MCC Friday Reflections

The school year moves quickly.   The excitement related to the novelty at the beginning often transforms into the pleasure of getting to know one another.   Personalities come forth and we enjoy learning together.   A sense of belonging permeates the classroom as we move through our days.   From that pleasure we derive a deeper understanding of education and the role that each of us play in the acquisition of knowledge. I often take time to step back and simply watch as my students go about their business.   One of my goals set forth with my principal was to elicit a more conducive classroom atmosphere for my students to be independent learners.   To this end I first must develop lesson plans that allow for kids to be active participants.   From there I teach them the routines required to be self-sufficient in the classroom.   We practice this autonomy and gradually I release the responsibility to them.   It takes discipline, both on t...

Sometimes I wonder.    I have thoughts about what the world will be like for my students when they grow up.   I’ve had fourteen classes (including this year) and when I reach back to my first year of teaching I realize that the world was much different when I walked into the classroom in late August, 2001 than what it is now.   The students I had back then are in their early twenties today.   The world they currently live in is vastly different from when they were fourth graders.   Technology has advanced exponentially, education has shifted dramatically, wars have been fought, leaders have come and gone, medical science has advanced, and people are more connected to one another as well to events of the world like never before. Sometimes I wish.   I often find myself seeking answers to questions that can only be answered by time.   I attempt to mentally play out the future the way I think it’s going to proceed knowing full well that t...

We sat, barely knowing one another, and talked about setting goals for behavior.  We defined the behaviors we thought should be shown throughout the days, weeks, and months of a school year.  We discussed the act of setting realistic goals…attainable yet challenging.  We spoke to the fact that we are a group and each person has a responsibility to the group, and a responsibility to help reach the goal set forth.  We delineated a way to track the progress of our goal.  For the past 13 years of teaching I have had my students set a goal for unsolicited compliments.  The goal itself has varied as has the way each class progressed through the year toward their goal.  Every class has met their goal, some surpassing it. This year is not different.  The goal was set on the first day of school…90 unsolicited compliments in nine months.  I can remember us talking about how we would need 30 per trimester to reach our goal.  I look at our...

Behaviors are a peculiar thing.  They often surprise us, too.  Kids can go from one extreme to another in a matter of minutes.  They are testing the boundaries, trying to get a handle on how to navigate the world we’ve placed before them.  They take cues from the adults in their lives, the celebrities that they watch, and each other.  Being in a classroom presents an environment that allows for all three influences to play a role in daily behaviors.  It’s not uncommon to see children mimicking celebrities, talking about their family life and the rules & expectations they must follow at home, and some even pretending to be the teacher. Day in and day out kids, like adults, have to make choices about their behaviors.  They often are in conflict of whether to follow their instincts, follow authority figure expectations, or to stay “cool” in the eyes of their peers.  Sometimes they make good choices and sometimes they do not. Th...

Over time the classroom becomes a tight-knit community. Students and teachers spend some 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 9 months a year--together. We watch many of them grow from the kindergarten years right on into the middle school years. We send them off with a tug at our hearts and a prideful gleam in our eyes. Over this time students and teachers get to know one another, care about one another, and stand up for one another.  Teachers, too, develop relationships amongst themselves. Working closely with other adults to develop and practice the art of teaching affords us opportunities to get to know one another on a personal level as well as a professional level. Our paths cross often as we find ways to help, encourage, and teach the children that pass through our respective doors. Personal celebrations and discords are shared equally; and we support one another as a family might.  A teacher who has been a defining part of Lincoln School is travelling a road filled...

Mastering the art of reading can be a lifelong endeavor.  Some people love to read while others prefer alternate ways to nourish their desire for a good story.  Either way, school provides students with a host of opportunities to experiment with the written word. Teaching students to read is a complex task.  By the time kids reach fourth grade they are reading and the focus shifts from “learning how to read” to “reading to learn”. Comprehension.  An all-encompassing concept designed to elicit responses to reading in a variety of ways. Students spend much time sorting out main ideas from details, analyzing inferences, delineating fact from fiction, determining cause and effect, critically thinking about author’s purpose, and figuring out how to summarize effectively, among other skills and strategies.  It’s a tall order for kids…I’ve seen all kinds over the 14 years I’ve taught, both on an individual basis and as classes. Throughout a school year ...

The workings of a classroom are many and varied; an orchestra of relationships competing for attention, striving towards goals, and developing individualism. Students not only interact with the teacher, they also interact with each other, technology, the written word, sounds, and sights.   This concert of information bombards them constantly as we learn, work, and play.  Interactions can go smoothly or travel a rocky road.  They can enrich the experience or cause trouble within.  It’s a balancing act we must teach our students to perform…finding just right balance of how to manage these relationships in order to be successful in school. Part of learning requires working together with other students on a common project.  This week, kids were placed into groups of 5-6 students and had to write a newsletter.  They each came up with their own story and then had to collaborate to get the story on the computer, designed, named, and printed. The first day of ...

