Grade One

LORD OF THE RING

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Humans are prone to make mistakes.  Sometimes we learn from our good experiences, and sometime we learn from our bad experiences.  Sometimes it takes repeat offences before we learn. According to the Little Rascals show, there are some people who ,” Will never learn.” Yes, I watched those black and white tv shows.

Common advice for young and old drivers sounds like,”Don’t drive too fast, you will get a speeding ticket.”
During the winter season the advice may sound like, “Don’t  touch metal objects with your tongue or it will get stuck.” There are also the lovely myths that we may have been told such as,” If you swallow orange seeds or watermelon seeds, they will grow in your stomach and you will explode.”

I had the pleasure of teaching students who liked to discover life their way. Most of them learned from their experiences, while some of them just lived life on the edge.

Lord of the Ring.

Lord of the Ring was a 6 year old in grade one who was given a great deal of support to help him avoid hitting other students.  I personally believe that he was trying to make friends, but because he was rough with other kids, they did not like to play with him.  His parents were often at odds about what measures would best support him. Mom thought that he needed more time outs and dad wanted to be informed so that he could be disciplined at home.  I was at odds with both of these, so I often talked to Lord of the Ring to see what was really upsetting him. One day Lord of the Ring was thrilled to show me a gift he got from his dad. It was a gold ring and he was excited because  his dad let him wear it to school. He showed it to the class, the secretary and the principal. He was amazed by this gold ring and played with it for most of the morning. As the day progressed, I noticed that he was putting the ring in his mouth.  I watched this a few times and then I said, “ Lord of the Ring, don’t put the ring in your mouth because you may choke on it.” He looked at me with his blue eyes, nodded his head and got back to work. During our show and tell circle, Lord of the Ring let every student in the class touch the ring.  He shared how the ring had belonged to his grandfather, had been given to his dad and now it belonged to him. It was a nice time because everyone was sharing and communicating in a positive manner with a student who often experienced negative vibes from his peers. Shortly after this, the secretary called me on the P.A.  “ Ms. Dancing Shoes can you please send Lord of the Ring down to the office?” He left to go to the office. Shortly after this time, the kids all went to the gym with the P.E. teacher and I went to do some work in the library. As I walked down the hall I saw Lord of the Ring standing outside of the office and I asked him why he was there. He said something about talking to the principal. I also noticed that he was putting the ring into his mouth.  I reminded him, “ If you are not careful, you are going to choke on that ring, and your dad will be upset with you. Perhaps you should put it somewhere safe until you go home?” He said, “ NO! I promise I will not put it in my mouth again.” I walked down the hall and continued working while the students were in the gym. Eventually, I began to return to the classroom, only to see Lord of the Ring holding his throat because he was choking and his eyes were bulging out of his head..  I ran down the hall and the secretary came out the office. We began to help him, and then he very suddenly gulped to swallow the ring. As tears streamed down his face he smiled and said,” I’m okay now.” We were all relieved and a few minutes later were back in the classroom. The secretary told me that she would let the parents know about the incident and would get back to me. At the end of the day, Lord of the Ring put on his coat and backpack and lined up to go home. His mom was there and was relieved that he was okay.  She did not appear to be upset with him. I told her that I had warned him about putting the ring in his mouth. I stopped myself from saying,” I told you so.” After all of the students were gone, I wrote about the incident in my daily journal and was thankful that we didn’t have to call 911.

Three days later, I was sitting at my desk before the school day started.  I walked down to the staff room to get myself a cup of coffee and when I returned to my room, I noticed that Lord of the Ring and his parents were standing beside my desk.  When I looked at my desk I noticed a shiny gold ring sitting on top of my binder. This was the same shiny gold ring that had been ingested. Miraculously it had come out and Lord of the Ring had begged his parents to bring the ring back to school. While this was happening I was thinking, what is my face saying right now.  Is it a grimace because it seems yucky or disbelief. Is it the crazy laughing face or is it deadpan. I tried very hard to keep my disdain for the ring from them, but my head was yelling GROSS! Now some of you may say, “ Oh come on, you know that they cleaned it before they brought it to school.” My response to you is, “ You do not have this item sitting on your binder that you write on.”  Yes, it was clean and yes, he wanted to show it to everyone. I considered how some of the parents might respond if they heard about the incident and because I didn’t want to spend hours on the phone, I said that I thought it would be better if he kept his “Precious” in his bag.

Lesson

What did I tell you in one of my earlier blogs?  WASH YOUR HANDS.

Do not assume that every child is going to listen to your words of wisdom.

Do not assume that all parents have the same behavioural management beliefs. Ultimately, you can help the children in your class when you listen to their wants and needs, but sometimes they can not have everything the way they want… SAFETY FIRST!

