
So I guess, when the alternative is sitting in a classroom doing worksheets all day, or getting out in the sun and maybe actually participating in a little game of tug-of-war, being outside wins.
Monday, May 02, 2011
The Longest Month
I don't know if it's because we lost all our mental health days holidays (due to going over our snow day limit), or if the kids are just more annoying this year, or what, but this is turning out to be the longest 16 1/2 days of my life.
I am not alone.
There probably isn't a staff member on board who isn't just dragging into the building every morning, hoping to make it through the day. Of course, the nearly constant thunderstorms and tornado sirens aren't doing us any good when it comes to getting a good night's sleep. But still, we're just dragging.
And even coffee isn't helping.
I am not alone.
There probably isn't a staff member on board who isn't just dragging into the building every morning, hoping to make it through the day. Of course, the nearly constant thunderstorms and tornado sirens aren't doing us any good when it comes to getting a good night's sleep. But still, we're just dragging.
And even coffee isn't helping.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Southern Spring
I am sick of bad weather.
We are coming up on the anniversary of our 1,000 year (or 500 year) flood (it depends on who's talking what year it is), and the city is asking for volunteers to fill sandbags because - SURPRISE! - we're experiencing flooding again.
Within the past week, we've had numerous tornado warnings, storm damage, awful amounts of rain, hail, you name it. Everyone is cranky and irritated (kids and staff included) because we're spending nights in basements, closets and anywhere deemed safe while the tornadoes are popping around, dealing without power, and having to hang out with insurance adjusters as they assess damage.
Let's see...last week we sent kids home early due to power problems throughout the county.
Monday night we had rotten storms again - more power outages - and even more damage than we had last week. School was cancelled. (Smart call). We only lost power at home for 8 hours and I consider myself lucky. Some people still don't have power. One neighbor lost a tree, another lost most of his expensive, not even a year old, vinyl fence. Trees everywhere and power lines down.
Last night more tornadoes, more time in the basement (did not lose power - yeah!) and we delayed school for an hour, and let out today an our early due to flooding. Some teachers didn't make it in (trees in roads, trees through house, flooding, etc.) and a lot of kids stayed home because they were predicting more tornadoes today.
Can we just have some sunshine?
But truly, I'm thanking the Good Lord that it wasn't worse. We're alive, and unharmed, and although tired, and cranky and a bit soggy, we really got lucky. Other folks didn't get so lucky (just look at Alabama for example). My heart goes out to them.
We are coming up on the anniversary of our 1,000 year (or 500 year) flood (it depends on who's talking what year it is), and the city is asking for volunteers to fill sandbags because - SURPRISE! - we're experiencing flooding again.
Within the past week, we've had numerous tornado warnings, storm damage, awful amounts of rain, hail, you name it. Everyone is cranky and irritated (kids and staff included) because we're spending nights in basements, closets and anywhere deemed safe while the tornadoes are popping around, dealing without power, and having to hang out with insurance adjusters as they assess damage.
Let's see...last week we sent kids home early due to power problems throughout the county.
Monday night we had rotten storms again - more power outages - and even more damage than we had last week. School was cancelled. (Smart call). We only lost power at home for 8 hours and I consider myself lucky. Some people still don't have power. One neighbor lost a tree, another lost most of his expensive, not even a year old, vinyl fence. Trees everywhere and power lines down.
Last night more tornadoes, more time in the basement (did not lose power - yeah!) and we delayed school for an hour, and let out today an our early due to flooding. Some teachers didn't make it in (trees in roads, trees through house, flooding, etc.) and a lot of kids stayed home because they were predicting more tornadoes today.
Can we just have some sunshine?
But truly, I'm thanking the Good Lord that it wasn't worse. We're alive, and unharmed, and although tired, and cranky and a bit soggy, we really got lucky. Other folks didn't get so lucky (just look at Alabama for example). My heart goes out to them.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Dodging the Raindrops
Spring in the South can be a bit tricky.
The forecast for the upcoming week pretty much indicates thunderstorms for the next five days. It's Easter Sunday today and it's already rained 1.7" in my yard and still coming down. I'm starting to worry a bit as we're coming up on the anniversary of The Flood we had last year that many people are still recovering from.
The redbuds are out, the irises are blooming, the trees are leafing out, the grass is greening, and we're all trying to get our vegetable gardens in so we can have some great big huge ripe tomatoes come Independence Day.
However, one of the drawbacks to Spring in the South is Gawd-Awful rotten weather.
