Today was the last day for students. I still have two more days with the staff of J. F. Wahl Elementary. We'v'e got to check in all of our material as well as do some professional development. Today was fun. I had some students ask if they could give each other hugs, and after their hugs some of them were teary-eyed. I had 12 of my 19 students show up. I think that was the largest percent of any first grade class, just like last year. I'm not gonna tell me kids they do not need to come to school on the last day.
I had some students write me notes today.
"Dear Mr, Taylor
We are gone to miss you y we are in 2 grad. Also you are gone to miss us to and we will be so sad if we dont see you agand but we will still love you so you dont need to be sad so muth.
Love,
Kresha"
"Dare Mr. Taylor,
we are a good praren. me and Mr. Taylor is have fun. We get to to (?) 2 grad.
form Mr.
Taylor"
(Ahhh, Drica. So hyper her thoughts are not always straight.)
"Dear. Mr. Talor
we are going to go to the second 2-grade we will have fun at 2-grad! Il it is a good school. Il at 2-second grade!
Love,
Mr. Talor"
(Keino is doing so much better, but we've got a ways to go with writing.)
I will miss them all. I know that I will see most of them next year in school, but it is sad tosee them go. They pushed me in a way that my class last year never did. And as much as some of the students pushed me, I'm sure I will miss them the most.
I also got some of my scores back. While not everyone was low risk, everyone did some pretty remarkable things. Der went from reading 1 word per minute back in January to reading 20 words per minute the other week. I believe that was the greatest percent increase in my class. I also had another student read one passage at 175 words per minute. His median score on three passages was 97 words. There was also a girl that had a median score of 100 words per minute. I think that my class this year did better than my class last year.
Next year will be even better.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Day nearing the end of the year
There was the end of the year celebration this past Saturday. It was at Hopson Farms and it resulted in an email being sent out by a member that did not like the setting. Other than the late breaking offense it was a good night. It made me think about a couple of things.
First one is how people are moving on. Some people are moving on because of further education. Others are moving on because they want to teach in other areas. There seem to be two schools of thought on that sort of move. All people seem to want to go to better schools (better organized/performing charter schools). That's all well and good that you want to go to a good school, but it seems almost like the antithesis of the mission of the program. To help education inequity why would you go to a school that has a proven track record. Yes, they may serve underserved students, but it does not seem like one person can make much of a change, especially if it is going well. I did find someone that has similar feelings to me regarding the topic. She is going to a charter school because she wants to learn how they are run/what makes them good, and then try to replicate it in a Chicago Public School. Who knows. There may be more with similar noble intentions, but only one person expressed those to me. I was proud of her.
The other thought that came to mind was about Big Goals. That is a concept that is big in TFA. You need to have Big Goals to know where you are going. You've got to track your students' growth in meeting those goals. After events of the past week I started to reflect on goals of a different nature. Normally they are academic goals measured by some objective metric. Things like percentages and points and things like that. I was just thinking of goals that were appropriate for my kids. Sadly I never really expressed the goals to them, but honestly, I was not always aware of them myself. I am immensely proud of all of my students, but some come to mind. Two of the biggst problems have really grown and impressed me.
First one is Xander. Coming to me not really working or talking, and he's started to do both. Granted they are not where they should be, but he has grown greatly. Last week my kids were doing DIBELS testing (basic literacy skills) and there was one goal that I set for him. That he would score points on the Word Use Fluency test. They are given a word and directed to put it into a sentence. In practicing with him I would give him a word and he would respond with the frame, "I like to play with my _______." It did not matter what it was, could be "chair," "because," or "air." His frame did change for a couple of words so he did notice the beginnings of tense and voice. I ended up laughing with/at him because for the first time he got it, and was not struggling. The second "verge of tears" moment this year. I could hardly express how proud of him I was. And today in the afternoon he was trying to do double digit addition. He has just grown so much. All there is is anecdotal records of this astounding growth. I don't know a way to put developmental milestones into numbers to track.
The other one is Mr. Dil. He was the one that, at one point, insisted that I wanted to kill him with knives and that I've killed other people. Generally not being a violent person I was really taken aback by his comments. He made teaching difficult for me in my classroom for a good couple of months. Now, whatever bug got in him, isn't there any more. He funtions well in the class. Occasionally he still gets in a snit about something, and mumbles what's wrong. But it is so much more benign now. He'll still get upset and start crying at times, but there have been no negative comments about me since Spring Break.