Do not assume that you are going to handle every situation perfectly.  That is okay. I did many things in my career that I would not repeat. BE a LIFE-LONG LEARNER.
All kidding aside. I wonder if Lord of the Ring is presently working in the jewelry industry. You never know.  He would be approximately 30 years old now.

Curriculum Thoughts

Ring , Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring,!

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Since I have named my blog Recipes From the Classroom, I thought I would write a procedural piece to represent how most lessons run on a daily basis.

Goal

To provide a lesson to educate the students and meet the set grade expectations.

Materials

Lesson plan,whiteboard, whiteboard markers, paper, laptops, pencils, erasers, coffee, LCD projector, computer, Smart Board, kitchen sink, hands-on materials,textbooks, brains, an understanding of what the students know and next steps, 10 million other things are possible, but the most important material is patience.

Method

Step 1. Share the expectations for the lesson. This can be done in many different ways, but it is always a good idea to let the students know what you are focusing on.

Step 2. Begin the lesson with questions, or “ The Hook” to get their attention.

Step 3. Share information.  This can be done in many different ways. It does not have to be teacher directed.

Step 4. Provide some follow up work.

Step 5. Circulate or provide further assistance.

Step 6. If everything has been accomplished in your lesson you are one of the few lucky teachers. Just kidding.

Results

Review the work completed to consider how successful your lesson was.  There may be some students who need additional support. Congratulations! That is a wonderful lesson.


This seems pretty straight forward, right?  You have the lesson, you teach the lesson, and the students take the information and process it according to their needs. Right?  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. What has not been factored into this lovely procedure is life itself. Life brings interruptions, bodily functions, emotions, social media, outside influences amongst other things.  Some of these things are really easy to manage while others can be quite frustrating, annoying and the reason teachers need two months to recover. ( Anecdote, some teachers work during those two months…preparing for the new school year)

One school located in Scarborough, had a phone system throughout the school. Teachers could call the office, other teachers and with the secret phone number to make an announcement for the entire school community. Ooooooh, doesn’t that sound exciting,? At several staff meetings we requested the office to limit the number of interruptions via phone calls to classes, but our message was not well received. As a result, a number of my lessons with my grade 1 and 2 class ended up looking like the Lucille Ball and the chocolate factory video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkQ58I53mjk

Wish Me Luck Lesson

Goal Pray that the phone does not ring so that I can educate the students and meet the set grade expectations.

Materials Make sure you use everything listed above, plus all the patience you can possibly muster.

Method

Step 1 Gain students attention using a variety of strategies that are fun and active.  Students are finally settled, Begin to tell them what we are going to do. The phone rings. (Ring, ring)

Step 2 Walk to the phone,….mutter, mutter, mutter  like Yosemite Sam, but remember to answer politely, “ Please let Johnny know that he has to go home with his brother.” answer politely even though I’m thinking that they could have shared this message at morning recess.   Some students are now rolling around on the carpet. Tom and Caitlynn( made up names) are now hitting each other and someone has written on the wall with a marker) talk to these students about what has happened and ask them to go sit at their desks for a time out.  Deal with the marker on the wall after the lesson. Walk back to the carpet area.

Step 1 Gain students attention using a variety of strategies that are fun and active.  Students are finally settled. Begin to tell them what we are going to do. Start to read a story related to the topic. The phone rings. ( Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring)

Step 2 Walk to the phone, answer politely, “ Could you please send Talia and Sasha to the office?” Reply politely, try to keep my face calm as some children are watching me. Other children are wrestling on the floor. Someone is now at the door.  It is a grade 8 student with a note from another teacher. Take the note, read it, respond to the note, hand it back to the student. Walk back to the carpet area.

Step 1 Gain students attention using a variety of strategies that are fun and active.  Students are finally settled. Begin to tell them what we are going to do. Start to read a story related to the topic. Students are listening and laughing about the book.  Animate voice to make it really interesting. A student puts up their hand and asks if they can go to the washroom. Nod to let them know that is fine. Continue to the read the story.

Step 2 Ask the students questions related to the story.  Some students put up their hand to answer. Choose a student. This student does not answer the question, he says,” Johnny just put up his middle finger at me.  Johnny says, “I did not!” You calmly tell them that it is not polite and make a note to talk with both students later. You repeat the question. This time a student answers and shares a personal story that does not really relate to the question.  Someone knocks at the door. The door monitor (student )goes to the door to answer. The phone rings. Ring, ring, ring, Ring, ring, ring… You have decided you are not answering the phone. Johnny puts his hand up. “ Are you going to answer the phone?” You sigh and state, “ I think it can probably wait.” Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring. You make a mental note to teach a student, although they are young to answer the phone and take messages. Yeah, I’m not so sure that will work with grade 1 and 2 aged students. The phone finally stops ringing. Oh yeah, who is at the door?  Hi, Ms. all the grade 1 students have to go to the library to see the dental technician. They leave.