We just happen to live in the part of the country where cold fronts and warm fronts tend to bump into each other which means we get a lot - A LOT - of thunderstorms and rain and the occasional tornado. When I went house-hunting when we first moved here, Hubby wanted one thing - a full, finished basement. The primary reason was he had somewhere to put his office and our massive book collection but the other reason was "they have too many tornadoes and we'll need some place to go." The fact that a tornado siren is down at the end of my street was just a bonus.
Tuesday night they were predicting some really bad weather to come our way and I was hoping it would come through before it got too late. I can't sleep during severe weather and really didn't want to spend most of the night in the basement. As luck would have it, I was sound asleep when the tornado siren just about knocked me out of bed at 12:50 in the morning. Great. Hubby and I got the feline children in their kennels and got everyone downstairs pronto (we're getting really good at this and so are the cats). We had just turned on the television to see what was going on when the power went out. Fortunately we have plenty of flashlights and we pretty much sat in the dark, listening to my old Y2K wind up radio until the all clear sounded. At that point we tried to go back to sleep but still didn't have any power. Our power came on around 4:15, so I was one of the lucky ones.
By the time I headed to school around 6:15, it was barely light enough to see that there were a lot of trees down, street signs and stop signs laying flat on the ground, and debris all over the roads. The traffic lights were out as well, which made it a bit dicey getting to school as some people don't seem to get a clue that when there's no traffic light, every intersection is considered a four way stop. Surprisingly, when I got to The School, we actually had power.
We were one of the lucky ones. Apparently power was out all over the county, including at a great many of our schools. The high school down the road from us was dark, and there probably were only a handful of functioning traffic lights throughout the entire county. Most of the kids rolled off the buses bleary eyed. Half the staff didn't have power. (There were some unusual color combinations and outfits spotted among staff and students, the result of getting dressed in the dark.) By the time school started I was thanking my lucky stars that I actually had power since it appeared I was one of the fortunate few
As luck would have it, with so many schools without power (and with not good time frame from when they'd get power), the District decided to call it a day and pick everyone up and send everyone home. Thankfully we won't have to make this day up (we're still making up time from our snow days this winter). The seventh grade teachers - for once - got the best of this deal as our planning is 1st and 2nd period and they sent the kids home before 3rd.
The forecast for the upcoming week pretty much indicates thunderstorms for the next five days. It's Easter Sunday today and it's already rained 1.7" in my yard and still coming down. I'm starting to worry a bit as we're coming up on the anniversary of The Flood we had last year that many people are still recovering from.But they say a flood like that comes along every 500 years....right.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Priorities
I opened up my email program at school at 6:20 Monday morning to find this:
"Clever Boy's father called to let us know that his mother was killed in Afghanistan last week. He won't be at school for a few days and would like you to collect work for him."
This sucks on so many levels.
One of the hazards of working in a building that serves a lot of military kids is that the odds will eventually catch up with you and you'll get a message like this. That doesn't make it any easier. And the fact that it isn't the first makes it suck even more.
So, we got together work for Clever Boy but I really don't care if he turns it in or not. He has other things to deal with that are lot more important than a writing prompt and a set of workbook pages on states of matter. Mr. Math actually talked with Clever Boy's Dad (who is divorced from Clever Boy's mom) and it was obvious that this has hit the family hard (despite the divorce) and that they need to deal with this before we need to worry about school.
So, the week after we finished The Very Bid Deal Government Mandated Test, I'm struck with the realization that although the government makes a big deal over the damn test, and everyone is so obsessed with the damn test, that when you really get down to it, IT ISN'T WHAT REALLY MATTERS. (Although 50% of my evaluation of a teacher is now based on this damn test.)
What really matters is that we take care of our kids.
What really matters is that we are here when a kid loses his mom.
What really matters is that when a kid needs a shoulder to cry on, we're here.
What really matters is that when a dad is choked up about losing his ex-wife in the line of duty, we're here.
What really matters is that we are here, taking care of many of the kids that society doesn't really care about because they're poor, or have disabilities, or their parents have issues, or no one really cares about them at home. We are here for them.
We just don't teach these kids about science, or social studies, or math, or reading, or whatever.
We're teaching them to be good people. And it's a damn hard job. And no freaking test is ever going to measure that.
"Clever Boy's father called to let us know that his mother was killed in Afghanistan last week. He won't be at school for a few days and would like you to collect work for him."
This sucks on so many levels.
