Getting Organized!

Last year I was just surviving.  

It was my first year.  I was hired the week before school started and first saw my classroom (which was a dirty, disheveled mess) the Friday before.  There was nothing in the classroom besides desks with computers, which all needed to be removed to change the room from the computer lab into my classroom.  I at least got a few tables in there with mismatching chairs.  I had one small whiteboard with the promise of another big one soon.  There was one large metal cabinet with broken doors.  The teachers desk had slang written on it from past years.

The actual teacher's desk didn't really work, so I used a table for my stuff. 

Cabinet that pretty much remained open the entire year.

This is the only picture I can find of my entire classroom from last year.  It wasn't too bad, but wasn't the best.  We did what we could.  We survived and everybody learned a lot.  (At least I learned a lot!)

I had mismatched chairs all year.  I never got the extra whiteboard.  Halfway through the year someone told me that the scribbles on the teachers desk were inappropriate, so since I couldn't wash it off I covered it up with a black permanent marker.  The cabinet was never fixed.

I was surviving.  I had no idea what supplies my students needed.  The regular supplies for a classroom?  Did I really have to tell them to bring a pencil and paper to my class?

This year has started off MUCH better.  

I'm in a new classroom and actually have things that work.  There is a small whiteboard, a large whiteboard, and two chalk boards on the walls.  There are two bookshelves, and a cabinet that locks.  I have a sink.  I have places to put things.

My classroom this year (taken before students came).  I need to replace this with a more recent photo. The two whiteboards are up in the room and there's more on the walls.

And I'm much wiser on what to tell students to bring.  Bring tissues boxes!  Bring sanitation wipes!  Bring hand sanitizer!  The school does not provide any of these things so you have to tell your students to bring it.  Maybe this isn't news to someone who grew up in American public schools, but for someone like me who grew up overseas and attending an international school where this stuff and more was provided for, it was novel for me.  (I guess our tuition paid for it, but I didn't think about that growing up!)

However, physical organization is not the only thing I learned from last year.  Getting your paperwork and documentation under control is equally important.  I was not organized at all.  I had a drawer that I put most important documents and I would look in that drawer every time I needed to find something and hoped it was down there. 

This year I have a binder that has a tab for every student.

It includes the following forms:

(1) Parent-Teacher Contact Log
A very important part of this form is whether or not the parents (dad or mom: and I note down which or both) can speak English so I know if I need to get a translator.  In the "other" portion, I note if any numbers listed in their school file don't work so I don't waste my time with those.

(2) Student Behavior Log
My favorite part of this form (and an inspired part of this form) is the student signature.  This is how the form works.  Student misbehaves.  I give warnings/consequences or have a talk with the student.  When class ends and they leave I mark down whatever happened and what I did (even if it was just a warning).  The next day the student comes in, I invite them over to the big desk while the other students are working on their Bell Ringer assignment.  I have them read, or I read to them, the statement I wrote.  I ask them if they remember that happening and if they agree with it.  If they do, they sign their name.  If not, then we change the statement until we both agree (this latter part has yet to ever happen).

This student signature has two benefits.  The first is immediate.  STUDENTS KNOW YOU'RE TRACKING THEM.  Also, you've just reminded them at the beginning of the next class of the warning you gave them last class so they're much better behaved. 

The second benefit will come later, if at all.  Last year I had a problem where there was bullying in my class.  It got so bad I escorted the young man to the office after class and explained everything to the AP.  He was placed into In-School-Suspension.  A few days later his mom comes in with him and wants a conference.  I'm pulled out of class to have this conference with mom, the AP, and the student.  The student denies anything happening.  Thankfully the AP backed me up and took my side.  For some reason nowadays, in the parents' eyes, teachers are out to get their students.  If the student fails, it's the teacher's fault.  If the student gets behavior consequences, it's the teacher's fault.  So the parent in this case was much more likely to believe her son than she was to believe me.  Thus, having this student signature on this event (and also the parent contact log, since I had contacted that parent a couple of times regarding this student behavior––something this parent also 'forgot.') would have been very helpful.

(3) Student Information
This is the sheet I had them fill out on the first day of school.  It's where I was informed as to whether or not their parents spoke English or not.  I also loved seeing their favorite things and what their parents did for their living.  It was so insightful.  I'm hoping I can review their interests and goals from time to time so that I can apply them to our lessons or talk about them to build better rapport.

