Middle School=Kindergarten

Well it's 2 days into my middle school placement and I have realized, already, that my previous teacher was correct in saying that middle schoolers behave much like kindergarteners. They are amused by the same things (jokes, videos, teachers, snacks, etc.) and they don't listen very well, they run around the room, they throw tantrums, and never work when you want them to. Despite all of this, I am enjoying every minute in the middle school ESL classroom. There are only about 20 students that are in ESL in all of the 6th-9th graders. But they all need A LOT of support and help in every subject!

During the school day, students come to ESL class, just like a normal period. We have block scheduling so we have students for 90 minutes a day and they have 4 classes a day. They alternate which 4 classes they have every other day, so I only see students 2-3 times a week for ESL class. Some students are in the room for academic support class (study hall and homework time). It is a great environment because the students and the teacher have a very close relationship. They joke around but can also have serious conversations.

All of the students can speak, read, and write in English, some better than others. There are students from Somalia, Ethiopia, Togo, France, Spain, China, India, Tibet, Yemen, Mexico, and Guatemala. I love the diversity and the students are not shy about sharing stories from when they lived in another country. It will be fun to get to know the students and they are NOT shy at all so there will always be plenty of talking!

I'm enjoying middle school so far and will update you later when I have more to tell you!

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!

Dana

Only 4 more weeks!!!!

I have finished my placement in the first grade! I am happy that it is finally done. Some of you already know, but it was a rough 7 weeks for me. The whole time I was there I didn't feel welcome or like part of the first grade team. There didn't seem to be much respect for me as a teacher. On my second day of full time teaching I had a HUGE breakdown. I balled in front of my supervisor and my teacher. That day, it seemed like I could do nothing correctly according to my teacher. I was yelled at when I gave students half an hour to read independently. They enjoy this time to read their choice of books and I wanted to listen to them read and ask questions to see if they are independently comprehending what they are reading. My teacher put the kabosh on this right away. It was awful. She made me find something else for them to do. She just kept saying that they are only 6 and can't pay attention that whole time. I believe they can if you make them. If they are used to it, they will do it. The worst part for me was that when my supervisor came that same day, my teacher told her that it was 'obvious' that I didn't prepare at all over spring break. This is the biggest lie ever. I spent a lot of time over spring break planning every lesson of every day that I was teaching. She had no right to say anything like that, especially to my supervisor. I was glad that my supervisor was there that day because she listens to me and gives me advice. She also sees that I am doing well and gives me encouragement. Since this day, it was very hard to go back to the classroom and even see my teacher. The relationship was done after that day for me. I behaved civilly and politely but didn't go out of my way to be nice. I just couldn't be that fake.

Needless to say, I am glad to be done working with that teacher. The only thing that made me want to go back to school every day were the students. They say the funniest things and make me smile. Students complimented me on my new haircut and the clothes or shoes I wore. It always makes me laugh when they compliment things like this. The other day it was very cold and windy out at recess and none of us were really prepared for it. The students could tell I was cold and one in particular spent almost the whole recess trying to find a spot where I could stay warm. It was so funny. Students also always ask me to walk laps around the playground with them. (They get a little charm to put on their shoelaces after they walk 20 laps, or 5 miles!) They love walking laps and fight over who gets to hold my hand. It is a definite way to make a teacher's day! On my last day I had a few students come over and whisper to me, "Ms. Sonnicksen, I will never forget you." I just smiled and said "thank you", but inside I was laughing. They are just so funny! Also, the students asked where I was going since I was leaving. I explained to them that I'm going to teach older kids in ESL, which some of their friends go to to help them learn English better, since they don't speak it at home. One student turned to me and said,"Well Ms. Sonnicksen, you're in luck! You found the right man! I know Spanish! Hola!" I couldn't help but let out a little laugh. What a charmer!

The last thing that topped off my last day was a compliment from an Sign Language translator. She appreciated that I used sign language with the 5 deaf students in the class. She liked seeing me trying to pick up new signs and words by watching her. It made her job easier since she didn't have to translate for 5 students at once. I was very happy to hear this since it was basically the only compliment I received while at this school, from anyone on the staff.