One of the hazards of working in a building that serves a lot of military kids is that the odds will eventually catch up with you and you'll get a message like this. That doesn't make it any easier. And the fact that it isn't the first makes it suck even more.
So, we got together work for Clever Boy but I really don't care if he turns it in or not. He has other things to deal with that are lot more important than a writing prompt and a set of workbook pages on states of matter. Mr. Math actually talked with Clever Boy's Dad (who is divorced from Clever Boy's mom) and it was obvious that this has hit the family hard (despite the divorce) and that they need to deal with this before we need to worry about school.
So, the week after we finished The Very Bid Deal Government Mandated Test, I'm struck with the realization that although the government makes a big deal over the damn test, and everyone is so obsessed with the damn test, that when you really get down to it, IT ISN'T WHAT REALLY MATTERS. (Although 50% of my evaluation of a teacher is now based on this damn test.)
What really matters is that we take care of our kids.
What really matters is that we are here when a kid loses his mom.
What really matters is that when a kid needs a shoulder to cry on, we're here.
What really matters is that when a dad is choked up about losing his ex-wife in the line of duty, we're here.
What really matters is that we are here, taking care of many of the kids that society doesn't really care about because they're poor, or have disabilities, or their parents have issues, or no one really cares about them at home. We are here for them.
What really matters is that we try to do whatever we can to get these kids to grow up to be decent human beings with the skills to take care of themselves and have a happy life.
We just don't teach these kids about science, or social studies, or math, or reading, or whatever.
We're teaching them to be good people. And it's a damn hard job. And no freaking test is ever going to measure that.
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Testing is Over!
Well.
I am almost at a loss for words.
We are finally - finally! - finished with the Very Big Deal Government Mandated Testing. That is the good news.
The bad news is that we have witnessed the worst - the absolute freaking worst- behavior that any of us have seen in all our years of giving TVBDGMT. It has been an adventure. (Or as one of my teammates said, "I feel like I'm on the roller coaster to Hell.")
We used to have a more flexible testing schedule where each building could more or less decide how they wanted to scheduled TVBDGMT within a certain time frame. Those days are apparently long gone as now we have to give the tests on specific days. Four specific days to be, well, specific. Which means that we have for the past four days spent the mornings giving tests to a bunch of kids who don't really care (they have no stake in them this year although next year it will count towards a spring semester grade), and who, quite honestly, aren't used to being well-behaved and quiet for three hours straight.
I'll give them credit. They were good during the test. Although some of mine, truth be told, were just fed up with practicing good test taking skills. Instead of highlighting, underlining, crossing out, checking their work, and all that, they simply bubbled in answers and put their heads down. The were D.O.N.E.
What this means is that as soon as the tests were done and they were released to first period, all hell broke lose.
It started right after first period when one of my girls (who is suddenly boy crazy beyond belief) got dared by two boys to pull a fire alarm. Which she did. She swears her t-shirt sleeve got caught on the alarm but the cameras said otherwise. I doubt I'll see her again.
Then we tried to take them outside for an hour or so to run off steam which worked for some kids but for the others it was a complete disaster. They spent that hour arguing, getting into each other's businesses, running their mouths and generally gearing up for some fights. The only thing that kept them quiet in my room was because I ran a Brainpop so the room was dark, and cool (they were all whining about being hot after being outside) and they calmed down.
But not enough to stop the fights that broke on the way home.
And today wasn't much better. It was raining and thundering all morning (I had visions of a tornado warning right in the middle of the test) so taking them outside wasn't an option. Mrs. Eagle and I were going to do a really fun mini-lab on states of matter but quickly tossed that idea out the window as the first hallway fights began. Three of my girls got into a tussle and all three have now been suspended for ten days and one has a heck of a shiner for her trouble. Again, if they weren't running their mouths and into drama, I doubt any of this would have happened.
And that was just the seventh grade. I heard that the sixth and eighth weren't much better.
So today, instead of having a fun lab, I had them open their workbooks, work on a section we didn't use this year, put on some lovely classical music and told them they were all going to be quiet, to mind their own business, and CALM DOWN. I think they were read the riot act by just about every teacher (as well as The Principal over the loud speaker this morning after testing was finished), and we pretty much said if they didn't get it together the last five weeks weren't going to be much fun.
For any of us.
But as annoyed as I am at the kids and their horrid behavior, I'm more annoyed at the People Who Make Decisions But Who Have No Idea What Goes On In A Classroom. You spend all week with a bunch of middle schoolers, with hormones raging, and put a high-stress, high-stakes test on them and force them to be QUIET, and then watch what happens.