For whatever failings there have been this year I will live with those victories. Are they momentous? Depends on your lens and perspective. Without knowledge of the students, how can you judge what was significant for them? They may not be the sought after "Significant Gains." But in terms of development as capable people, I know of nothing more significant than the ability to talk, be motivated to work, and develop anger management skills. Everyone in room 610 at J. F. Wahl Elementary School in Helena, Arkansas has made "Significant Gains" as capable human beings.
First one is how people are moving on. Some people are moving on because of further education. Others are moving on because they want to teach in other areas. There seem to be two schools of thought on that sort of move. All people seem to want to go to better schools (better organized/performing charter schools). That's all well and good that you want to go to a good school, but it seems almost like the antithesis of the mission of the program. To help education inequity why would you go to a school that has a proven track record. Yes, they may serve underserved students, but it does not seem like one person can make much of a change, especially if it is going well. I did find someone that has similar feelings to me regarding the topic. She is going to a charter school because she wants to learn how they are run/what makes them good, and then try to replicate it in a Chicago Public School. Who knows. There may be more with similar noble intentions, but only one person expressed those to me. I was proud of her.
The other thought that came to mind was about Big Goals. That is a concept that is big in TFA. You need to have Big Goals to know where you are going. You've got to track your students' growth in meeting those goals. After events of the past week I started to reflect on goals of a different nature. Normally they are academic goals measured by some objective metric. Things like percentages and points and things like that. I was just thinking of goals that were appropriate for my kids. Sadly I never really expressed the goals to them, but honestly, I was not always aware of them myself. I am immensely proud of all of my students, but some come to mind. Two of the biggst problems have really grown and impressed me.
First one is Xander. Coming to me not really working or talking, and he's started to do both. Granted they are not where they should be, but he has grown greatly. Last week my kids were doing DIBELS testing (basic literacy skills) and there was one goal that I set for him. That he would score points on the Word Use Fluency test. They are given a word and directed to put it into a sentence. In practicing with him I would give him a word and he would respond with the frame, "I like to play with my _______." It did not matter what it was, could be "chair," "because," or "air." His frame did change for a couple of words so he did notice the beginnings of tense and voice. I ended up laughing with/at him because for the first time he got it, and was not struggling. The second "verge of tears" moment this year. I could hardly express how proud of him I was. And today in the afternoon he was trying to do double digit addition. He has just grown so much. All there is is anecdotal records of this astounding growth. I don't know a way to put developmental milestones into numbers to track.
The other one is Mr. Dil. He was the one that, at one point, insisted that I wanted to kill him with knives and that I've killed other people. Generally not being a violent person I was really taken aback by his comments. He made teaching difficult for me in my classroom for a good couple of months. Now, whatever bug got in him, isn't there any more. He funtions well in the class. Occasionally he still gets in a snit about something, and mumbles what's wrong. But it is so much more benign now. He'll still get upset and start crying at times, but there have been no negative comments about me since Spring Break.
For whatever failings there have been this year I will live with those victories. Are they momentous? Depends on your lens and perspective. Without knowledge of the students, how can you judge what was significant for them? They may not be the sought after "Significant Gains." But in terms of development as capable people, I know of nothing more significant than the ability to talk, be motivated to work, and develop anger management skills. Everyone in room 610 at J. F. Wahl Elementary School in Helena, Arkansas has made "Significant Gains" as capable human beings.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Day of the Weekend
Things were good this week. A couple of unusual days (irregular schedule is all) but surprisingly well. Feeling of unease has dissapated.
I had been confusing Xander with the "pulling my thumb off" trick. It would blow his mind and then he would try to take my thumb off, and then try to take his thumb off, before announcing to me that he couldn't do it. Well. the other day he figured it out. And he has tried to show me. And I made him show Mrs. Austin yesterday and he was so proud of himself. He even tried to add little dramatics.
I also had my kids thinking more on their own and solving their own problems this week. As a result of not turning in homework, I had kids in during activity and they were asking me if they could read, write, and do extra pages of work to make up for missing homework. Sure...by all means. I even had a kid try to read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I also had some kids act very rude and then want to apologize to the person they interrupted. I've not seen my kids do that all year.
Today was the Delta Day of the Arts at Delta State University. Various art related workshops and I got to lead a group of 1st-3rd graders around for most of the day. We did watercolor painting, collages, swing dancing, and paper clip jewelery. I enjoyed it, but it was long. Very long. Plus a stuffy ride back on the bus. I think my kids enjoyed it. There was a current student and a former student, so I got to talk to them a bit, and get talked at/to a bit as well.