Step 1 Grade 2 students look at you and say, “Can we play on the computers? The phone rings. Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring… What is your response?  “ That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Suddenly, there is a school wide announcement being made by an intelligent student who has figured out the secret code to make a school wide announcement. Everyone, including you in a sly quiet manner, are laughing about the fact that a student has said, “ School is cancelled.” over the P.A.

Step 2,3,4,5 Try again tomorrow.

Results

Go home after work and eat chocolates to pay homage to Lucille Ball, exercise, and search the internet to find out how to mute the phone.

In the 21st century, there are more distractions: cell phones,parents calling,parents who manage to bypass the principal and want a full interview during class dismissal, walkie talkies, and many other wonderful events that happen throughout the school day. Phew!  I really can not believe that I did this job for 31 years. I have to go, the phone is ringing 🙂

Curriculum Thoughts

Oh My!

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Before the students come walking into the school, or sometimes towards the end of the school day. You hear the announcement over the P.A. What is the announcement? You will have to guess.  At other times you see a colleague walking around with a worried expression on their face, or in some cases you can hear them muttering swear words. That would likely be me. They walk into the photocopy room and begin to rifle through the mess on shelves, looking under things and then walk out of the room.  You may continue to see them walking around the building like that or hear a glorious shout of “ I found them!” from another room. It can be scary, annoying and embarrassing when this happens, but it happens. So if you haven’t figure it out by now the announcement is about someone who has misplaced their keys.

Tricks to keep your keys

1. Do not lock anything and never use a key.  Not a good idea if you work in an area where theft is prevalent.

2. Hang them on a hook by your desk. This hook may be empty especially when you have put your keys down somewhere and you can not remember where you put them.  

3. Lanyard. You can hang your identification, keys, and photocopy scan cards on a lanyard. However it can get heavy around your neck. Your neck may get tense and then you take your lanyard off and you put your keys down somewhere.  A teacher or a student asks you a question, you wander away and do 20 other jobs and then you realize that you have once again misplaced your keys.

4. The clapper. This may help, but people may assume that you are the new music teacher because you keep clapping everywhere you go. Your new hit song is clap, clap where are my keys, clap, clap I’ve lost my keys.

5. Hockey stick. Attach your keys to  a hockey stick. However you will lose this too.  And it will seem like a big mistake because your keys are attached to a hockey stick.

6. Dollar store rubber coil. Works most of the time, but when you go to the washroom, do not leave it on.  GROSS!

7. Inside a zipper in your shoe. Maybe, but make sure you wear the same pair of shoes everyday.

8. Fanny pack.   Yup, the picture does not do you justice.

All kidding aside, I had a scary experience with keys when I was supply teaching at a Intermediate school in Scarborough.  The student population was just grade 7 and 8 students. When I was supplying I often got called for the intermediate grades as some supply teachers refused to accept these calls.  I knew I could handle the age group, so I was always willing to take the call.

Supply Teacher

When you arrive at a school to supply teach, you enter the office, and talk with the secretary about who you are and why you are there.  They give you a set of keys, and then they share information such as where the staff room and washroom is located. Sometimes you get the day plan handed to you on the spot, and sometimes it’s on the desk. After this, you walk to the class and look at your schedule for the day. I place the keys on the desk and review priorities for the morning. It looks like the focus for instruction is the War of 1812. What has been left for the lesson is a hard copy textbook and a set of questions. I spend the time before the students enter the room to read over the section they will be reading.  I look at the questions and make sure that I know the answers. I have not really thought about the keys. I am naive.

Do Not Do This

The bell rings, the students enter. Some dramatically, some pushing and shoving, some with their hair covering their face like they do not want to exist, and some laughing with glee because they have a SUPPLY TEACHER! Whoot, whoot. Yeah! ….whatever.  “ Good morning everyone, I’m your sacrificial lamb for the day, please try to be nice,and I promise I won’t call Rambo.” Of course, I never said that. The morning continues and I am trying to make a boring, yes I said boring, lesson cough, cough, interesting.  I know if I was in this class, I would have asked to go to the washroom because it’s a horrible lesson. I have circulated the room to see if anyone needs help. Some students are not doing their work, so I encourage them to get some of it done. I walk back to the desk and as I’m glancing at things, I notice that the keys are missing.  I have to give myself credit because I did not let my facial expressions give me away. In my head I am thinking several swear words and help, help, help, awwwwwww! I sit at the desk and write on a sticky note, but I’m not really writing anything. I am aware that some students know what has happened so I am putting on a show. The timeline for what happens next is unclear, but I think it was probably 20 minutes to 45 minutes.  I stand up and say,

“ I do not know how it has happened, but somehow the keys have gone missing from the desk. “

( liar, liar, pants on fire!) You know very well that Wile E Coyote has taken them. Now who is Wile E?