Morons.
I am almost at a loss for words.
We are finally - finally! - finished with the Very Big Deal Government Mandated Testing. That is the good news.
The bad news is that we have witnessed the worst - the absolute freaking worst- behavior that any of us have seen in all our years of giving TVBDGMT. It has been an adventure. (Or as one of my teammates said, "I feel like I'm on the roller coaster to Hell.")
We used to have a more flexible testing schedule where each building could more or less decide how they wanted to scheduled TVBDGMT within a certain time frame. Those days are apparently long gone as now we have to give the tests on specific days. Four specific days to be, well, specific. Which means that we have for the past four days spent the mornings giving tests to a bunch of kids who don't really care (they have no stake in them this year although next year it will count towards a spring semester grade), and who, quite honestly, aren't used to being well-behaved and quiet for three hours straight.
I'll give them credit. They were good during the test. Although some of mine, truth be told, were just fed up with practicing good test taking skills. Instead of highlighting, underlining, crossing out, checking their work, and all that, they simply bubbled in answers and put their heads down. The were D.O.N.E.
What this means is that as soon as the tests were done and they were released to first period, all hell broke lose.
It started right after first period when one of my girls (who is suddenly boy crazy beyond belief) got dared by two boys to pull a fire alarm. Which she did. She swears her t-shirt sleeve got caught on the alarm but the cameras said otherwise. I doubt I'll see her again.
Then we tried to take them outside for an hour or so to run off steam which worked for some kids but for the others it was a complete disaster. They spent that hour arguing, getting into each other's businesses, running their mouths and generally gearing up for some fights. The only thing that kept them quiet in my room was because I ran a Brainpop so the room was dark, and cool (they were all whining about being hot after being outside) and they calmed down.
But not enough to stop the fights that broke on the way home.
And today wasn't much better. It was raining and thundering all morning (I had visions of a tornado warning right in the middle of the test) so taking them outside wasn't an option. Mrs. Eagle and I were going to do a really fun mini-lab on states of matter but quickly tossed that idea out the window as the first hallway fights began. Three of my girls got into a tussle and all three have now been suspended for ten days and one has a heck of a shiner for her trouble. Again, if they weren't running their mouths and into drama, I doubt any of this would have happened.
And that was just the seventh grade. I heard that the sixth and eighth weren't much better.
So today, instead of having a fun lab, I had them open their workbooks, work on a section we didn't use this year, put on some lovely classical music and told them they were all going to be quiet, to mind their own business, and CALM DOWN. I think they were read the riot act by just about every teacher (as well as The Principal over the loud speaker this morning after testing was finished), and we pretty much said if they didn't get it together the last five weeks weren't going to be much fun.
For any of us.
But as annoyed as I am at the kids and their horrid behavior, I'm more annoyed at the People Who Make Decisions But Who Have No Idea What Goes On In A Classroom. You spend all week with a bunch of middle schoolers, with hormones raging, and put a high-stress, high-stakes test on them and force them to be QUIET, and then watch what happens.
Morons.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Test
It's Testing Season.
Oh yippee.
And yes, I'm still trying to figure out why we hold tests six weeks before the end of school. As far as the kids are concerned, they are DONE, DONE, DONE, after the VBDGMT, but goodness, we still have six weeks to keep them calm, working on something, and hopefully passing on to the next grade. It's like herding cats. Except cats behave better (at least mine do).
Anyway.
We've done the massive, long, and relentless Reading and Language Arts on Tuesday. Not bad. No one fell asleep (in my group at least). One of my girls thought she was going to throw up so I put her by the door (and trashcan) and told her if she thought she was going to lose it to "run like the wind" to the bathroom. She survived. Math was today. Some kids didn't finish and just ended up guessing, but that's par for the course. Tomorrow is science, and then Friday is social studies.
The kids are, doing great during the test, behavior-wise. We did have two kids who we were worried about being disruptive in a regular classroom, and we were able to get them in a small group testing situation which works out better for all involved.
After the test, however, they have completely lost their minds.
I had to break up an "almost-fight" in my fourth period class today which resulted in a complete change of plans in terms of lessons as my kids all ended up writing witness statements about what happened so I could attach it to the discipline form. Lucky for us, no punches were thrown, but it still was pretty disruptive and got the kids a bit upset. I should have taken a grade on the witness statements, come to think of it.
