Four Corners of My Classroom #SOL23

I'm sitting in my classroom with 15 minutes left in my prep period. I typically have my slice ready the night before. Not today.

I look around my classroom, a place that brings me great joy, and I realize I have a slice sitting right in front of me. I know several slicers have written about 4 corners or 4 items in front of them. Here are my four corners in four minutes.

Books take up my entire back wall of my classroom. Here is one corner where the book shelves sit between my "corner windows." 

This is the other side of that back wall where I have storage space. And guess what is in there? Yes, more books. But these are my student book club books and are not on the shelves.

I like to call this corner, the business center with the posted objectives, the pencil sharpener with pencils for students, my mailboxes for each period to turn in papers, the safety manual and procedures, and all monitored by our mascot, Little A (which stands for Alices--yes, a one-of-a-kind mascot!).

The last corner is my "teacher space" where I keep my pen and pencil obsession.

Just in time! Time for lunch and time to post my now-written slice!

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

SOLSC #18 - Relationships - Or Lack Thereof

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Two Writing Teachers

Write it.

Don't write it.

If I write it, I might fix it.

If I write it, I have admitted failure.

I don't like failing.

What will others think of me?

These are the words that have weighed heavy on my heart for quite some time.

There are so many posts, tweets, and articles written about the importance of relationships between teachers and their students.  Just go to Katherine Sokolowski's blog, Read, Write, Reflect, and you will find many posts to read on this subject.

I believe in relationships.  I know relationships are the center of the classroom, and everything else revolves around them and evolves from them.

Seven years ago I was a college graduate for the second time.  Late that summer I had an interview at the school where I worked as an aide and a substitute teacher and where my own children attended.  There was a problem - a new principal.  He did not know me and was not aware of the time I had spent with the children at this school as a parent and as an employee.  He had not seen my relationship with those students.

At the end of the interview I was asked why he should hire me, and my answer was this:

"I love kids.  It's all about the kids.  If you don't love kids, then you shouldn't be a teacher"

Knowing my principal now, I am convinced those words were the reason I was hired. He is an it-is-all-about-the-kids kind of principal, and I admire him for that.  That is our philosophy. 

This year I have struggled with relationships.  I teach reading and writing to my homeroom and three sections of 4th grade math.  I have a terrific relationship with my homeroom and one of the other classrooms.  We have connected on many levels. That is evident when someone walks into my classroom.

The problem is with the third class.  I have not been able to build that relationship with them.  It is not one certain student - it is the mixture of the class.  There are many behavior issues, and I am just exhausted mentally and emotionally after they leave. To be completely honest, I don't enjoy teaching that class like I do the other two.

Because of this, I feel like I have failed them and have failed as a teacher.  I know I am very hard on myself, especially when I go back and read Katherine's posts on relationships.  I do not have those connections with this class.

I know relationships and connections matter.  I get that!

But what do I do when those relationships are just not there?  How do I reach them? How do I not feel like a failure?

I wrote it...now I just need to fix it.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On! 11/23

Each Saturday  Ruth Ayres invites us to share and celebrate events from our week. Looking for small celebrations has certainly improved my outlook on my week. For that, I am certainly grateful to Ruth and to all of you who choose to celebrate with us.

This week I celebrate "newness"...new lessons and new books!

I tried a new lesson this week in my math classes.  I love trying new ideas, but they are always surrounded by questions.  Will it work?  Will the students be engaged?  Will it push their thinking or help their understanding of the lesson?  

This was a hands-on lesson about lines and angles.  We used pipe cleaners for the lines, wooden triangles for arrows, and plastic circles for end points.  It was a huge success!  What a fun way to check for understanding.  I will definitely be repeating this lesson next year.

Demonstrating obtuse angles.

Our school library had a huge reason to celebrate this week.  Make that a $1000 reason to celebrate!  Our local Rotary Club donated $1000 to our school library to purchase new books.  The shipment came this week, and it just so happened to be our library time when the librarian began unpacking the boxes.  I squealed with delight as I pulled each title out of the box.  It felt like Christmas!  Here is just a small stack of the books that I was lucky enough to bring home and be the first to read.  Thank you Miss Christie! 

My weekend reading stack!

So, today I celebrate "newness!"  

Have a great week and may you blessed with many celebrations!

Slice of Life - My First Featured Student Reader

TWO WRITING TEACHERS

In my last slice, I wrote how my reading heart was smiling.  The second day of school, I "caught" a student reading a book tucked inside her desk while I was giving a spelling inventory.  I knew she was a  girl after my own heart!  Today I have chosen her to be my first Featured Student Reader.  Thank you Ramona for the inspiration and for sharing your idea.

Jenna is a student in my fourth grade classroom and shares my passion for reading.  She began reading Harry Potter as a third grader!  As I was typing Jenna's answers, I decided it would be fun to answer the questions myself.  So, here is a peek into our reading hearts.

1.  What are some of your favorite books?  Why are they your favorite?  Some of my favorite books are Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Candy Makers, Runaway Twin, and Ella Enchanted.  They are some of my favorite books because they all tell an amazing story.  All the stories are different and I would recommend them to anyone.