I already feel much more prepared to tackle the year and anything it wants to throw at me.  As a middle school teacher, I know the behavior log would be too overwhelming to many of my peer teachers who see 180 students over two days.  As a special education teacher, I only have 30 students over two days that I worry about.  Thus, my forms are much more manageable.  It's what works for me, and so far it's worked really well.

Go ahead and use anything from this post that you think may work for you.  You don't have to use the whole thing.  You can cut/paste/morph/disassemble anything to suit your needs.   Good luck!

Classroom Principle

This summer I read "Teaching with Love and Logic" by Jim Fay and David Funk.  A great book to read, and I recommend it to any teacher or parent.  My favorite thing about it was the specifics it gave and models on how to respond to certain student behaviors.  I've written a few of those down and review them often to make sure they're fresh in my mind.

One thing I loved from the book was their one rule:  

You can do anything you need to do as long as it doesn't cause a problem for yourself or others.  

It pretty much covers everything.  In our class we call it our class principle.  I have the kids repeat it at the beginning of every class and have different kids offer examples of how this rule applies to every-day interactions in the classroom (or outside the classroom).

There was a poster someone else had made for this principle, but it was bizarre with lots of colors and too many fonts.  I can't handle that.  It's chaotic.  So I created my own.  And it's beautiful and calm.  Here it is:

It's easy for the kids to understand.  It's a concept they can easily apply to other situations and environments.  It's easy to refer to when I'm explaining why a certain behavior is inappropriate for our classroom.  It's pretty much the best.   Thanks, Jim Fay and David Funk.

Starting Anew!

Can you believe that summer is over?  We're half way through our first week and I have yet to blog anything! 

Major changes this year:  I have a new classroom.  It's bigger. It has a sink.  The smartboard is a different brand that I like a whole lot better than the last one.  I have desks rather than large tables (which I think will work a lot better most of the time).  I still have large tables for when I want to put stuff out for projects or experiments.  I have a bookshelf!  All around, it's like I've been promoted!

Some pictures of my classroom.  It's still in progress, as I have yet to finish the bulletin boards and put things on the wall.  But it's functioning right now and it's all good.

Little computer station.  The printer was in the class when I got here, so I thought I might as well try it out.  I haven't been able to get it to turn on yet, though.  I might have to just get rid of it.  Too bad!  I have to go and walk all the way to the other side of the school to pick up my printed copies.

The teachers desk! The lamp was left here by the last teacher.  The Elmo Projector and the computer both connect to the smartboard you see in the background.

A view from the back of the room.  Whiteboard, smartboard, and student desks. Teacher station to the back right.

A view of the back of the room. Still to do: organize the bookshelf , do something with the step ladder, create the entry bulletin board, finish the large wall periodic table (I was going to just do that much, but then I thought it looked a little odd). 
Our half of the school got nice new waxed floors this summer.
I had a student help me with the Success! board today.  :)

The only thing you can't tell from these pictures is that the AC doesn't work, so it's so hot in the classroom!  It's bearable when it's just me, but when there are 15 other bodies in there it gets pretty bad.  But we make due.  We've already had three days of school and it's been a pretty good start.

Last day of work!

The school year ended a week ago on Thursday.  Teachers came in for their last day on Friday.  We packed up and labeled all of our stuff. It got really dusty.  I found lots of things I didn't know I had. hahaha.  I cleaned up especially well because I'm moving to a new classroom next year!! YAY!

It's all packed up here, but it's going to look great come next year and I have it all put together again. It's bigger than my last classroom, too.  I tried to get a picture of my old classroom, but my phone started acting weird.

My classroom this year was small and had basically nothing in it except for tables, chairs, and a smart board.  But we made due.  However, I'm extremely excited to take over the classroom next door.  The teacher who had that classroom this year has retired.  So I'll be getting his classroom and his replacement teacher will get my old classroom.  It's really going to work out better next year, since this new classroom has a sink and that's really helpful when teaching science (not so helpful for language arts, which is what was being taught).

Walking out I decided to stop by the teachers lounge to make sure I didn't leave anything in there. I found otter pops in the freezer for student council.  Ms. A (the teacher who does student council) walked in after me and I asked if they were hers.  She had totally forgotten to give them to the kids the day before.  Oops.  But I was okay with that, especially since I got to end this year walking out with an extra large otter pop in my hand!  Yum.