Tonight I had a flashback about someone I knew. Saw something that reminded me of a person and it made me freeze in my tracks. Found out somethings about people. I also received a compliment about my classroom. A higher-up said that she had heard good things about my class from my principal, but hadn't actually talked to her, so it struck me as strange. She said the compliments might have come through my PD who I'm sure has talked with my principal. So I was kind of left with a vague feeling of being complimented. It's good enough for me to sleep on.
I had been confusing Xander with the "pulling my thumb off" trick. It would blow his mind and then he would try to take my thumb off, and then try to take his thumb off, before announcing to me that he couldn't do it. Well. the other day he figured it out. And he has tried to show me. And I made him show Mrs. Austin yesterday and he was so proud of himself. He even tried to add little dramatics.
I also had my kids thinking more on their own and solving their own problems this week. As a result of not turning in homework, I had kids in during activity and they were asking me if they could read, write, and do extra pages of work to make up for missing homework. Sure...by all means. I even had a kid try to read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I also had some kids act very rude and then want to apologize to the person they interrupted. I've not seen my kids do that all year.
Today was the Delta Day of the Arts at Delta State University. Various art related workshops and I got to lead a group of 1st-3rd graders around for most of the day. We did watercolor painting, collages, swing dancing, and paper clip jewelery. I enjoyed it, but it was long. Very long. Plus a stuffy ride back on the bus. I think my kids enjoyed it. There was a current student and a former student, so I got to talk to them a bit, and get talked at/to a bit as well.
Tonight I had a flashback about someone I knew. Saw something that reminded me of a person and it made me freeze in my tracks. Found out somethings about people. I also received a compliment about my classroom. A higher-up said that she had heard good things about my class from my principal, but hadn't actually talked to her, so it struck me as strange. She said the compliments might have come through my PD who I'm sure has talked with my principal. So I was kind of left with a vague feeling of being complimented. It's good enough for me to sleep on.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Day of return
Not been feeling right recently. Just a sort of general unease, like something is missing. Not quite sure what it is, but I'm trying to work through it. The past couple of weeks have been crazy at school. There were the Benchmarks last week and a Multicultural Fair at school this week. A good dose of lunacy in scheduling was also thrown into the mix.
There have been a couple of bright moments.
1. Last week I had my kids write books about two pharaohs. It was a six day process, but I'm pretty happy with the product. The goal was process and I think most started to pick up the process of writing. I will just need to be consistent with the stages.
2. I found a trick that absolutely blows Xander's mind. The whole fake-like-you're-taking-your-thumb-off. After I show him he gets a big grin and then he tries to take my thumb off. Since he has such sensitive hands his grip is light, barely pulling. Then he tries to take his thumb off. It ends with him saying, "I can't do it Mr. Taylor." Quick way to bring a smile to my face. He can even look at my hands and not realize that I have one thumb tucked into a fist.
3. I finished my Arkansas History course. I got an A and no longer need to worry about the online course.
4. I completed my Praxis III yesterday. It is a formal observation by a state trained assessor. The course and the Praxis III are the last hurdles to my getting a standard 5 year teaching license.
There have been a couple of bright moments.
1. Last week I had my kids write books about two pharaohs. It was a six day process, but I'm pretty happy with the product. The goal was process and I think most started to pick up the process of writing. I will just need to be consistent with the stages.
2. I found a trick that absolutely blows Xander's mind. The whole fake-like-you're-taking-your-thumb-off. After I show him he gets a big grin and then he tries to take my thumb off. Since he has such sensitive hands his grip is light, barely pulling. Then he tries to take his thumb off. It ends with him saying, "I can't do it Mr. Taylor." Quick way to bring a smile to my face. He can even look at my hands and not realize that I have one thumb tucked into a fist.
3. I finished my Arkansas History course. I got an A and no longer need to worry about the online course.
4. I completed my Praxis III yesterday. It is a formal observation by a state trained assessor. The course and the Praxis III are the last hurdles to my getting a standard 5 year teaching license.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Day of whoa
Missed yesterday and went to school today. Not the easiest day, and I'm not even really sure why. Pretty rough day with some of my kids.
1. I was not the only one at my school that had a rough day. Other teachers that I talked to had pretty rough days. Rough days at school are not necessarily a good thing, but it made me feel better that I was not alone.
2. I had another student post 1.5 years of growth in reading today. Kev read a book that was at a pretty high level and he was able to answer questions and tell me about what he read. It was interesting because as he was reading he must have been splitting brain power because there were some words he could not read in the text, but in isolation was able to read them. Even with the bumps in decoding he was able to comprehend the book very well.