“ If any of you know, I would really, really, appreciate it if you return them to the desk, then I will not have to report to the office that someone stole the keys. The cops, will not come, your parents, will not be called, and I will be so happy that you returned them in a kind manner. I know that all of you are kind and thoughtful.”

Then I sat down and I continued to pretend that I was writing.   I got up walked around pretended I was looking at kids work. I looked out the window, I prayed that my words would work. I prayed some more. I prayed once again.  Okay, you get it. I noticed a few kids walking around talking and then I wrote something on the board about the next lesson. When I returned to the desk a beam of light was shining on the keys that were back on the desk.  More words in my head, this time not swearing. I pick up the keys and smile at a number of students who are looking at me with a curious glint in their eyes. The period comes to an end, the bell rings, the students gather their belongings and start to walk out of the room, I say thank you to everyone as they leave. Fortunately, the next thing on the timetable is a spare, so I run to the washroom and use the key to open the door.  Did I cry with relief in the bathroom? Maybe, but I’m just thankful it turned out that way, because I do not know what I would have said to the principal if the keys had not been returned. Yes, that would be a great thing to add to my resume.

Lesson

What is the lesson?  You are going to misplace your keys at some point in time in your career. Some of the most intelligent teachers I know,  I’m not talking about myself, have lost their keys multiple times. Second point, kindness goes a long way. BE KIND. You can criticize me and ask why I was so naive and my response would be because I am. Well, maybe not anymore.

Tourette Syndrome
special education

Tourette Syndrome

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Try to Fit In

Have you ever played with the plastic shape sorter ? Or perhaps you have watched your own child try to figure out which piece goes where?  At some point in time the wrong piece is getting jammed into a shape that does not work. You feel the tension for the person doing the jamming, but have you ever wondered how the shape felt.  Do not worry, I’m not going to give you a writing assignment involving personification, but I think we need to consider some of our students may feel like the shape being jammed into the wrong space. Life should not be like the shape sorter, but unfortunately for some, that is what happens.  People get placed into categories to make things simple. We are not shapes with fixed dimensions. You can argue with the physical facts, and claim that humans can mold themselves into different qualities when forced. True, but just like the shape sorter, frustration and anger will likely be the final result. This story is about a student I taught in my fourth year of teaching.

Meeting with the Principal

The principal has asked me to consider moving from teaching grade one to teach a grade ⅚ class. Part of his reasoning is because he thinks teachers should continually challenge themselves and gain experience teaching different age groups.  I think the real reason is because I am the “newby teacher” and the other staff do not want to teach the split grade. I am eager to gain experience in different areas and I am happy to take on the challenge. I know a few of the junior aged girls who attended a dance club I organized. I also coached volleyball, and track and field, so I have some understanding of what the students will be like in class. The principal thinks it will be a great experience, so I agree and begin to plan a few things over the summer.  

All About Kevin

The week before school I get a call from Kevin’s parents. I have named this student Kevin to reference the movie Home Alone. Kevin’s parents inform me that Kevin has Tourette Syndrome.  He is taking medication to alleviate his tics and he has many different types of tics. There are head tics that cause him to constantly shake his head like he is saying yes. There are leg shakes, swallowing, eye tics and verbal tics.  His parents give me a pamphlet with a phone number, because at this time there is no www… internet for information and they suggest that I consult with someone who has experience with special education. The first day of school is in 4 days.

Fear of Failure

It is now the first day of school. I have done my best to prepare for the day and I have read the information in the pamphlet, called the phone number and asked for help from the board Special Education Consultant.  As I reflect, I know that my biggest issue for this situation is fear of failure. I am afraid that I am going to fail at helping Kevin. I feel incompetent and not ready. That is because I am not ready. The students have entered the class and we are going through the typical first day activities to get to know each other. There are 33 students in my class and I calculate  20 of them have reported to me that Kevin has Tourettes. Their bond with Kevin is amazing and nice how they feel connected to him. Unfortunately, some of the students do not want to sit next to him. Their actions have shown me this because I have allowed them to choose their own desk. There are three extra desks near Kevin and they are empty. While people are working on a task, I quietly ask Kevin if he would like to move closer to the group, but he says that it is better if we just leave it the way it is. He whispers, “ Sometimes my tics get loud.” I nod my head like I understand, but I really do not.  He then asks to go to the washroom. I say go ahead and let him know that if he ever needs a break he can leave without permission, just give me a visual wave. I learned that at a professional development session.

Throughout the day I am getting to know the class and becoming more aware of Kevin’s tics. His head is continually moving up and down, he sometimes makes a guttural noise, and at times he looks exhausted. I am taken aback when Kevin makes a verbal tic that sounds something like f….. Witch., but those are not the words used.  What is remarkable is the fact that the students do not flinch. They look at me and are waiting to see how I will respond. I do not say anything, but I am pretty sure that my face said something. I have a problem with keeping my facial expressions blank. Kevin repeats this phrase for approximately 8 times and then gives me a wave and walks out of the classroom. While I continue to teach, I’m also thinking, “Wow, did he just call me the b word? I may be moody, but I’m not that.” ( laugh please)  Yes, it was a challenge. I learned to continue teaching and tried to keep my facial expressions blank when lessons were peppered with ticks. Kevin often left during lessons, so this would not happen and then I or another student would let him know what he missed when he returned. I left detailed notes for supply teachers and tried to avoid being away. Quite often my notes were not read which meant Kevin was sent to the office and then the principal sent him back.

