Yes, the second week of school has started and now it is almost over. I just can't believe how fast it is passing! I have been at the school by 6:30 every morning this week and today I got home a little after 7:00 p.m. The grade chairman and I finished the lesson plans for next week. I still haven't graded papers or sorted them for take home. I'm am totally busy the entire time I am at school. I only make one trip to the restroom during the day when my students are at school and that is usually during my one break! Now, just to let you know a little bit about how this week has been going.
On Sunday, after I got off my part-time job, I headed to the school to finish up things that I didn't do on Friday. I found the materials that needed to be copied in the box beside my door. The teachers I work with stayed late on Friday, when I had to leave and pulled everything. I agreed to copy the material for all of us. I also worked on revising my schedule because our new principal had made some changes. Remember, I told you in the last blog that I had two breaks each day. One was at 8:00 and that was PE and the other was after lunch with our special classes like library, music, character education, and (I can't think of the other one.)....... Well, the PE teacher was taking all classes in one grade out at the same time and not really having a "true" PE class. The change lets us, the teachers in one grade, take our on class out at 8:30 now for a "recess" time and the PE time will now be at the same time as one of the special classes. In this way the PE teacher can have a true PE class with one class at a time and we will have an afternoon break every day and not just Monday through Thursday. In other words all the teachers in my grade can now plan together all five days. Of course, we can't this week because we will each need to assist the librarian on the day our students go to the library. They will be allowed to check out books for the first time. We always have to help the computer lab teacher which means that we will not be able to meet with the other teachers in our grade on the day our classes go to the computer lab. Oh, that is the other special class that I didn't remember earlier!
Class seemed to be going fine. I still feel unsure about a lot. I am comfortable with the start of the day and my morning activities. I really don't know if I'm following the math program or spelling program in the manner that is expected within our school district. We were told last week that we would be changing our reading program so I'll be learning that along with my co-workers. The resource teacher will be pulling my students all day long to test them to determine the level I need to start them in our new program. I'm eager to see her results. I have my observations and have an idea after the first week about which ones are my higher students and which ones are a little low. I believe most teachers with experience can make some close observations during the first week and can have some close estimations. I'll see how close I am when I receive her results.
Lucky me! I got a new student on Monday! Now, I have fifteen girls and ten boys. This is a very active group of students. They can be very loud. I am not a teacher who likes to yell. I don't yell. I also don't like talking loudly. It makes my head hurt. I caught my self trying to talk over my students today as I was giving instructions. Several times I stopped, did my little clapping routine, and quieted my students down in order to talk to them in a normal voice. Each time I did that, I explained that I didn't like having to talk loudly because it made my head hurt. Well, needless to say that by the end of the day, I did have a headache. It actually started around 1:40 or so and by 4:00, I didn't think I could hold my head up. Of course, I needed to stay at school and plan. I didn't have any medicine with me. However, one of my dear teacher friends who teaches one of the upper grades in my school suffers from migraine headaches and takes the same medicine that I take, did have her medicine. I took one pill but even after an hour I didn't feel any relief. I knew that I had to head home. When I have these headaches, the only way to I can get rid of it is to take the medicine and go to sleep. I got home around 5:00 p.m. I washed my face and climbed into bed. After about three hours, I woke up. My headache was not complete gone but it was not hurting anything like earlier. The horrible nauseous feeling was definitely gone. My husband who had learned not to bother me when I go to bed with a migraine, had cooked a delicious supper and had a plate waiting for me. I ate, brushed my teeth, and went back to bed. I did wake up every two hours to make a bathroom trip...... Anyway, when I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to begin my next day, my head was fine.
Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days. I had to adapt to and am still trying to adapt to the new schedule. I almost missed my music break today. Thank goodness the music teacher buzzed the office and asked them to call down to my room. I also used these days to review the rules for our class. I have already made a change to the rules that the students "helped" me create. The rules needed to be more specific. I wanted to make sure that if they were punished for breaking a rule that they could identify the exact rule broken. I also have several good behavior incentives implemented. Of course, I have an awesome "Treasure Box" filled with all kinds of toys and other desirable items. The only way to have access to the treasure box is by not breaking a rule all week long. This week is the first time any one will have an opportunity to pick from the treasure box. It will be interesting to see how many make it. I was pretty lenient Monday and a little tighter with behavior and following the rules on Tuesday. Well today, gum balls fell like crazy!
I am using a gum ball machine as a behavior chart. Each child has a gum ball with his/her name on it. The first time the gum ball falls, it is simply a warning. The next two times, I remove the student from the activity and provide "time out." However, the fourth time the student breaks one of the rules, he or she calls home to explain to a parent what rules are being broken. I don't tell the parents. I let the students have that responsibility. If the student is the one breaking the rules, that student should be the one making the call. My first student to have the pleasure of calling home was one of my boys. After he finished talking to his mom, I took the phone and spoke to her. Let's just say my little fellow probably had very little control over his own behavior. Some times there are reasons for what students do. Well, today I had another child, a different child, make it to "Call Home." Yes, it may take a few trips to the office to call home but my students will learn that this is what will happen and most likely I won't have to make many more trips to the office for this reason. Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering about what will happen next, right? Well, I do have another level for the falling gum ball and that last level is "Office." Of course, I have rarely had to send a student to the "Office" because usually they settle down after they talk to a parent! Oh, did I mention that the only time we can call home is during my one break.............. I just had to tell you that. Well, that is almost always the case. Tuesday, I actually did it during the day. When the assistant principal walked down the hall, I saw her and asked if she would stay with my students while they were in centers so that I could take my student to the office to call home. Of course, she didn't mind and I took advantage of that opportunity.
Well, today I felt really good about my morning activities. I feel like I'm getting more on top of the curriculum I have to cover. I started to understand how the math and spelling programs work. I will be going to a training on Monday to learn exactly how the math program is set up. I stayed after school until about 6:30 p.m. today with the grade chair teacher preparing our lesson plans for next week. I have been attempting to have centers since Tuesday. Today, the center activities went a little smoother than they have the first two days. However, I have decided that tomorrow I will focus more on the procedures for going to the centers and changing centers. I will also focus more on stopping the noise level before it starts to rise. This may take another week or so but I'm determined to make center activity part of my teaching. I know that this is important.
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