And that was just fourth period. Every other class was loud, disruptive, argumentative, and generally just hard to get them settled and focused. And it wasn't just my team. The Principals spent the whole afternoon putting out fires as the kids pretty much just exploded after testing was done and we had fights and disruptions all over the place - and we haven't had that this year with our Positive Behavior Support plan in place.
So, tomorrow, if the weather is nice, The Enforcer is going to come up with a plan that will allow us to take the kids outside to blow off some steam. They need it. (And yet again, another reason why I feel that middle schoolers still need recess!) Hopefully we can wear them out to the point where they won't have the energy to cause any trouble.
Oh yippee.
And yes, I'm still trying to figure out why we hold tests six weeks before the end of school. As far as the kids are concerned, they are DONE, DONE, DONE, after the VBDGMT, but goodness, we still have six weeks to keep them calm, working on something, and hopefully passing on to the next grade. It's like herding cats. Except cats behave better (at least mine do).
Anyway.
We've done the massive, long, and relentless Reading and Language Arts on Tuesday. Not bad. No one fell asleep (in my group at least). One of my girls thought she was going to throw up so I put her by the door (and trashcan) and told her if she thought she was going to lose it to "run like the wind" to the bathroom. She survived. Math was today. Some kids didn't finish and just ended up guessing, but that's par for the course. Tomorrow is science, and then Friday is social studies.
The kids are, doing great during the test, behavior-wise. We did have two kids who we were worried about being disruptive in a regular classroom, and we were able to get them in a small group testing situation which works out better for all involved.
After the test, however, they have completely lost their minds.
I had to break up an "almost-fight" in my fourth period class today which resulted in a complete change of plans in terms of lessons as my kids all ended up writing witness statements about what happened so I could attach it to the discipline form. Lucky for us, no punches were thrown, but it still was pretty disruptive and got the kids a bit upset. I should have taken a grade on the witness statements, come to think of it.
And that was just fourth period. Every other class was loud, disruptive, argumentative, and generally just hard to get them settled and focused. And it wasn't just my team. The Principals spent the whole afternoon putting out fires as the kids pretty much just exploded after testing was done and we had fights and disruptions all over the place - and we haven't had that this year with our Positive Behavior Support plan in place.
So, tomorrow, if the weather is nice, The Enforcer is going to come up with a plan that will allow us to take the kids outside to blow off some steam. They need it. (And yet again, another reason why I feel that middle schoolers still need recess!) Hopefully we can wear them out to the point where they won't have the energy to cause any trouble.
Monday, April 04, 2011
Ah Spring
You have to love Spring in The South. The daffodils...the greening of the grass...the Redbud trees and Bradford Pears in bloom.
And of course, we can't forget the tornadoes.
We had a warm weekend - actually hit 82 degrees which is pretty warm for this time of year, and a cold front was headed our way. It was 70 when I got up this morning, and windy, so I knew we were in for a busy day in terms of weather.
And oh my, was it busy.
We got all the way through lunch without anything much than dark, ominous clouds, heavy rain and wind.
It wasn't until 5th period that The Principal came across the loud speaker, told us we were under a tornado warning, and requested that everyone get alongside the interior walls on the floor until further notice. My fifth period is usually pretty good, so they lined up along the walls like they were told and I sat there on the floor and tried to conduct class the best I could. We are, after all, in the midst of reviewing for The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Test, and I need every second of instruction time I can get. So, although we were all on the floor, I did manage to go through a PowerPoint on body systems, did an activity on levels of organization, and, since we hadn't handed out their review books, read to them from their review book about diffusion. It wasn't ideal, but I still got material covered, the kids were kept quiet (sort of) and we managed to make it through the end of the tornado warning.
I may add that the Enforcer, he who is in charge of safety and security, did away with the blaring tornado warning siren. That thing going off for twenty minutes was enough to drive anyone mad. Not only was it noisy and aggravating, but it made it fairly impossible to hear what was going on outside (I have no windows so I can't see anything.) Trust me, if there's a tornado coming, I seriously want to hear about it before it smacks us.
The warning ended, we wrapped up class and headed into sixth period.
Where we had another warning, ended up on the floor, and I did my "teaching from the floor" lessons yet again.
And we had another one seventh period as well. By then I had done more teaching from my spot on the floor against the wall than I had actually standing on my feet this day. This one was a little louder outside, the lights flickered a bit, but we made it through this last warning with flying colors.