While at this school I learned a lot, unfortunately things I don't want to do in my classroom. Here are a few things I have learned:
- my students will learn independence no matter what age they are
- sign language, and I also discovered a desire to learn more sign language so I can use it with all
of my students some day
- Working with your colleagues and your team are very important
- trying new strategies and resources could be the ticket to students learning better and more
- kids love art projects but not all the time!
I'm sure there are more things I learned but I can't think of them right now.

Tomorrow I start a new placement at a Middle School in Edina teaching English as a second language. I am really looking forward to this since it is a completely different change of pace! Hopefully it goes well and I can learn a lot in the last month I have left before graduation!
Thank you all for your support! It means the world to me!
Dana

What teachers make

I received this via e-mail from my student teaching supervisor (the one who observes throughout the semester). I thought I would share it with you guys because it explains exactly why I became a teacher! Enjoy!

What A Teacher Makes............

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I-Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America .

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. "You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?

It's Spring Break so Time to Update!

It's been about two weeks since my last update (sorry it's been so long). The first grade classroom is keeping me very busy, along with trying to complete my teaching portfolio. My first grade placement, as you know, started out a little rocky and didn't really seem to be improving much as the weeks went on. I don't look forward to school as much as I did when I was in the 3rd grade classroom. It's not the students that I don't enjoy. The school is just a completely different environment than my first school. It is hard to feel welcomed there sometimes, and I don't always feel like part of the team. I often have been used as the copy girl, the person who will climb on tables to hang artwork from the ceiling, and a janitor. This was quite frustrating because at my first placement I was treated as an equal that could always contribute new ideas to the third grade team. They enjoyed my knowledge, as I enjoyed theirs. Now, I am afraid to contribute new ideas that I learned at Luther because I get the vibe that my soon-to-be-retired teacher doesn't really want to see anything new. If she does it her way then things get done a lot quicker rather than having me try something new, or learn how to do something she normally does everyday. This didn't make me feel welcomed in the classroom at all.

This last week was a three day week because we had parent-teacher conferences and the start of Spring Break. This week was much better than the previous weeks. I was able to teach all of the language arts lessons Monday-Wednesday. It was fun to teach these lessons because they didn't follow the textbook curriculum. We decided to theme each day with a topic instead of cramming a 5 day literacy unit into 3 days.

The first day we talked about lions because it is March and we had talked about March coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion. The students loved learning about lions and telling me all of the information they already knew about them.
The second day we focused on Spring. We read stories about spring and wrote descriptions about spring using our senses. To prompt the students descriptive vocabulary, we fingerpainted with chocolate pudding. Yes!, we are crazy! It was my teacher's idea but I thought it would be fun so I didn't oppose to it. It created a huge mess since we didn't have the correct paper and first graders with pudding is just asking for disaster. The students really enjoyed it, though! Some were even hesitant to put their hands in the pudding because they didn't want to get dirty, they quickly got over that! The clean-up of this lesson was awful! All of the papers stuck to the tables when they dried because the pudding soaked through it. So, some students artwork ripped as we peeled them off the table and I had to scrub the tables to remove all of the pudding and paper. (My 'Art in the Elementary Classroom' professor would not have been impressed with my clean-up process!) The writing and paintings were hung in the hallway when the students. (As seen in the picture at the top of this blog post.)

The third day was focused on Clifford. This was also a huge hit with kids. We read books and did activities that talked about the plots of the stories. I was really impressed with the hard work the kids did this day. I paired students up to partner read books and fill out a worksheet together. The pairs were usually a low reader with a high reader. Some of the high readers usually throw a fit if they are paired with certain students but they did a wonderful job and worked very hard to help their peers read the books!