3. At my faculty meeting my principal bragged on me. She said that I was basically the only teacher that was following the schedule. It's funny because she came in and saw me this morning, and Tuesdays are generally off schedule days. But whatever. If she says I'm on schedule then I must be doing something right.
1. I was not the only one at my school that had a rough day. Other teachers that I talked to had pretty rough days. Rough days at school are not necessarily a good thing, but it made me feel better that I was not alone.
2. I had another student post 1.5 years of growth in reading today. Kev read a book that was at a pretty high level and he was able to answer questions and tell me about what he read. It was interesting because as he was reading he must have been splitting brain power because there were some words he could not read in the text, but in isolation was able to read them. Even with the bumps in decoding he was able to comprehend the book very well.
3. At my faculty meeting my principal bragged on me. She said that I was basically the only teacher that was following the schedule. It's funny because she came in and saw me this morning, and Tuesdays are generally off schedule days. But whatever. If she says I'm on schedule then I must be doing something right.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Day of news
It is that time of year. The time of year when the schedules get mangled a bit. It's rough, but doable again. I did it last year, I can do it this year.
Kaydie moved to the other side of town and is now attending another school. I'm down to 19. She moved during break so she has been gone for a while. I hope things are going well for her family.
Since the Thursday before my spring break I have had one student only show up for two days. Two days attendance in ten possible days. I got my certified mail back saying that the address was vacant, so I'm not sure where exactly he is. The school's speech pathologist said that her assistant has seen the boy every day at the ballpark here in Helena. The boy is here in town, just not coming to school. She said that it was because his dad cut all his hair off. It's something completely new to me. I've heard about kids getting upset about haircuts, but enough so that their parents let them miss nearly two weeks of school? Crazy. That combined with the fact that he told me a couple of months ago that his dad is in "Mississippi Jail" because the police found something in his car that wasn't his. Not quite sure what exactly to believe.
Speaking of jail, it turns out that Sunday night/Monday morning 4 or 5 inmates escaped from the county jail, which is at the courthouse on Cherry Street, right downtown. So my school was on lockdown. Interesting way to start the week. Hearing conflicting stories from people, like possible shootings (which were dismissed by the police chief and my housemate that works at a bank), but nothing actually on the news. By today all had been recaptured, but not without incident.
One of my boys had been really out of it this week. I really got on him today and I called his mom during lunch to try to figure out what was going on, but I left a message. She called me up after school and gave me an idea as to why he might be a little distracted.
It turns out his mom's brother (boy's uncle) was shot. By one of the inmates. In the back. After a robbery. You know what...that would kind of knock me off for about a week. He is currently at the Med in Memphis and I hope he pulls through.
Everytime I think I've seen/heard it all, something new comes along.
The art teacher also sent me a student from another class because the boy's pants had ripped. Three safety pins to fix his pants. They had torn right down the back side, about as far as they could. Fascinating the thigns that happen during a normal day.
Even with all of that stuff I'm not down at all. You just kind of shrug it off and keep on rolling.
1. Nearly every student I've listented to in the past week and half has met my reading goal of 1.5 years of growth. I just need to get through the whole class to find all my numbers.
2. Most of my kids are doing better with coins. They are getting better at counting mixed coins, as well as coming up with ways to show different amounts.
3. Walking around during writing showed me that my kids are really trying out the things that I talk about during the mini-lessons.
4. Dil has been phenomenal since spring break. Only a couple of issues, but he's been energetic, laughing, smiling (you know, like a first grader should be). We just need to eliminate the chair vault from his repertoire and we'll be alright. Better attitudes make me feel better. And really seem to improve my standing in the eyes of my principal.
I'm starting to see things that we've talked about since the beginning of the year start to gel. It's a good feeling to notice that I've made an impact.
Kaydie moved to the other side of town and is now attending another school. I'm down to 19. She moved during break so she has been gone for a while. I hope things are going well for her family.
Since the Thursday before my spring break I have had one student only show up for two days. Two days attendance in ten possible days. I got my certified mail back saying that the address was vacant, so I'm not sure where exactly he is. The school's speech pathologist said that her assistant has seen the boy every day at the ballpark here in Helena. The boy is here in town, just not coming to school. She said that it was because his dad cut all his hair off. It's something completely new to me. I've heard about kids getting upset about haircuts, but enough so that their parents let them miss nearly two weeks of school? Crazy. That combined with the fact that he told me a couple of months ago that his dad is in "Mississippi Jail" because the police found something in his car that wasn't his. Not quite sure what exactly to believe.
