Mr. Clean

CLEAN DESKS MATTER! 

We started writing this morning and as I walked around the classroom, I could sense that something was amiss.  Normally, my students are hard workers, but today, it just felt different. They were moving and shaking--their squirming was audible. I thought to myself, "What in tarnation is going on here?" as I paced around the room. 

And then it hit me.

No really. A folder from someone's desk hit my foot on its fall from grace. I stopped to inspect what could have been a scene from Hoarders, Junior Edition. This desk was so overstuffed that my mere presence created enough of a wind current to send its contents flying. I looked around and almost every desk looked the same way. 

Uh, helloooo? Where have I been? 

How could I let these desks get so messy?

Well, for starters, it isn't always high on my list of priorities. We move so fast and cover so much each day that we don't always have time to keep things organized and neat in our desks. Also, I'm not too strict on desk organization--if they know where items are and can located them quickly, I'm okay with that. 

But TODAY was another story. I stopped the entire class and called for an emergency desk intervention. We spent 15 minutes purging our desks, ridding them of unwanted scraps, graded papers that should have gone home weeks ago, and god-awful pencil shavings.  

I tell you what, after those 15 minutes of organized chaos, it felt so different in my classroom. We got back to work--you could have heard a pin drop. 

Never underestimate the power of cleaning. 

Agent of Change

I came across this article today:

Judge rules Paterson, N.J. teacher Jennifer O'Brien can be fired for Facebook comments

Before I dig in, I have a small problem with O'Brien posting negative things about her school/students/career on a social media site. Next time she should write it down in her journal instead of assaulting my eyeballs with her negative viewpoints about our noble profession.

Now to the BIG point:

At first, I was indignant about her comment that she was a "warden for future criminals." I thought, How could she limit her students like that? But honestly, after I got to thinking about it, I realized the only person she was limiting was herself. I almost feel sorry for teachers with that mindset.

And trust me, I came across my fair share of teachers (during my first year of teaching) who think the same way as Ms. O'Brien. It's not exactly an isolated opinion.

I mean, just think about it. How pointless would your job seem if you believed that your students' futures were already decided? You couldn't be an agent of change. I've felt like an agent of change in every single school and classroom I've taught in, no matter the demographic. But that's because I believe in the students. I trust that they have an exciting and unexpected journey ahead of them. Of course, it's fun to guess their future profession (I once imagined that one of my first graders would be a t.v. meteorologist--he was such a snappy dresser), but I leave it at that.

I was pleased to learn--in later reports--that the aforementioned teacher was dismissed from her position as a first grade teacher.

Give me an A!

Okay, here's the down and dirty truth:

I loathe grading. 

EEEEEEK! I can just hear the over-achievers (especially those that attended MU with me) start to stir and cry: 

"But [insert my first name here], you're supposed to love grading so much that you brag about how late you stay up each night marking your students' work with precise and constructive feedback!"

Well, dear friends, that's just not the case. I've developed an anecdotal record-keeping system that helps me assess my students' progress, determine what my next instructional steps will be, and assign grades for each quarter. Personally, I think the formative assessment style is much more effective when it comes to student growth. Using anecdotal notes, I can identify a weakness and attack the academic problem long before it becomes a poor habit (i.e. only using the beginning sounds to decode a word). 

The problem I have with grading is that by the time I sit down to grade something, the student already moved on to something else and already forgot about the assignment I'm grading. Many times it's my fault--I wait too long to grade something. Hours, days, weeks, they just move so quickly when I have a stack of ungraded papers on my desk. I'll pick one up and think: "YIKES! How did I let an entire week pass and I haven't even touched these with a red pen yet?" Other times, the assignment was completely snooze-worthy and no one--not me, not my students--are chomping at the bit to assign or receive a grade. 

Now, before you mentally assign me a "horrible teacher" grade because of this particular post, hear me out. 

Over the years, I'm realizing a few things about grading: 

• Summative assessments (the kind you receive grades or written feedback over) are important and useful. They can help you assess your students as well as your performance as a teacher. 
• Grading is more effective and timely when your assignment comes with a scoring guide. Your students  can approach the assignment with more direction and you can be more deliberate and focused with your grading. 
• When you spend your time creating interesting assignments (and corresponding scoring guides), you won't mind grading them quite as much. Create assignments that allow for your students' personalities and talents to shine through--you might even look forward to assessing the final product!

Okay, so my suggestions are totally cliche and expected, but here's the final (and most important) piece: 

• Start small. Think about the one assignment that gives you trouble each week. (For me, it was the weekly book report. Totally snooze-worthy after 5 months of the same format.) Change up the format of the assignment. Create a rubric. Make the assignment more open-ended but then place higher/stricter expectations so it doesn't backfire. 

Ultimately, my goal is to have a nice balance between summative and formative assessments in the the classroom. My new book report assignment and scoring guide, which I started today--is just a step in the right direction. 

Happiness: A Work in Progress

Love Love LOVE a teacher blog called It's Not All Flowers and Sausages. I've been following the blog for about a year now and find the blogger, Mrs. Mimi, interesting, somewhat controversial, and always funny.