As I mentioned earlier, we had parent-teacher conferences for three days. Two of the days were at night after school from 4-8pm and then we had one full day this past Thursday from 7:30-4pm full of conferences. These were very exhausting days! A lot of preparation and work goes into these conferences. Each parent showed up for their scheduled time, so we had 24 conferences in all! I enjoyed meeting the parents because it gives some insight into the students. They share stories from home but you can also just see behaviors that are similar between the parents and children. Most of the parents are very involved in their child's learning at school and at home. They do whatever they can to help their child succeed in school. Many parents asked for book suggestions, what math activities can be used at home to help the child's math skills, and if the teacher needs any help during the day in the classroom. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there were a few parents that liked to give off the impression that they were doing extra things at home and making sure their child is staying on top of math homework and reading. We know it's not true because we never see a single math homework sheet return to school (and we make sure it makes it home) and the student can barely read a word longer than one syllable. It makes me so sad when the parent just doesn't care and their child is struggling a lot in school. We do all we can at school, but parents also have to keep an enriched home environment for the child. Trips to the library would more than enough for most of the students! There is homework help and free after school programs for students who need extra help. These programs help most students but not all, so parents really need to support their child's learning at home.

Conferences also brings to light some sad family situations including illness, divorce, poor financial situations, etc. It breaks my heart to hear that 6 and 7 year olds are having to deal with these kinds of things at such a young age. They don't really have the coping skills yet at this age to deal with any of these situations. The families seemed to be doing all they can to help their children make it through the tough situations, but it is still sad to see the kids go through it.

Needless to say, conferences were an eye-opening experience for me. I learned a lot about preparing for them and how to communicate with parents their child's accomplishments and your concerns for their child.

I've been busy, and will only be busy because as soon as my break is over in 1 week, I am full time teaching. I am excited for this because I'm just going to teach my way, not my teacher's way! I know I have good ideas and can carry them out, so I'm going to prove to my teacher that I can do what she sometimes appears to think that I can't do!

Thank you for all your support throughout this semester and especially the last few weeks!
I'm going to relax and enjoy my spring break in Madison with Justin and then get back to work so I can end this placement on a high note!
Dana

It's been a while!

It has been a few weeks since I've updated you on my adventures in first grade! It has been quite interesting and challenging to say the least.

Let's start back at the first week again. It was an overwhelming week because 1st grade is such a change from 3rd grade! I felt lost the every day just trying to get my bearings and follow along with the schedule and the content. I was still uneasy about the whole thing because I knew that a previous Luther student teacher had taught there earlier in the year. To make matters worse, this student teacher showed up on Wednesday morning. The students were very excited to see her and she worked with a few of them on their reading, while I taped number charts to students' desks. Not really my idea of fair learning. This really upset me because she was taking away from the relationship I was trying to build with the students and staff. This was my last day at school that week since I had to go to seminars at Luther for Thursday and Friday. I discussed this issue with a few people at Luther and brought it up with my cooperating teacher the following Monday. She said she could tell it was awkward for me. Great! But then she said that she did tell her that she could come whenever she wanted to help the students with reading because they always need that...not so good! She just didn't seemed to worried about it.

Since then I've tried to move on from that. I've been trying to get into the swing of things but that has been hard considering the crazy schedule we have had the past couple weeks. Last week we had two morning filled with standardized testing in reading, along with math testing two days this week. We had projects to get ready for the Science and Learning Fair last Friday, which the students were really proud of. They had traced themselves on huge sheets of paper and then we glued cut-outs of organs and body parts that students colored on them. The students then stuffed these bodies and they were placed on their chairs at their desks for their parents to see that night. Unfortunately, only 7 out of the 24 students came that night. It's frustrating that it was on a Friday night because many families are busy and others can't get rides. It was a long day at school (almost 12 hours) so it would have been nice to have more students show up. However, that is the reality of teaching and after-school events.

The other day, the students almost made me cry when they were singing "God Bless the USA" for a fun activity between recess and gym. They had sang the song for their Veteran's Day program so they knew all the words. They had so much passion and were so proud of their singing. Watching and listening to them brought tears to my eyes.

I've learned that 1st grade, involves a lot of arts and crafts related to the seasons, holidays, and language arts. Almost everyday ends with some kind of art project. We've made leprechauns, shamrock collages, chicks in eggs, painted rainbows, Arthur's, riddles with pictures, and something else that I'm sure I'm missing. The students love the art projects and really need this at the end of the day because they can't think too much at the end of the day. Art is a good way to keep them occupied when they would otherwise run wild around the room.

