9 Nov
Dear Accelerated Reader,
I have a bone to pick with you!
I don’t know about other schools, or classrooms, but you are sucking the joy out of reading in my classroom.
Ok, well, it’s not really you, but it’s what you stand for. It’s also what others have made of you. So, I guess it’s not all your fault..READ MORE
26 Aug
While attending the 2011 PLC summit, one of the presenters told us about an experience he had while watching Family Feud. The question was, “What is the reason your child’s teacher is calling your house?” Not one of the “right” answers were positive, not one! Two of the answers were, “Your kid is failing” and “Your kid skipped school”. These answers only served to reinforce the stereotype of parent/teacher communication; we’re the bearers of bad news…Read More
16 Jul
We all do it. We might not be conscious of it all the time, but we do it. Whether it is race, gender, nationality, religion, etc…, we stereotype. Stereotyping in general is a bad thing, but when it is done in our classrooms, we are committing a grave disservice to our students… Read more!
5 Jun
Yes, it does, at least when it comes to class size.
Recently Governor Romney visited Pennsylvania and made the remark, “a think tank type group went and looked at South Korea and Singapore and around the United States and said, gosh, in the schools the highest performing in the world, their classroom sizes are about the same in the United States .” Is education a priority in those countries? I bet it is.
Arne Duncan, the Education Secretary, has also called class size “a sacred cow,” “and I think we need to take it on,” said in March 2011. He later said, “My point there was that I think the quality of the teacher is so hugely important. I’ve said things like, give me the parent, give me an option of 28 children in a class with a phenomenal teacher or 22 children in a class with a mediocre teacher. If I was given that choice, I would choose a larger class size. I probably would too, but why should I have to?
This is not about politics, this is about what is best for our students. I agree that teacher quality is important. I agree that parental support makes a difference. But class size is just as important.
A number of my students are chorus members, and one day they had to leave for rehearsal. That left 15 students in the classroom. What a difference their absence made in my room! The remaining students asked, “Mrs.M, what if there were this many kids in the room all the time?” I smiled. In my mind, I was thinking of how much more I could accomplish. How less draining the day would be. I thought about the way I would be able to give each student individualized attention.
Don’t get me wrong, I managed with my group of 23 this year, and I realize 23 isn’t a pretty bad number. But I know others are not as fortunate as I am. There are schools, where there are almost 30 students in a classroom. Even a “phenomenal” teacher would have a difficult time with this number.
I remember in the 80′s when I had 30 students in my room, but it was different. The parents were involved, the students listened, they sat in rows, and I taught out of a textbook. The classroom was easier to control , to manage. But now, when the dynamics have changed, it’s not so easy anymore. Not when you want to engage students, create critical thinkers, and differentiate instruction.
I wish I could get the “think tank” and Gov. Romney in a classroom of 25 1st graders. I wish Arne Duncan would spend the day in a room full of 30 middle schoolers.
I am realistic. Presently, the economy is in a turmoil , money is tight, and budgets are cut. But if so much is expected of educators, if we are to work in a productive environment, why not provide us with something that would help, a smaller class?
28 Apr
I attended a conference today called, ”Diversity Exchange:Learning from One Another.” The keynote speaker was supposed to be Reginald Weaver, former NEA president,but unfortunately he is ill. Merwyn Scott, did a good job standing in for Mr.Weaver at the last-minute.
Something Mr.Scott said, as he shared his thoughts, stood out to me. He said that when he was young he was a “coaster”, he did just enough to get by. He was dormant, sitting in the soil, going nowhere, not growing. His parents kept at him, did not give up, but he had his own plan for how things should be.
Fortunately for him, throughout his school years, he ran across “seed planters”, teachers who were interested in his germination. They ‘watered’ him, provided nourishment, and allowed him to grow, to flourish in the light, which made him the person he is today. He called out each of their names, recalling each teacher that helped him to grow. Each one that helped push him out of the “soil” he was buried in.
So, I ask, which one are you? Are you a “seed killer?” Do you use words that demean your students? Does the job seem burdensome, and you no longer feel like being there, and your students can tell? Are your students bored out of their mind from meaningless work with no real world application? Sometimes, this job is so difficult, that we might not even realize that our actions are stunting the growth of our “seeds.”
Hopefully, you are a “seed planter.” You are that teacher that Mr.Scott spoke of. The teacher who nourishes his/her students, helping them to sprout, to germinate? I see a “seed planter” as the teacher who strives to meet the needs of their students, emotionally, physically , and mentally. Fertilizing them with our passion for teaching, and our strong urge to see them succeed.
Yes, when you have a class of 25 or more seeds to sow, that is a lot of gardening! 