The routine is settling in.  For my students that is.  For me, it has been the same basic routine for many years.  And while there are similarities between classes from one grade level to the next, it’s the specific routine pieces that help define a classroom.  These specifics are what need to be explicitly taught by me and practiced by my students. Each morning I stand outside the school doors on the little “4th Grade Wing Porch”; the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are there waiting to be let in the building.  They wait patiently for the signal that their class is to begin the trek inside.  I hold the door for them.  As they pass me I greet them in some manner…a “good morning”, a “hello”, a “what did you have for breakfast?” or even a “wake up and smile, it’s [day of the week]”.  Sometimes I receive a verbal response, sometimes a questioning look (depending upon what I say), and sometimes I’m either not noticed or simply ignored.  Whatever the re...

     The first weeks of a school year are primarily dedicated the idea of “getting to know”.  Students get to know their teachers, classmates, classrooms, rules, expectations, and the daily routines.  Teachers get to know their students, roles in the building, new staff, and new parents.            Embedded with “getting to know” the students is the students’ academic performance that a teacher must take into consideration before diving fully into the teaching arena.  We must ascertain what our students know, their skills, strategies, learning styles and attitudes toward school & learning.  This is accomplished in many ways through short group exercises, whole group meetings, individual assessments, and simple observation.  It’s an arduous, time-consuming task that comes to fruition somewhere around the fifth week of school.                   ...

I w alk into my 14th year teaching walking into a new classroom (literally).  The past 14 years of my  teaching life have been spent on the second floor in the same room, Room 202.  I now reside on the first  floor, room 126.      Quite unexpectedly I have found a burst of novelty.  Not only for the physical space in which I teach, but  also in the teaching itself.  A fresh perspective; from the scene outside my "new" window to the way my  space is organized.  The move allowed me to rid myself of items that I no longer used or needed,  providing a cleaner, more organized look to my current classroom.  Couple this novelty with the new  school year and I find myself with an extra "spring in my step" as I cruise around the room as students  work.        Then there are the students.  New faces for me to pair with the names I've written and typed on so  many documents thu...

The life of a teacher is muftifaceted.   First and foremost we educate; attempting to bring meaning to ideas and concepts that, when our students first came to us, had eluded them.   We are detectives in that we must ascertain the personality of each child we encounter.  We must look beyond what we see on paper, seeking to know them as people...yet as people they are changing right before our eyes as they grow and mature.   We are "police-judge-jury" as behaviors of childhood crop up throughout our days; behaviors that naturally exist as children seek power or attention, as they battle insecurities or feel the need for some sort of revenge.  The cornerstone of misbehavior falls under one of these categories.  We must have keen eyes and ears to witness, use fairness and an open mind while sorting through things, and employ compassion and understanding while giving consequences...all in the while hoping we are teaching the child...

My classroom is a compilation of over a decade of memories, experiences and stuff.      I have things that were given to me long before I was a teacher, things given to me as I became a teacher, and still other things given to me as I am presently a teacher.  I've collected items myself from garage sales, yard sales, stores, and things around the house.  I have even gathered things from my late mother's house...things which I use on an almost daily basis.      One of the "mother" things I have is a hole-punch.  This isn't an ordinary hole-punch though.  It is circa 1932.  It's made of steel, through and through.  It has some weight to it.  It is a three-hole punch and is adjustable.  It boasts a squeak as one pushes down on the lever that engages the "hole-making mechanisms".  It has survived 82 years on this earth and undoubtedly has seen some incredible papers passing through i...

     A flurry of activity filled the classroom this week.  From new morning work activities to State Report research to Science projects.  The room was a buzz all week. ​           Once Spring Break ends I often say that "it's all downhill from here".  The days whiz by and the engines of the classroom hum, producing wonderful works of art, beautiful pieces of writing, and thoughtful explorations.  Learning takes on a whole new meaning these last weeks...it's as if collectively we know that time is short even though we don't really think about it too often.        Things seem a bit lighter, too.  There's a bit more laughing, a bit more joking, and a bit more silliness.  It's as if we all are putting forth our best, appreciating one another, and finding that common bond that makes us the Room 202 Class of 2013-14.      There is also an aura of sadness.  A f...

The bell has rung.  The room stands still.  Pencils are entering  dormancy and papers no longer crinkle.  Folders are resting  quietly in the places that their owners left them, and supply  boxes are recovering from the flurry of activity they were a  part of this week. Where has the time escaped to?  Spring Break is here.  Seven- and-a-half months have passed since my students first  stepped into Room 202, stepped into 4th Grade, stepped into  my daily life.  They have learned, grown, and matured since  August of 2013 and as I look across the solemn room that has  housed me for the past 13 years, I realize that time is slipping  away quickly. Before we know it summer will be upon us.  Until then we  will work diligently on State Reports, science concepts,  reading applications, writing exercises, and math problems.   We wil...