Three different periods, three different tornado warnings.
Ah spring!
And of course, we can't forget the tornadoes.
We had a warm weekend - actually hit 82 degrees which is pretty warm for this time of year, and a cold front was headed our way. It was 70 when I got up this morning, and windy, so I knew we were in for a busy day in terms of weather.
And oh my, was it busy.
We got all the way through lunch without anything much than dark, ominous clouds, heavy rain and wind.
It wasn't until 5th period that The Principal came across the loud speaker, told us we were under a tornado warning, and requested that everyone get alongside the interior walls on the floor until further notice. My fifth period is usually pretty good, so they lined up along the walls like they were told and I sat there on the floor and tried to conduct class the best I could. We are, after all, in the midst of reviewing for The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Test, and I need every second of instruction time I can get. So, although we were all on the floor, I did manage to go through a PowerPoint on body systems, did an activity on levels of organization, and, since we hadn't handed out their review books, read to them from their review book about diffusion. It wasn't ideal, but I still got material covered, the kids were kept quiet (sort of) and we managed to make it through the end of the tornado warning.
I may add that the Enforcer, he who is in charge of safety and security, did away with the blaring tornado warning siren. That thing going off for twenty minutes was enough to drive anyone mad. Not only was it noisy and aggravating, but it made it fairly impossible to hear what was going on outside (I have no windows so I can't see anything.) Trust me, if there's a tornado coming, I seriously want to hear about it before it smacks us.
The warning ended, we wrapped up class and headed into sixth period.
Where we had another warning, ended up on the floor, and I did my "teaching from the floor" lessons yet again.
And we had another one seventh period as well. By then I had done more teaching from my spot on the floor against the wall than I had actually standing on my feet this day. This one was a little louder outside, the lights flickered a bit, but we made it through this last warning with flying colors.
Three different periods, three different tornado warnings.
Ah spring!
Friday, March 25, 2011
A few years ago I picked up my first sudoku puzzle book and was instantly hooked. I've always liked puzzles anyway, although I never was quite like my mother-in-law who would do crossword puzzles in ink pen. Sudoku was more my speed. It was something I could pick up and work on for a few minutes, then set it down, and return to it hours, or even days later.
So, my husband, being the dear that he is, bought me a sudoku puzzle book featuring 601 puzzles. I really enjoy working on these in the morning, when the sun is coming into my living room, and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee. It's a nice, quiet, brain-boosting way to start the day.
As of today, I have completed each and every one of the 601 puzzles.
Yeah me!
But not to worry...I have a few other books ready to go, although I'll miss this one. The binding had long ago given up and pieces of the book have fallen out (held intact with rubber bands). It was well-used, well-loved, and well-worn!
So, my husband, being the dear that he is, bought me a sudoku puzzle book featuring 601 puzzles. I really enjoy working on these in the morning, when the sun is coming into my living room, and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee. It's a nice, quiet, brain-boosting way to start the day.
As of today, I have completed each and every one of the 601 puzzles.
Yeah me!
But not to worry...I have a few other books ready to go, although I'll miss this one. The binding had long ago given up and pieces of the book have fallen out (held intact with rubber bands). It was well-used, well-loved, and well-worn!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring Break, or the Era of Yard Work
Spring Break has arrived!
Truth be told, I would have preferred to use a bit of spring break to make up our snow days, but here it is, intact, and as luck would have it, really darn nice in terms of weather. (Although I know better. I remember one spring break where we went from 85 to 18 in one day.)
Actually the week before break was amazingly warm and spring-like, to the point that the kids were wild (ah, the sap rises and so do the hormones). They were excited about break, excited about warm weather, and excited about just about anything aside from doing work. They also were all wacked out about the time change and couldn't quite seem to get with the program this week.
A few highlights...and lowlights.
We had our reward party on Friday for the kids who didn't have a single discipline referral for the previous nine weeks. Basically it was a dance with prizes and food and fun stuff during their 2nd related arts period. One of my darlings got into a tussle with another kid at the REWARD party and managed to end up in ISS (and who knows what else). The irony of kids getting in a fight at a party for being good just kills me.
Dennis the Menace has returned and he's like a new kid. Granted, Mom has him on meds now and he's already learned that he'll be expelled if he screws up, but honestly, I think there's more to it than that. He's matured. He even looks a little different - the greasy hair and acne of a kid who's just been slapped upside the head by Puberty - and he's a lot more calm. He doesn't get pulled into other kids' drama, does his work, follows directions, and is polite and well-mannered and just wonderful. All the teachers on the Team have noticed it and have commented as much to The Principal and to Dennis' mom.
