MCC Friday Reflections

      Next week is the last week of school for 2013.  Winter Break begins promptly at 3:00 on Friday, Dec. 21st.       The room this week was buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming break.  Holiday spirits were filling the room--as the kids seemed to be smiling more brightly, dancing more frequently, and singing in Music class with a bit more enthusiasm and added charm.      With the snow falling alongside the temperature Room 202 quickly became our safe haven from the elements.  Indoor recess, heat blowing through the vents, and holiday music playing in the background as we continued with the all important tasks of learning and teaching.      Pictures began filling my desk...each one different yet carrying the same basic message...a message of holiday greetings.  The drawings filled with greens and reds, pictures of Santa’s and elves, presents and snowflakes as ...

     The hallway at Lincoln seemed to only house myself as I walked from the copy room to my classroom on this frigid early Friday morning.  As I walked the tickle in my nose produced a sneeze that undoubtedly echoed to several rooms nearby.  I regained my composure as often my sneezes tend to stop me in my tracks, and while doing so I heard a faint, “Bless You”…I wasn’t alone after all.      I thanked the lone voice and continued on my way to my classroom.  As I trudged up the steep Lincoln staircase I began thinking about sneezes.  I realized that each person really has their own distinctive sneeze.  Some are loud and boisterous while others are quick, soft, and discreet.  Some come in waves, one after another, while others are few and far between.  You might even say that a sneeze, in some ways, reflects a person’s personality.      Now that December has arrived it’s probably safe to say ...

I could just see the top of the desk.   I was five years old.   I had to keep rising up on my tipee-toes to get a good look at what my older sister was doing.   It was my first Thanksgiving Break as I was a kindergartner.   The light shone on the paper as my sister wrote the letter. When she summoned me into her room I hadn’t a clue as to what she was up to.   She was my senior by seven years and in my mind she knew everything.   I caught glimpses of what she was up to and saw that she was intent on her task.   She wrote with what seemed like ease and grace to me…I longed to be able to write someday.   “What do you want for Christmas?” she asked, “from Santa” she added. “Santa?” I replied, “You’re writing to Santa?” Without missing a beat I told her that I wanted an “Oscar the Grouch” puppet.   She obliged and wrote it down. That’s all I can recall of that time with my sister, writing to Santa. I don’t remember anything else...

I have three young children (ages 6, 5 and 3).  One first grader and two pre-schoolers.  I look forward to sitting down to dinner with my young family each night, listening to the chatter, enjoying the food.  During the school week my wife and I usually ask our kids what they did in school that day.  From Henry and Ella, our youngest, we usually get the same responses..."recess, play-doh, job of the day"; from Ava we get a bit more but she seems to "forget" what she's done just hours earlier.  We kind of expect these responses but ask nonetheless--if for nothing else than to establish a pattern of expectations.  Expectations for our kids to think about their day at school, share the day's events, and hopefully gain an appreciation of other people's days. Since we aren't getting a whole lot of information thus far in their formative years, I try and make it a point each night at bath time (I give the baths as my wife gets th...

    The above picture was actually created by the class during math. We're starting a new unit and the concept is "Decimals and their Uses". Whenever I begin a new unit (especially in math) I try to ascertain how much my students already know about the content. This guides my starting point for teaching, insuring that I am not wasting their time or mine by teaching them something they already know. Those ideas are best left for a quick review rather than a full-blown lesson. There are several ways to determine the "pulse" of a class in terms of a certain unit of study; you can have them complete a K-W-L chart (what do I " K now", what do I " W ant" to know, and what did I " L earn"?), or you can give them a pretest on the concepts that will be taught and learned. You could have an informal discussion, asking them to talk to you or each other about the topic at hand. Or you could "Wordle". Wordle is a c...

The sound of the air conditioner has ceased; replaced by the whirl of the heating vent. When the vent first kicked on the dust flew up along with bits of string, glitter, and other remnants of classes past . The story for this week was titled, "The Stranger". It is a fantasy tale of a Jack Frost (or the season of Fall) In short, a farmer, with his truck, hits "Jack Frost" while driving down the road. The farmer takes him home to care for him. Jack Frost has amnesia due to the bump he received from the accident. Throughout the story there are clues to his identity. As a class we had a great time finding the clues, identifying causes & effects, and unconsciously bringing the Fall season into Room 202. The kids' clothes are aligning more with cool weather than they were last week. The colors being worn are darker, more conservative. The daylight is not as bright as it streams through the blinds. From the windows here in Room 202 (on the second ...

"We are to prepare children for the future". While preparaing to become a teacher I heard this often. It can be tricky at times only because the future is uncertain. We're not absolutely sure what kinds of jobs will be around when kids grow up. We're not quite sure what kinds of societal problems will unveil themselves. So we move along the best we know how, anticipating the future, keeping up on the latest technology, and having discussions amongst our peers. All in the name of preparing our students for the future. I have had the pleasure of being a co-leader for Student Council for the past 10 years. It's is fulfilling on many levels. One of those levels is the opportunity I have to teach children about the political process. Our local, state and national government has been set up very carefully by those who founded them. A system of checks and balances, of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people", of electi...