Almost done!

It's been a while since I've updated you with my adventures in the classroom! I have only one more week left at this school and then I move on to first grade! This past week has had its ups and downs. I look forward to school everyday but some days are just more exhausting than others. It has still been a struggle to manage the students, the noise level, and getting them to listen when they are supposed to. I have been told many times that my lessons are great and I am very thorough but I need to work on getting the class under control sooner. This is seeming to be easier said than done most days. I try relentlessly to quiet the students and warn them about losing recess. Three times this week I have taken away 6-8 minutes of recess from the whole class. Obviously this strategy is not working because they still talk whenever they want. Today I talked with another teacher and she suggested focusing on the positive rather than the negative. I should pay attention to the students who are doing what I am asking and reward them for it, making it known to all of the students in the class as I do so. She said that this usually makes the other 'bad' students jealous so they start to behave so they can be rewarded, too. Unfortunately, tomorrow is my last day teaching full time so I don't really have a whole lot of time to try this new focus out on the class. I'm relieved and sad that tomorrow is my last day to teach full time. I love it, but all the preparation I have to do to make sure I have artifacts for my professional portfolio is overwhelming. When I don't have to worry about the portfolio it is a little easier to plan and not as in depth.

This past week has had some interesting situations. Yesterday I had to deal with 2 students' behavior issues. One student had told me to 'shut up' so I had to talk with him and keep him back from library. My teacher ended up sending him to the office during computer time, which he was not happy about. Another student got upset at me during math and slammed her water bottle on the floor after I asked her to put it somewhere she couldn't touch it (she had been crunching it non-stop). After math, she had to fill out a form we call a 'stop and think' with me. We talked about why she acted the way she did and if it got her what she wanted and how she can change her behavior next time. She wasn't happy to be talking with me about this but she did and I found out her frustrations with math. Later I worked with her on math to help her understand the recent concepts we had learned. I think this helped and she eventually got over being mad at me, even returning to school today happy and with no issues...until math...where I apparently made her look stupid. When a student refuses to explain how they got their answer, it is not my fault. Oh well, just one of the many things I'm sure I will be blamed of by my students.

Besides all of the behavior issues, this past week has been wonderful! The students keep asking me when I leave their class and are sad to find out it is in only one week. They tell me that I can't leave and that I should just stay for the rest of the year. This is definitely a good way to brighten my day! They were also concerned that I wouldn't come back to school this past Monday after I left for Madison on Friday. I told them not to worry that I would be back and ready to go on Monday morning! One student even asked me how Wisconsin was when he saw me on Monday. That really made me smile!

Monday we had our Valentine's party in the afternoon. The kids ate A LOT of candy and chatted with each other, enjoying their social time. One of the activities they did during the day was writing sentences that included phrases from 'sweetheart' candies. They glued the heart on their paper where the message appeared in their sentence. I really enjoyed reading these afterwards because imaging the kids saying some of these things is hilarious! Here are a few examples (the parentheses are the message from the heart) :

I got my (first kiss) at the movies.

You show me your dance moves and I said (U go girl)!

(U go girl) into the dungeon.

These just made my day!

Today I was observed during guided reading groups which went well. My supervisor said that I keep improving which is all I can ask for! We also had a guest reader come in today for "I love to read" month. It was Gus Rosendale from 5 Eyewitness News. The kids LOVED him! He was a great story teller, too. It was entertaining to observe the kids as he read. They were mesmerized by his story-telling! They all also got his autograph (all 46 students!) and he took a picture with both third grade classes and put it on the 6pm news tonight! The kids were very excited about this and did everything they could to remember the time and channel they would be on. Sure enough at about 6:50 (the end of the news hour) our picture was up on the screen and Mrs. Zakariasen and Mrs. Hayden's classes were mentioned! It was kind of exciting to be a part of it, especially since the kids really enjoyed the experience.

Well this has been a long enough e-mail, so I will end it here. I look forward to my last day teaching full time tomorrow and observing other classrooms in the week to come. Thanks for all of your support during my adventures!

Dana