Happy Summer Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

Middle School Minute -- Take 2

Picture of loch ness monster in presentation
Student 1: Hey, Miss, what's the name of that?
Me: The loch ness monster?
Student 1: Yeah. Have you seen the movie about it?
Me: No.
Student 2 to 1: What are you talking about?
Student 1 to 2: Have you seen the movie about the . . . (to me) what's it called again?
Me: The loch ness monster.
Student 1 to 2: ..the movie about the longest monster?


Bantering Students (this had been going on for quite a while)
Student 1: You're going to copy for the rest of your life.
Student 2:  Well, you're going to die for the rest of your life.


Student: This is my best friend, and this is my best friend.
Me:  You can have two best friends?
Student: Yeah.
Me: I thought you could only have one best friend.
Student: No, you can have lots.
Me: How many?
Student: 21.


Me: (referring to final exams) In my last class every passed and I had two people get 100%.
Student 1:  Oh wow! We can do that, too!
Student 2: Yeah, we can do it!
Student 3: We can do it! . . . . I think. . .


Ms. L: What is the scientific name for humans?
Student 1: homeostasis?
Ms. L: Not quite . . .
Student 2: Homo sapien.
Ms. L: Great!  Now, who thinks they know the scientific name for wolves?
Student 1: homeostasis?
Student 3: Homo wolf?

Blast Off!

A few of the rockets my students made.

The eighth graders are done with middle school and are moving on.  During the last few days we completed our Forces and Motion unit by building rockets and shooting them off.  Mr. S has done this for years.  He build his own rocket launcher using PVC pipe and an air pump.  The rockets shoot off from all of the air pressure built up.  He has extra PVC pipes to use when building the rocket so the kids can make sure they have the correct diameter needed.

The day we made these was also my birthday.  I received some nice wishes and a note on my whiteboard:

They're simple rockets made from card-stock paper, but it was lots of fun.  A few of the kids made rockets that flew up really high and over the school fence. Most went a little ways up.  Others totally failed and only the top cone blew off and the rest of the rocket remained.  It was a fun last activity, though.

Mr. S ready to blast off another rocket.

Frog Dissection

Ah, yes.  That wonderful day in middle school science that everyone remembers.  A right of passage, almost.

The frog dissection.

The last unit in our syllabus was supposed to go over some parts of physiology.  I ran out of time (though some of the points I was able to cover in other units), so I tried to make up for it by explaining what they were looking at during the dissection.  Lame?  Maybe.

I was late to class today.  We had a meeting with the principal that went over time into the next period.  After it ended I had to race to get the trays for the frog dissection, then race to my classroom.  I found the security guard letting them in.  "Oh, please, no.  I have frogs in my classroom and I don't want students in there unaccompanied."  I don't know why you would let students into a classroom without the teacher in there anyway, but I'm glad I got there right as they were entering.  Can you imagine the disaster???

Hypothetical Situation
Student 1:  look!  A bag full of frogs!
Student 2:  Cool!  Let's poke it!
Student 1: Okay!
 . . . poking ensues until the bag is in shambles, liquid spilled on the floor, and frogs are being thrown across the room  . . . 

Yeah. . . I don't want that to happen!!

The students came in and sat down.  I gave a very quick and stern introduction.  There is no horseplay when we have the frog on our tables.  There is no walking around.  There is no waving of the tools.  There is no playing with your frog.  This is your last warning and if I see any of these behaviors you will be sent immediately to the office to spend the remainder of the period.

The kids were pretty good with understanding that they had to be on their best behavior today.  They figured out that I wasn't mad, but good behavior was important today.

It was fun.   Lots of exclamations throughout the period.  I put the lab instructions on the projector for them all to see and we went through the instructions together.  That made it easier for us all to be on the same page rather than having them follow the instructions at their own pace.

Everyone was on good behavior and the dissection went smoothly.

I had two class periods in a row that did this dissection.  By the end of the second the smell was getting to me!!  I had both classroom doors open with the air vents on their highest setting, just to try and get the air circulated well enough.  However, it wasn't until the end when we had cleaned everything up and clorox wiped the tables down that it started to smell better.

Yay for adventures and clean classrooms.