1st grade has been a difficult adjustment and I'm trying my best to keep my chin up and be hopeful that it will get easier for me. I still feel lost in the curriculum and not really sure what the actual schedule is for the class. I am coming to think that there is no schedule for the first grade and it's just cram, cram, cram. This is frustrating but it is also teaching. I hope to have positive updates the next time I write!

Thanks for your support and hopefully I will update you sooner rather than later!
Dana

An Overwhelming First Day in 1st Grade

Today was my first day in 1st grade! There were many emotions that went along with this! As I drove to school it hit me that I am no longer with my third graders and the great staff I worked with for 8 weeks. But I held my head up high and kept my composure as I walked into a new, strange building trying to find my way to my new teacher. My teacher greeted me and showed me around the school a little bit. Get this! The school is NOT a circle and every classroom has DOORS! How crazy! I actually like the circle layout of the first school because it's simple, not a maze, and you see more staff members than just the few from your grade's team since you have to walk around the circle to get to some parts of the school.

My new teacher seems great and I've heard many times that she is a master teacher and one of the best! The other members of the 1st grade team seem nice and helpful, too.

One thing that really frustrated me this morning was something my teacher told me. She was telling me that she had a student teacher earlier this past fall. She said, "But I'm sure you already know who it is." I was very confused about this. She proceeded to tell me that she was also a Luther student that I had had classes with at Luther. I was upset because I feel like I'm being compared to this student teacher now. She said I'll have to compete to win the students over because they loved the past student teacher so much and they ask everyday when she is coming back. Great! I'm not too worried about the kids liking me, I'm more worried about the possibility of being compared to the other student teacher by my teacher. Hopefully this won't happen and I'll I can do is be myself and do what I do best!

The morning started with greeting the students and introducing myself. It quickly got interesting because a student threw up all over the carpet and a little on a student during the morning meeting time. The teacher rushed her to the nurse and took the other student to clean her up. I had to take charge and read a book to the students in another corner of the room. Needless to say we avoided that area of the room for the rest of the day, even after it was cleaned!

It's going to take some adjusting to this new school and classroom. It is completely different from the third grade class I was in.
Some things that are different from my third grade room:
- 5 deaf or hard of hearing students in my 1st grade room
- a very structured schedule that rarely changes
- no severe Emotional/Behavior disorders
- many adults in the room at one time for the deaf students and ESL students
- a lot of art projects themed for the holidays and months
- picture storybooks instead of chapter books (I love this change!)
- the school is not a circle
- there is a door on the classroom

Some similar things between the two schools:
- I'm teaching
- there are students
- I have an experienced teacher

Today was an interesting, overwhelming day! It's difficult to start completely over with new people and a new environment but I will adjust soon (I hope!).