I have read so many books that it is difficult to list favorites....my list would be too long.  But, my list would definitely include:  Bridge to Terabithia, The War with Grandpa, Wonder, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and my all-time favorite adult book is The Thornbirds.  I am an emotional reader.  I love books that tug at my heart and even make me cry.  

2.  What makes you choose a book?  I choose a book because the cover and the back look interesting.  Sometimes I close my eyes and pick a book and end up loving it!

I prefer realistic fiction, and I like to read books that my friends or students recommend.  Reading other teachers' blogs has given me enough book ideas to last a long time!

3.  Where do you like to read?  I like to read in a quiet place with my pillows and blankets.  In my room I have a pink chair.  It's very comfy and it's my favorite place to read.

I love to read by the pool in the summer time.  I also read every night in bed before I go to sleep.  It is a way for me to unwind.  (Don't tell my students, but I also love to read in the bathtub!)

4.  What do you remember about learning to read?  I remember the popcorn words we had to know how to read because you couldn't sound them out.  Some of the ones I remember were:  I, have, were, and how.

Although it was almost 45 years ago, I remember being able to read the word "the" and being able to find that word in books.  I also remember learning how to read with the Dick and Jane books.

5.  If there was one author you could meet, who would it be?  If I could meet any author, it would probably be Peg Kehret.  My favorite story by her is Runaway Twin.  I would choose her because I love her books!!!  

An author of adult fiction I would like to meet would be Karen Kingsbury.  Again, her books make me cry and I am amazed at how God has used her writing to inspire so many people.  J. K. Rowling would be a children's author I would like to meet.  But, not because I like Harry Potter (fantasy is NOT my favorite genre!).  I think her story of how she became a writer is very interesting and I would love to sit down and have her tell me about it.

6.  If you had a friend that didn't like to read, what would you tell them?  How would you get them to start reading?  If I had a friend who didn't like to read, I would tell them that no matter what you like, there's a book for you.  I would get them to start reading again.  I would find a book that has their "likes" in it.  I would give it to them and hope they like it.  If not, I would find different books and try over and over until I find the right one.

My answer is very similar to Jenna's.  I love sharing books with others and the more we do that, the greater chance we have of turning someone on to reading.

7.  Is there someone or something that inspired your love of reading?  I think my teachers helped me love reading even more.  They encouraged me to try my hardest at reading, and I feel like they helped me a lot.

I am a third generational reader.  My mother and my grandmother are both voracious readers.  I remember when I was a little girl, going to the library on Saturdays with my mom.  We would go home, fix popcorn and read our new books together.


I hope you enjoyed reading about Jenna.  I look forward to sharing books with her this year.

Happy Reading!

Slice of Life - My Reading Heart is Smiling

TWO WRITING TEACHERS

It was not a typical first week of school.

I started out the week with 36 students and by this time next week we will have hired a part-time teacher.  Thirteen of my students will be going to the new teacher in the morning for reading and writing instruction and will return to my classroom for math and science in the afternoon.

I always start my year creating our community of readers and writers, but this was very difficult because we were not sure what was going to happen.  I decided to teach just a few of my beginning lessons, but leave most of them for next week when I have my "true" class.  

One of the lessons I taught was "How or Why We Choose Books."  I asked them if they were to go into a library or book store, what would make them pick a book from the shelf.  I made a chart and listed the students' replies.  This list included things like looking at the cover, read the first page, favorite author or series, and recommended by a friend.  

I then had them look at the list and tell me what they noticed.  What was NOT there.  Eventually, they saw that "because it is in my AR level" was not on the list.  I told them about a time when one of my students went to Barnes and Noble and she was so excited because her grandmother was going to buy her some books.  That Monday I asked her what she bought, and she said she didn't get any because she couldn't find her level.   (Totally made up story, but they don't need to know this!)  

This is when I love to see their reaction.  I tell them that I don't want them to choose a book because it is in their AR level.  Instead I want them to choose a book because of the reasons we listed.  I also tell them they do not have to take a test on every book they read.  I want them to read for fun.  This is foreign to them, because AR is really pushed in our corporation...but not by me.

Fast forward to our Meet Your Teacher Night.  I had a parent tell me that her son came home and was so excited about reading this year because "we get to read for fun!"  I know a part of that is really sad, but my reading heart was smiling because he got it!  He is looking forward to reading this year.

The second day of school I was giving a spelling inventory.  I looked over and a student was hiding a book inside her desk and reading in between words.  I tiptoed over to her, leaned down and whispered, "Is it good?"  She thought she was in trouble until I smiled at her and asked to see what she was reading.  She was reading Runaway Twin by Peg Kehret, and I whispered that is was a great book.  I told her I had several more by the same author that I think she would also like.  My reading heart was smiling!  

When I got home last night, I had a text from my sister.  I always get my niece and nephew books for Christmas and their birthdays.  Last Christmas I chose a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle book (something he is interested in!) and a couple of Biscuit books.  He is now in the first grade and her text said that during their reading time before bed, he read the whole book himself!  She said he was so proud of himself and again, my reading heart was smiling!

So no, it was not a typical first week of school, but it still made my heart smile!  I can't wait until next week when I can intertwine my community building lessons with my standards lessons, build those relationships, and get us on the road to reading!

I hope your reading heart is smiling this week too!