Lessons Learned

Over time I have got to know that Kevin is an amazing boy dealing with many life challenges. Kevin is not Tourette Syndrome, he has Tourette Syndrome. He is a talented artist with a witty sense of humour.   I have had sharp words with the French teacher who claims that the boy is possessed. With the parents help, we have brought in staff from the Tourette Syndrome Society. https://tourette.ca/about-tourette-syndrome/questions-answers/what-is-ts/

I have tried to do my best to help Kevin, but I have continued to hear about his challenges. He has been beat up by kids who do not know him and do not know that his verbal tics are not intentional.  He has been laughed at and has told me that he wishes his tics would go away. I have done my best to learn about his needs and have definitely eliminated homework from his worries because he is generally exhausted at the end of the day.  What I have learned from his parents is that he tries to hold tics in throughout the day, but when he gets home they have to be released.

I may not have been the most educated about Tourette Syndrome when I taught Kevin.  What I do know is that I tried my best. I listened, and I tried to be a support for him when he needed support. I think I learned more from Kevin, than he learned from me.

Grade One

What Just Happened?

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It is a wonderful day for a trip to the farm.  The grade one students are excitedly walking with their bus buddy to the bus. I am reviewing my checklist to make sure that I have medications, permission forms, extra lunches, bandages, IV bottles, and other emergency items.  I added the IV bottle just to keep you on your toes. I have counted and recounted the students and I know that I will spend most of the day checking to make sure that we have everyone. There are enough parents joining us on the trip to make the group ratio 6:1.   

Once the students are seated on the bus, the driver stands up and gets our attention by blowing a whistle through her two fingers. Some of the children think that is really cool so they try to do the same thing.  The driver then tells them to stop because she wants to say something. As I am sitting on the right, front seat, I stand up and turn to the class. “ Let’s all listen to what the bus driver has to say.” The driver proceeds to say the following, “ When you are on the bus, you are not allowed to sing, eat, dance, throws things or put your hands out of the window.” “ I do not want to have any trouble from any of you, did I make myself clear? “ I state, “ Yes, they know the rules for the bus, thank you.”  There are a few parents who are looking at me wide eyed and I am unsure of the reason behind her comment. She sits down, we all settle and the bus begins to move.

When we arrive at the farm, we get off and have a wonderful time. The children see a variety of farm animals.  Pick eggs out of the hen house, touch sheeps wool, run after farm cats and much, much more. Fortunately, there have not been any accidents and everyone has had sufficient food during our lunch break.  While we wait for the bus to return, the children play at the playground and run around.

After about 15 minutes, the bus driver arrives and the children get on to the bus.  The driver is shouting out questions to the children, “ Did you have a nice day?” “ What did you see?” I’m thinking to myself, “Wow, she’s in a much better mood than she was this morning.” Suddenly, I’m thinking more than that. I’m thinking, “ What in the World Just Happened?” The bus driver is now dancing in the aisle, clapping her hands and singing.  Some children are not sure how to react, so they are looking at her like she’s a crazy person. But some children are in the aisle, dancing and singing with her. I’m shaking my head because I’m confused. The parents are looking at me and I’m looking at them. Then just like the record album stopping with a loud skid, the driver stops and shouts at the kids to sit down and shut up. Crickets chirping.  Then one of the little boy, God bless him, says, “ You just said a bad word. “

The bus driver drives the bus and we sit in our seats. The air in the bus is thick with the question,“ What in the world just happened?” We return to the school safely and all of the children happily go home.

Believe it or not, no parents called to ask about the driver and none of the children talked about calling a lawyer.  Today, if this same incident happened, there would be several posts on social media and a news team would be waiting outside of the school the next day.  I do not know what caused the driver to have such extreme behaviour, but I will assume that it was a mental health issue.
One final note:I loved taking all of my classes on trips and I truly believe that everyone learns more from these experiences than they would in the class.

Daycare

Wash Your Hands

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If you get squeamish when people start talking about bodily fluids, you should prepare yourself for this story.  Three words, wash your hands, is something that you must do repeatedly throughout your time as a teacher.

Children are adorable beings walking, running, screaming with delight.  They tell you the cutest stories and have amazing ways of perceiving the world.  They also will do things that will make you want to purchase a hazmat suit to protect yourself from germs. Sometimes 911 is required and sometimes all that you need is a strong stomach, TLC for the person involved, Lysol wipes and a very long hot shower at the end of the day.