Speaking of jail, it turns out that Sunday night/Monday morning 4 or 5 inmates escaped from the county jail, which is at the courthouse on Cherry Street, right downtown. So my school was on lockdown. Interesting way to start the week. Hearing conflicting stories from people, like possible shootings (which were dismissed by the police chief and my housemate that works at a bank), but nothing actually on the news. By today all had been recaptured, but not without incident.
One of my boys had been really out of it this week. I really got on him today and I called his mom during lunch to try to figure out what was going on, but I left a message. She called me up after school and gave me an idea as to why he might be a little distracted.
It turns out his mom's brother (boy's uncle) was shot. By one of the inmates. In the back. After a robbery. You know what...that would kind of knock me off for about a week. He is currently at the Med in Memphis and I hope he pulls through.
Everytime I think I've seen/heard it all, something new comes along.
The art teacher also sent me a student from another class because the boy's pants had ripped. Three safety pins to fix his pants. They had torn right down the back side, about as far as they could. Fascinating the thigns that happen during a normal day.
Even with all of that stuff I'm not down at all. You just kind of shrug it off and keep on rolling.
1. Nearly every student I've listented to in the past week and half has met my reading goal of 1.5 years of growth. I just need to get through the whole class to find all my numbers.
2. Most of my kids are doing better with coins. They are getting better at counting mixed coins, as well as coming up with ways to show different amounts.
3. Walking around during writing showed me that my kids are really trying out the things that I talk about during the mini-lessons.
4. Dil has been phenomenal since spring break. Only a couple of issues, but he's been energetic, laughing, smiling (you know, like a first grader should be). We just need to eliminate the chair vault from his repertoire and we'll be alright. Better attitudes make me feel better. And really seem to improve my standing in the eyes of my principal.
I'm starting to see things that we've talked about since the beginning of the year start to gel. It's a good feeling to notice that I've made an impact.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Day
This week has been alright. My kids have come back with a better focus, for the most part, and I have seen across the board improvement.
One student did move. Kaydie told me that she would move to West Helena, a big move in town. Now she goes to Beechcrest. She was one of my better students, but could have a slight attitude. Now her cousin, who used to be her next door neighbor is saying that he is moving. This takes my total to 19.
1. Xander may have internalized the strategy of stretching out words to figure out the letters to write for them. In a little conference I asked him how he could spell a word and he said, "stretch it out," in his cute little way.
2. Most of my kids seemed more concerned about the flow of activities in the classroom. I'm hearing more kids use kind messages and requests. They have even said things like, "May y'all please be quiet in here." Really interesting turn of events in my class.
3. I've gotten my kids to say that they really like words like delicious and diabolical and horrible. We've been talking about describing words and adjectives during writing. Hopefully next week we can start to incorporate them into our writing.
4. I did a reading level check on one student. Tak completely blew me away. in an above level book, she read it at about 100 wcpm. Standards say at the end of the first grade they need to be at 40 wcpm. She was also reading a book that was at about a mid-second grade level. She has surpassed her reading goal for the year and now it needs to be bumped up. I hope I can find more encouraging news as I go through the other students.
All in all it's been a good week back.
One student did move. Kaydie told me that she would move to West Helena, a big move in town. Now she goes to Beechcrest. She was one of my better students, but could have a slight attitude. Now her cousin, who used to be her next door neighbor is saying that he is moving. This takes my total to 19.
1. Xander may have internalized the strategy of stretching out words to figure out the letters to write for them. In a little conference I asked him how he could spell a word and he said, "stretch it out," in his cute little way.
2. Most of my kids seemed more concerned about the flow of activities in the classroom. I'm hearing more kids use kind messages and requests. They have even said things like, "May y'all please be quiet in here." Really interesting turn of events in my class.
3. I've gotten my kids to say that they really like words like delicious and diabolical and horrible. We've been talking about describing words and adjectives during writing. Hopefully next week we can start to incorporate them into our writing.
4. I did a reading level check on one student. Tak completely blew me away. in an above level book, she read it at about 100 wcpm. Standards say at the end of the first grade they need to be at 40 wcpm. She was also reading a book that was at about a mid-second grade level. She has surpassed her reading goal for the year and now it needs to be bumped up. I hope I can find more encouraging news as I go through the other students.
All in all it's been a good week back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)