But we do it every day, year after year, we manage to reach our students, apply our green thumb, and watch them grow!
10 Apr
I don’t know about you, but this is how I feel at the end of each day with my students, (see pic above), and that’s with a group that’s not too difficult!
And now, they’re thinking of extending the school day? Well, I feel two ways about this, it depends on why they want to extend the school day. If they want to extend the day to fit in more test prep for more standardized testing, I shout a resounding “No!”. If they are extending the day to fit in more meaningless, unproductive PD, then my vote is “Nay!”. If the day is longer, so that our students are held captive by another boring lecture, or another series of worksheets, I put my foot down to such a ridiculous notion!
It’s bad enough that we subject our children to this type of classroom in a 6 1/2 hour day, can you imagine extending this torture? We have a difficult time keeping our students from dropping out now. What would an extended day do to those statistics? And the way education is heading now, no recess, elimination of the arts, field trips banned due to budget cuts, and/or standardized testing, and test prep, who wants to spend another minute in a classroom? I am not even going to touch the issues of teachers’ salary, and the fact that they can barely pay to keep the schools open now.
Here’s my idea of an extended school day, as idealistic as it may seem. Within that extra hour (or two), we enrich their lives. We don’t hand out any worksheets filled with mundane problems. We don’t bore them to tears with another passage testing whether or not they can identify the main idea. We don’t give them another 5 paragraph writing prompt about something they either, a. Have no experience with, or b. Could care less about. We should enrich their lives.
Maybe teachers can create groups consisting of students from all grade levels. (Writing, drama, math,business). Maybe we can focus on projects that help others in the community. How about a field trip that we don’t have to rush back from? (Ever try a class trip to the zoo in two hours?) Or Skyping with that class in another time zone? Pulling small groups of struggling students and helping them really comprehend the material? Or eliminating the need for busy work camouflaged as homework? And my personal favorite, book clubs! Reading for the sake of reading! Aaaaah…
Yes, maybe, it’s just a dream, but that’s what I would do with an extra hour, (or two), in the classroom, what would you do with yours?
24 Mar
I watched this video, and cracked up! I was trying to find articles about rigor and bumped into this video. It’s a bit long in making its point, but I get it. This poor teacher is being hounded by her principal, to “perform” , so that her students can learn the parts of speech.
21 Jan
Anyway, my new principal doesn’t seem to have this same issue, so, we are going on a field trip on Jan. 26. This one is special, because we are going to meet our pen pals, the Wilmington University Women’s Basketball team! Go Wildcats!
One day I was reading the competition’s other district’s newsletter. I saw an article about a trip they had taken to watch the UD team, who were their pen pals, play basketball. And as one who is not shy about using others’ great ideas, I got in touch with two universities near my school and made a request for pen pals. I also got in touch with one of my teacher friends in that particular district, and she gave me the emails of the teachers who had set it up.The Wilmington University asst. coach got in touch with me, and as they say, the rest is history!
We almost didn’t get there. I didn’t get the Target grant I applied for, and I thought this field trip had fouled out. But, the PTA is paying for the bus, and Wilmington University is going to feed us. My kids are creating posters with catchy slogans to hold up at the game. We are studying their stats. They are writing a response to the last letters they received from the Wildcat women, and presenting them to their pen pals, in person. And let’s not forget what we will do with the pictures and videos we’ll take while we are there! (Art, Writing, Math, cross-curricular, I’d say.) Man, we are pumped!
What happened to field trips? Why do some administrators think 2 or 3 field trips a year (and 20 min of recess) are going to make a difference in whether these kids pass those tests? What happened to exposing our students to the world around them, letting them experience life outside the classroom? Using a trip to supplement that great story you’re reading, or enhance a SS or science unit? When I taught in New York, we would jump on the subway with 25-30 kids in a NY minute!
The term “Keeping it real” is played out now, I know. But field trips do just that. They keep it real. They give kids the opportunity to experience life “for real.” Some of these kids do not have the chance to see outside their neighborhoods. Field trips give them that chance. I have nothing against virtual field trips, as a matter of fact, I have taken my class on a few myself. But if I had a choice of the Franklin Institute online and piling my kids on a bus to Franklin Institute, the bus trip, with all the noise, bumps, and mishaps, trumps a virtual field trip any day!
When my kids look at some of the places our International friends (Quadblogging) go, they question why they can’t go on trips like that. Who wouldn’t want to go to a Science camp or some of the other cool places our Quad friends travel to? I can’t blame them for making the comparison.
Yes, this trip is after school , it will be three hours long, I will probably be exhausted the next day, (No school for the students), but you know what? It will be worth it when they meet their pen pals, stuff their faces, wave their posters, and cheer their lungs out! Field trips are so cool!