Yesterday she mentioned The Happiness Project in her blog. I researched the project a bit, and I'm totally interested in how it can help me develop as a teacher. Now, I'm all for working hard developing new lessons, reflecting on student achievement, or collaborating with fellow teachers, but you should know by now that I am extremely invested in nurturing a teacher's spirit. (Refer to my mind, body, spirit posts if you need a refresher.)

Because I'm emotionally invested in teaching, I think it's incredibly important to keep myself healthy in every way possible. I think that many times, teachers neglect the "soul" part of staying healthy because honestly, it's the easiest part to overlook. I'd move to to argue that most professions neglect the "soul" part as well. It's tough to admit to others (and yourself) that you need some "soul work," but I've found that taking some precious time during planning to read a book like Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching is just as valuable as planning a lesson. It may not happen every day, but I'd like to participate in the Happiness Project just to give my teacher spirit a boost during the winter months.

Food For Thought

I came across this video while searching for new and exciting teaching strategies on YouTube. I can't say that I agree with the "what good teachers don't need" portion. I think that an outgoing personality, a master's degree, and teaching experience certainly add to a well-rounded educator, specifically when communicating with parents,  writing curriculum, or handling difficult teaching situations. But I do agree that making sure all students keep up, changing lesson plans as needed, and setting high goals are tremendously important for student achievement. In any case, it's good to see that teachers are being recognized for their outstanding work!

December Post Hiding in My Blog Drafts

Happy New Year! I found this little stinker hiding in my blog drafts this morning...I thought I'd published it, but in the chaos of pre-Christmas teaching, I neglected to double-check. Enjoy!

Don't take it personally.

These four little words used to make my blood boil. Truth be told, I used to be one of the most emotional, reactive, and sensitive teachers ever. Anything, EVERYTHING that happened in my classroom used to send me over the edge or melt me down. We're talking the good and the bad, here. You used a period after 6 months of run on sentences? I'm crying. You continue a disruptive behavior I've repeatedly asked you to fix? I'm yelling. Let's get honest, folks. I made my students' behaviors about me. Every choice they made was a reflection of me, of my instructional skills, of my worth as a teacher and as a person. So when colleagues told me "don't take it personally," I just couldn't understand. 

Over the years, I developed rationalizations for my distorted thinking. I told myself that it was okay to take my students' behaviors personally. I excused the ups and downs because "Hey, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that's real." Other times, I told myself that "Nobody wants a Miss Mary Sunshine Teacher all  the time, especially if she's faking it." At the end of every day I'd mentally assign myself a grade based on the choices my students made. The grades were almost always negative because there was NO way all 24 of my students would do everything I wanted them to do every day. 

Let's get real, people. This is NO way to live, professionally or personally. I was torturing my fragile teacher ego on a daily basis. And like I've said before, my teaching and personal life is so deeply intertwined, there was no way to keep this habit from affecting my personal life. I'd cry on my drive to school, while my kids ate lunch, on my way home. Somehow, I had managed to break my own teaching spirit. (The negative environments I taught in didn't help, either.) The saddest part is, I'm not alone. Many teachers feel and act this way!

Luckily, I've turned things around this year. As I've been reading Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching, I'm reassessing some of the behaviors I've written off or rationalized. And although the advice this book offers is geared towards teachers, I feel like it's beneficial for anyone and everyone. The author, Angela Watson, writes:

"Recognize that the way people treat you is mostly a reflection of how they feel about themselves and their own lives."

This set me free! It gave me permission to stop judging, grading, hurting myself. Now, I'm also blessed with a wonderful class and school environment, but I have to give myself some credit. I try not to take things personally anymore. I don't make student behaviors about me. I make their behaviors about them. This in no way means that I'm tougher or meaner, rather, I'm more efficient. My students understand that I am here to help them. Ultimately, I realize that not taking things personally benefits me and my students' progress. 

Tuesday Rant

Dear Movie Industry,

I am writing to ask you for a small favor. Would you please stop turning all of my favorite children's books into movies?! Not only is it annoying to see my beloved storylines butchered, twisted, and revamped into crowd-pleasing screenplays, but you're ruining my lessons on prediction strategies! For instance, how am I going to set my students up for Violet Beauregarde's transformation into a blueberry (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) if they already know it's coming? 

You're robbing me of the joy of sharing one of my all-time favorite stories with my students. I don't get to see their faces light up the way mine did when my teacher read it to me. (Granted, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" starring Gene Wilder was out since the '70s...but I didn't see it until well after I was introduced to the book.) Every wintry Wednesday during "Morning Meeting," Mary, our head of school, would read a chapter or two of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I hung on her every word, the room was absolutely silent--she barely spoke above a whisper. Those read-aloud moments with her were magical, that's the only way I can describe it.

Well, Movie Industry, I can't really recreate that same feeling my own class, now can I?! Sure, I've got a few Roald Dahl favorites that haven't been turned into movies....yet. But so far you've covered: 

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• James and the Giant Peach
• Matilda
• The BFG
• The Witches
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Danny, Champion of the World

I'm telling you now, Movie Industry, if you even think about turning The Twits, Boy, The Magic Finger, or Esio Trot into movies in the near future, I WILL be knocking on your front door with some serious complaints. You've done enough, let's call it quits. I'd like to keep some magic and mystery in my read-alouds.

Sincerely,

Miss Boyd