Being 5’8’’ meant that I had to bend down to be face to face with the children , and/or sit down on a chair/floor. When I worked as an assistant at the daycare, I got used to hearing myself mutter the words, “ What the – is that.” once I got home and was changing my clothes because there were mysterious particles on my pant legs or sleeves. Most of the time, it was craft materials transferred from the tiny hands of a child giving me a hug around my knees. However, sometimes the particles were items from a kids nose.  Yes, boogers. Noses are very interesting holes for children. They are wonderful pockets of mystery. Be prepared to do more laundry and do not show up wearing your Gucci suit. Unless you like paying expensive dry cleaning bills.

Thomas, not his real name.

Today, Thomas has kept himself busy in the dress-up corner. Sometimes he is actively playing with other children and sometimes he appears to be curious about his face. I soon realise that Thomas is upset because he starts shaking his head and appears to be trying to get something out of his nose.  The teacher asks him what is wrong, but he ignores her and continues to vigorously poke at his nose. We surmise that he has put something up his nose and now it is stuck in his sinus. The teacher calls for help and they proceed to move to first aid protocol. Call 911, call the parents and make sure that he remains calm. He is calm, but everyone else is moving at record speed to take care of his needs. While we wait someone considers using tweezers.  Let me just stop you right there. In this scenario, I’m an assistant and following the directions of my superiors. However, you never, ever, ever, ever, ever, have I used enough evers, try to do medical procedures such as sticking tweezers up another kids nose. Now if it’s your own child and you want to do that and you think you can do it safely? No, I’m still going to stick with never ever. A mother recently shared how she got an item out of her daughters nose, by covering the unblocked nostril and blowing into her daughters mouth.  It worked, but I would never perform anything like that on any child.

Back to Thomas; during all of the commotion and talk of tweezers, Thomas suddenly exclaims in a very snotty way, “ I poked it out I poked it out!” “ Look, I poked it out!”  We can see that he is now holding a mucous covered blue crayon about the size of an AA battery. He is jubilant that he managed to solve the problem on his own, but he also wants to shared the crayon with everyone. Most of us are backing up quickly and putting our hands up to make it clear that we do not want to touch his crayon.  Another staff has quickly put the crayon in a little baggie and Thomas is now in the main office to meet with his mom. His parents had been called and they have decided to take him home for the rest of the day. Once he has left, it is very noticeable to see everyone taking time to visit the washroom to wash their hands.

I guarantee that I will be sharing another story at some point in time to remind you to wash your hands.

Curriculum Thoughts

Hello, Can You Hear Me?

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Repeat after me, “ My pearls of wisdom will be heard by few.”  I can hear you right now. You are not creating engaging lessons, and you must inspire the students…. Believe me, I spent a great deal of planning and discussion with other teachers to find creative measures to inspire my class. I think I was successful some of the time, but I’m not deluded to think that every child I taught learned everything that was shared. One colleague I worked with was cocky enough to say that they only teach things once.  If the students do not get it than it’s their own fault. You would not believe it if I told you that this individual taught special education, but they did. Let’s just say, do not follow this example. You will have to repeat lessons multiple times, not to the whole class, but there are some students who will need to practice questions with you and make lots of mistakes until they feel confident to do the work on their own. Sometimes, you will have to calmly ask a student to stay in for help and let them have a few friends join in to help keep it positive.

Participation

One year there was a student in my class who would raise their hand for every question. That’s great, right? Well, in this case the student would always answer with the wrong answer.  It got to the point where I was directly asking other students who were not participating for an answer. They would say, “ I didn’t have my hand up, but HandRaiser did.” I would say something like, “ I know, but I would like to give other people a chance to answer.” It was painful to consider the number of times I had to say, “That’s an interesting answer or you are on the right track, but not quite.”  They seemed okay with the fact that they answered incorrectly. I give them credit because I rarely raised my hand when I was in school even when I knew the answer. When I was in grade 8, I used to mutter the answers during science lessons. A student near me could hear what I was saying, then they would raise their hand and get the correct answers. So my perception of HandRaiser was good because I thought they were very brave. I hope HandRaiser continues to share answers, I just hope that some of them are correct.

1492

When I was teaching a unit about Explorers I shared the quote, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” I told the class that this would be the first question on the test.  At the beginning of every lesson, I would repeat the quote. It got to the point that the students were groaning, “ We know, we know, please stop.” Okay, maybe it was not that bad, but they had the quote burned into their brain. Or so I thought. On the day of the test, one student answered the question: When did Columbus sail the ocean blue?  Answer: 1985. The school year was 1998. As I was marking the tests at my desk and the students were not in the building, I sat at my desk and I laughed and cried at the same time. In my head I was thinking, yes, it was 1985 and we all went to meet them on the beach and we had a lovely tea party. Reflecting on this, I’m sure there are times when we zone out. Huh, what did you say?  Was it something about deflecting? Perhaps daydreaming about dinner. My brain has always been motivated by food.. Special note to administrators for meetings, feed your staff.