Anyhow, he's been here for about a month (and hasn't had a single write up for ANYTHING) and when the names of kids who couldn't go to the reward party were released, he wasn't on it - which meant he could go. The problem is, he thought he shouldn't be allowed to go because, after all, he had been in alternative school for part of the nine weeks and had had a write-up while there, so as far as he was concerned, he couldn't go.
He's in my homeroom, and sits right in front, so we'd talked a bit and I said I'd find out for sure if he could go or not. Because, this kid, out of all of them deserved to go. So basically, I went to The Principal and said I thought he deserved to go...and she agreed.
The best part of my day on Friday was telling Dennis that he could go to the party. You would have thought I'd given him a winning lottery ticket. His face lit up and he was so happy. And this is the best part - he came back from the party and thanked me for seeing that he could go. (You have got to be kidding...a kid thanking a teacher? How rare is that!?) He told me about the whole thing, what he bought with his reward dollars, the music, and just how much fun it was.
Made my day.
So, for Spring Break I am not doing anything remotely exciting. I went and got Daddy Bird, spent a day at his place cleaning up, and now he's here at our place for a couple of weeks. He can drive (doctor said he could) but I don't think any of us want him driving long distances yet. However, the pacemaker seems to be ticking along just fine and he's doing a great job supervising my yard work.
I have tons of yard work to do, it being spring and all. The list will blow your mind. Today was pruning roses day and digging up a rose bush that hasn't bloomed for a few years (you give me nothing but thorns and I'm getting rid of you). I have shrubs to trim back, yard to feed, winter debris to get rid of, early spring veggies to plant, and on and on. I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'll try.
And then there's taxes to do.
But at least I can sleep in.
Truth be told, I would have preferred to use a bit of spring break to make up our snow days, but here it is, intact, and as luck would have it, really darn nice in terms of weather. (Although I know better. I remember one spring break where we went from 85 to 18 in one day.)
Actually the week before break was amazingly warm and spring-like, to the point that the kids were wild (ah, the sap rises and so do the hormones). They were excited about break, excited about warm weather, and excited about just about anything aside from doing work. They also were all wacked out about the time change and couldn't quite seem to get with the program this week.
A few highlights...and lowlights.
We had our reward party on Friday for the kids who didn't have a single discipline referral for the previous nine weeks. Basically it was a dance with prizes and food and fun stuff during their 2nd related arts period. One of my darlings got into a tussle with another kid at the REWARD party and managed to end up in ISS (and who knows what else). The irony of kids getting in a fight at a party for being good just kills me.
Dennis the Menace has returned and he's like a new kid. Granted, Mom has him on meds now and he's already learned that he'll be expelled if he screws up, but honestly, I think there's more to it than that. He's matured. He even looks a little different - the greasy hair and acne of a kid who's just been slapped upside the head by Puberty - and he's a lot more calm. He doesn't get pulled into other kids' drama, does his work, follows directions, and is polite and well-mannered and just wonderful. All the teachers on the Team have noticed it and have commented as much to The Principal and to Dennis' mom.
Anyhow, he's been here for about a month (and hasn't had a single write up for ANYTHING) and when the names of kids who couldn't go to the reward party were released, he wasn't on it - which meant he could go. The problem is, he thought he shouldn't be allowed to go because, after all, he had been in alternative school for part of the nine weeks and had had a write-up while there, so as far as he was concerned, he couldn't go.
He's in my homeroom, and sits right in front, so we'd talked a bit and I said I'd find out for sure if he could go or not. Because, this kid, out of all of them deserved to go. So basically, I went to The Principal and said I thought he deserved to go...and she agreed.
The best part of my day on Friday was telling Dennis that he could go to the party. You would have thought I'd given him a winning lottery ticket. His face lit up and he was so happy. And this is the best part - he came back from the party and thanked me for seeing that he could go. (You have got to be kidding...a kid thanking a teacher? How rare is that!?) He told me about the whole thing, what he bought with his reward dollars, the music, and just how much fun it was.
Made my day.
So, for Spring Break I am not doing anything remotely exciting. I went and got Daddy Bird, spent a day at his place cleaning up, and now he's here at our place for a couple of weeks. He can drive (doctor said he could) but I don't think any of us want him driving long distances yet. However, the pacemaker seems to be ticking along just fine and he's doing a great job supervising my yard work.