Thank you for your continuous support!
Dana

My Last Day in 3rd Grade

Well this week was filled with observations of other classes, hugs, 'don't go's', and mentally preparing to leave my third graders. It was my last week with my third grade class. Eight weeks sure flew by quickly!
On Monday we were supposed to have a professional development day but because of all the snow, we had a SNOW DAY!! This was nice to have because I was not feeling so well that day so it gave me time to recover from my cold. We returned to school on Tuesday not very well prepared for the day. We had planned on having half of Monday to prepare for Tuesday and the rest of the week. My teacher quickly decided what we would be doing that day. It was nice not having to stress about it as much because I wasn't teaching the class anymore. Instead, this week I went to other classrooms to observe different teachers and grade levels. Tuesday, I went to my cousin's Kindergarten class to surprise her in the morning. It was fun to see her at school and watch her learn. I learned that she is a very smart little girl! I couldn't believe how much she knew! As I observed the Kindergarteners, I noticed how well they paid attention to their teacher as they sat on the rug. They listened better than my third graders! It was also a very fast paced environment. Since their attention spans are very short all the lessons have to be short as well. Their math lesson was a max of 10 minutes! It was short but they learned what they how to count pennies and nickels in that amount of time. I was impressed that they were learning about money in Kindergarten also!
Later on Tuesday I went to the fourth grade room. This is a unique room. It is a large room with two 4th grade classes in it. I'm not sure how I would like having to teach in the same room as another teacher but they work with it really well. They teacher together and separately. It was fun to see what the 4th graders were working on. They were doing more advanced writing but also reviewing reading strategies that I had taught my third graders but the strategies made more sense to the 4th graders. The most interesting part of this observation was watching the relationship between the teacher and the students. He is a very sarcastic teacher but knows when to be serious and caring. The students respond really well to this personality. I think it makes him seem more human and relatable.
Wednesday I observed a second grade room and the third 3rd grade teacher's morning meeting. The second grade teacher didn't have much control over his students. He let's them run the classroom and whatever they want to do is what they do. He spent a lot of time letting them share stories with the class, which is a waster of time after 2 stories! The third grade room was interesting because literally no students get along in this room. The classroom chemistry is awful! The teacher has been working really hard during morning meeting to try team building activities. The one I observed seemed to work really well, but she said that was the third day they had tried it and the first two days they had to stop in the middle of it because the students were arguing and being disrespectful to each other. It is just so sad that a whole class can't get along!
Throughout the week I observed and helped in the low level third grade math class. It was amazing to see how low the students actually are and range of ability between the students in this class and the higher level class. The low level students still have a difficult time with simple multiplication facts like 3 x 4 and adding 3-digit numbers together. It is so sad to see and makes me wonder how this happens! How do they get passed up through 3 years of school to get to the point that they can't add?
Friday, I observed two ESL sessions. ESL in this school is mainly pull-out, which means that students are taken out of class to go work with the ESL teacher for 1/2 an hour. I saw a group of first graders and some 4th and 5th graders. The first grade group is more what I visualize ESL to look like. They were working on English grammar (contractions) and reading a story that used contractions. This makes sense to me for them to be working on their grammar skills in English as they are different from their native languages. The older grades were a little different. The teacher was working on map skills and vocabulary with them. I didn't know if it was an extension of what they were learning in their homeroom class or just to build their content vocabulary. The lesson they were learning seemed to be like one you could use in a regular classroom, so I was unsure. I guess I will have to wait and see what it is like when I do middle school ESL!
Overall, Friday was a great day! The kids were giving me lots of hugs all day and the staff was so nice! I had made two types of dessert bars for the staff as a 'Thank you', which the staff loved and wanted the recipes for! All day I was being thanked for bringing in the treats. The third grade team surprised me with a gift and dessert during lunch. My teacher had put together a binder full of worksheets, activities, and fun pages for my students to do in the future. It's a great resource to have as a new teacher! I also received a 3-hole punch from my teacher because I always asked where hers was for me to borrow, now I have my own! I was a given a children's book and also a bell like the ones we used in the classroom for different signals. The gifts were great and they all meant something to my teacher experience! At the end of the day we had a little 'party' with the two third classes. My teacher brought cupcakes for everyone and the students finished watching a civil rights movie that we had started last week. During this time students were showering me with cards and hugs. Some things included in the cards are: two used, but sharpened pencils, one paper fan, one used valentine, many drawings of Swiss cheese, pictures of me driving away in a car, and pop up pictures or pieces of paper. The students kept telling me they didn't want me to leave and that they would miss me. There is no better way to end a student teaching experience. I definitely know that I was appreciated by the teachers and the students and felt like part of the team. I know that I can always go back for advice to anyone that I worked with at the school and they would help me in any way they could. I love this feeling.
I will leave you with some of my favorite card sayings from my students!

"Have a good 2011."
"I hope you get a job as a teacher."
"I hope you like your new school."
"I'm sorry if I've been bad. I wish in the past I could be good!!" (She was not a bad student!)
"Have a good time teaching. I hope you have a good time."
"I hope you have a good day."
"Please come back on the last day of school."

Thanks for all of your support during these past 8 weeks! Now on to my new adventure in 1st grade next week!
Dana