What is the Lesson?

My take away point, HEY, LISTEN ! Do not assume that students are listening to everything that you are saying.  You can make lessons active, technological, artistic, hands on, collaborative, investigative, musical, and comical, to name only a few, but ultimately, if they have other things racing through their mind or they are anxious they will not get everything correct. And that is what we call learning.  Mistakes are suppose to happen. That’s right! I said, make mistakes. I did not ask you if you want to eat steak. I like mine welldone .

Red Dress Wows
Grade One

Red Dress Wows

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Over my 31 years of teaching, the dress code for teachers has changed with the fashions. I have a vivid memory of a grade six boy telling me that I was ready for football practice. Funny and true because back in the eighties, every outfit had its own set of shoulder pads.  I had unwittingly put a dress on with shoulder pads followed by a jacket with shoulder pads. Yes, I was ready for the field. I had a good laugh with the student and then made a mental note and did not wear those two items together again. I was never really good at dressing fashionably, and I often chose clothing that made me look frumpy.  Over time, my sister and my husband have helped me move away from the old lady walking through an English field look.

Today, you may see teachers wearing yoga pants at school.  I’m not going to debate the issue of what you should be wearing to school with anyone, as I truly believe that when you are teaching, you are basically going into the trenches of anything can happen.  Yes, anything can happen and it generally does. Today’s story has a lesson. You can decide for yourself what the lesson would be.

First contract

I am so excited that I have my first contract position teaching a grade one class. It has worked out nicely for me because I have my daycare experience to help me with songs, activities, and some of the curriculum.  One thing that is making me anxious is the fact that children are expected to learn to read during grade one. Today, children are expected to be reading at a certain level by the end of grade one. If you haven’t met that expectation you sometimes feel like the walk of doom and shame are going to come and drag you out of the building to the tarmac. Wa ha ha ha.  All kidding aside, I decided to take several professional development courses offered through the board and I also signed up for an Additional Qualification Course called Reading Part 1. To clarify further, when I went to teacher’s college the focus for reading instruction was called Whole Language. Teachers were not supposed to focus on the use of phonetics to help students understand how to look at text and without getting too technical, instruction for new teachers was abysmal. On several occasions there were discussions that sounded something like this.” We know we are not permitted to use phonic charts to teach reading, but how should we teach reading?” Answer: you teach them to look at the whole words and text.”  While there is a wealth of information in this statement for me now, it meant nothing to me at that moment. I felt like I had little to no clue how to teach my new class of wide eyed angels, how to read.

Professional Development

Today, I am going to one of the professional development sessions after work.  For anyone who thinks we work from the moment students enter and exit the building, this is where you will see that you are incorrect. The session will be at another school in the area from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. I decide that I may not have enough time to change and look professional for the meeting, so I wear my red dress to school.  I like this dress because it is bright, has an A-line skirt and I think it looks nice.

I begin the day greeting the children at the door, they walk into the room and go sit at the carpet.  If you picture them going directly to the carpet and sitting down, you would be incorrect once again. Several of them like to run around the room and pretend they’re Ninja Turtles.  Yes, Ninja Turtles were very popular at this time. So, once I get them settled at the carpet, I take attendance, we sing a few short songs with actions and then I begin to read them a story.

While I’m reading the story, I notice that one student is not looking well.  Barfonu is sweating and pale. I put the book on the rocking chair and walk over to Barfonu and ask him to come over to the sink.  He begins to walk towards me and while he is walking, he says two words, “ I feel… and then he is violently ill. I would like to say that I was out of the directional flow, but that would be a gigantic lie.  My dress is literally covered, but rather than worry about myself. I have helped maneuver Barfonu to the sink. The rest of the class is doing a combination of screaming oooohhhh!, holding their noses with their hands, wrestling on the carpet, which fortunately did not get blessed, or jumping up and down.  I’m trying to calmly get Barfonu to the sink, tell the kids to stay away from the mess and pretend that my body is not soaked in vomit. Today, some schools have walkie talkies, at this time we used a button on the wall that went directly to the secretary. In the chaos of the moment, I have somehow managed to call to the office and let them know that we need a clean up in Aisle Everywhere.  The caretaker eventually comes to the room to see me helping Barfonu at the sink and then he calls for backup. The secretary leaves her desk to take Barfonu to the office while I try to wipe off my dress with paper towels.