I have tons of yard work to do, it being spring and all. The list will blow your mind. Today was pruning roses day and digging up a rose bush that hasn't bloomed for a few years (you give me nothing but thorns and I'm getting rid of you). I have shrubs to trim back, yard to feed, winter debris to get rid of, early spring veggies to plant, and on and on. I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'll try.
And then there's taxes to do.
But at least I can sleep in.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Just Ticking Away
Sorry folks, I've been away from the blog for a bit to deal with Daddy Bird and his ticker. Regular readers may remember that he had a TIA (mini-stroke) last fall. Well, to make a long story short, he was having blood pressure issues (too high) he blacked out while driving for just a second or two, ended up in a ditch, and instead of going to the doctor for a look at the blood pressure, ended back up in the regional stroke center (about 3 hours from me). Turns out the heart was ticking along at 40 beats per minute when it should be at 70. (Hence the blacking out while driving). They put in a pacemaker and the difference has been amazing. He's less winded, has more energy, and feels a lot better.
So, I missed three days of school.
Which meant my kids had a sub for three days (I managed to get one that knew the kids although they can't stand her).
The kids were rotten. Completely rude and rotten.
While I was gone, the Team members were good at emailing and filling me in the nutty things that were going on while I was gone.
Like three of our girls were texting in class and ended up in in school suspension.
Three of our boys - all BIG boys - got in a scuffle in Mr. Math's room by calling each other "fat". These are the fattest kids on the team and the fact that they're calling each other fat is, well, just beyond ridiculous.
Another boy apparently, at lunch, stuck his hands down his pants, played a bit with the family jewels, and then proceeded to rub his hands on two other (much smaller) students. Mrs. Social Studies was grossed out by this when it was reported to her that she wasn't even sure she know how to write up the referral. Fortunately The Principal was nearby and informed her that it fell under "lewd and lascivious" behavior and that "unfortunately it's been happening quite a lot lately."
Disgusting.
My Seventh Period Class From the Very Depths of Hell Itself had an issue when our Drama Girl (this one is something else - she invents drama like nobody's business) apparently reacted when one of the boys made a comment (who knows what) and had a complete and total meltdown in class. Crying, screaming, sobbing, so forth and so on. My poor sub managed to get her to the hallway where Mrs. Social Studies saw her, called guidance and they took her away.
So, in short, life is normal.
Seventh graders, however, are not.
So, I missed three days of school.
Which meant my kids had a sub for three days (I managed to get one that knew the kids although they can't stand her).
The kids were rotten. Completely rude and rotten.
While I was gone, the Team members were good at emailing and filling me in the nutty things that were going on while I was gone.
Like three of our girls were texting in class and ended up in in school suspension.
Three of our boys - all BIG boys - got in a scuffle in Mr. Math's room by calling each other "fat". These are the fattest kids on the team and the fact that they're calling each other fat is, well, just beyond ridiculous.
Another boy apparently, at lunch, stuck his hands down his pants, played a bit with the family jewels, and then proceeded to rub his hands on two other (much smaller) students. Mrs. Social Studies was grossed out by this when it was reported to her that she wasn't even sure she know how to write up the referral. Fortunately The Principal was nearby and informed her that it fell under "lewd and lascivious" behavior and that "unfortunately it's been happening quite a lot lately."
Disgusting.
My Seventh Period Class From the Very Depths of Hell Itself had an issue when our Drama Girl (this one is something else - she invents drama like nobody's business) apparently reacted when one of the boys made a comment (who knows what) and had a complete and total meltdown in class. Crying, screaming, sobbing, so forth and so on. My poor sub managed to get her to the hallway where Mrs. Social Studies saw her, called guidance and they took her away.
So, in short, life is normal.
Seventh graders, however, are not.
Monday, March 07, 2011
I Won't Make the Majors with this Batting Average
Three parent meetings.
Three cancellations.
But hey, at least they called/emailed...about 5 minutes before the meeting.
With this batting average, I won't ever make the Majors.
Update 3/15/11 - Had a parent meeting today (scheduled by the parent). Can you guess what happened? Yup, another no-show. I am now 0 for 4.
Three cancellations.
But hey, at least they called/emailed...about 5 minutes before the meeting.
With this batting average, I won't ever make the Majors.
Update 3/15/11 - Had a parent meeting today (scheduled by the parent). Can you guess what happened? Yup, another no-show. I am now 0 for 4.
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