I do not have a change of clothes and unfortunately for me there is no other staff to help cover my class. I have done my best to clean off the mess on my dress, the caretaker has cleaned the mess on the floor and I have to get back to teaching. I am doing my best to be optimistic about this situation, but the truth is I STINK!  So I apologize to the class. Some students want to give me a hug to make me feel better, but I say, “Let’s just High 5.” One student asks me if Barfonu is going to be okay. I confirm that he will be better in a few days. Then the children want to share their personal stories of when they were sick. Finally, a student puts his hand up and says I have something nice to say.  What do you think he said? Could it be, “Don’t worry Miss, tomorrow will be a better day?” Or maybe he said, “Miss, you smell beautiful.” No, the dear little soul said, “ Don’t worry about your dress, it was ugly anyway.” Stop laughing! At that particular moment, I heard the words my mother often said, “ Out of the mouths of babes comes truth or wisdom.”

After this blissful day,  I always made sure that I had a change of clothes which included socks, underwear, top, pants, shoes and my hazmat suit. I made it to the professional development session after work,and yes, I rushed home to change out of my lovely red dress .

As for the lovely red dress, it went in the garbage because after all, it was ugly.  

Daycare

Sit Down and Play

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A 3-year-old boy with limited knowledge of English has arrived at the doorway to the centre.  He is very upset that his mother is leaving him and is crying unrelentingly. I feel so sorry for him because he cannot understand most of what we are saying to him.  His mother walks with him to the main play area and tries to encourage him to go play with some of the toys, but he is presently clinging onto her skirt with a strong grip.  I can see that his mother is worried about him, but she is also repeatedly looking at her watch. One of the teachers manages to get him away from his mom and picks him up, while his mother runs out the door.  The teacher asks him if he wants to play and he responds by throwing his head back, so she lets him down to sit on the carpet. Fortunately, someone has closed the inner door; otherwise I think that he would run out to catch his mother.  He proceeds to lie down on the floor, screaming and crying.

It is a very upsetting scene and I personally feel my stomach turn with knots of sympathy.  The other teachers are now discussing whether they should call his mother back because he doesn’t appear to be settling and his crying appears to be getting louder.  In fact, some of the other children are holding their ears. I decide to sit down near him and play with a toy car. I begin to crash a car into a block wall and I make lots of silly noises.  A few of the other boys think that it is funny, and they are laughing. I do not look at the little boy, but continue to play.

Gradually the boy, who is still sobbing, sits down near me and proceeds to do the same thing with another car.  I continue playing and smashing the car with lots of noise. The little boy stops crying and starts crashing his car into my car.  I then pretend to cry like my car is sad and he begins to laugh. We repeat this process over and over until there are cars being crashed with laughing and pretend crying.  Eventually, the other boys are playing with the new boy, so I remove myself from their play. They continued to play like this for another 25 minutes adding other toys and sound effects. I was now the observer, laughing when they laughed.  These boys continued to play throughout the day and overtime, this young boy learned to say goodbye to mom and meet his new friends in a happy manner. I do not think that I saved the world. I played with a child who needed a friend. I did what I thought would work, remember, I wasn’t trained.  I just did my job, got down on the floor to play and I smashed cars.

Introduction
Introduction

Introduction

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Did you recently graduate from teachers college? Determined to get a permanent job so you can “mold some minds” ? Or maybe, you are becoming a teacher because you are not really sure what to do with your life?  You figure, teachers have summers off. You like golfing, so maybe attending teachers college is for you. Perhaps, you have had a teacher who inspired you and you want to emulate what they did for you. Whatever the reason, you have thought long and hard about becoming a teacher and you have decided to begin the journey to share ‘pearls of wisdom with the world.’  

Teacher. When you look up the definition for the word in any random dictionary, you can view a list of synonyms : instructor, schoolmaster, preceptor, tutor, professor, pedagogue, educationist, educator, school mistress. These words are very unclear descriptions of what really happens on a day to day basis. Often the instruction for teachers comes from the little wizards sitting in class saying things that either shock you or touch your heart.

My blog is not full of pedagogical facts that will help you organize and teach a lesson. Nor is it a series of lectures to review the history of teaching.  It is the stories I and some of my teaching colleagues have experienced in their lifetime as educators. Some are hard to believe, while others will make you cry.  I have changed the names of everyone involved, to keep things ethical. If the story sounds like something you experienced then let’s just say you live in a parallel dimension to me.

After I graduated from university, I started working at Olympia Business Machines.  No offence to anyone working in the field, but I was bored to death. I learned very quickly that I could never do a full time job that required me to sit at a desk all day. I stayed at this job for 6 months and then I saw a newspaper ad. Yes, I said newspaper. The job was for an assistant at a daycare centre.  I had a Bachelor of Arts Degree, but I didn’t have any qualifications, on paper, to teach children. To clarify, I had taught dance to children from ages 3-12 at four different recreation centres, so working with children was not a foreign, or fearful concept. Do not laugh, some people find children very unpredictable and scary. I applied, I went to the interview, I was hired and I was inspired.  The sad point was that I would earn significantly less than when I worked in accounts receivable. Well, I loved working at this daycare. It was a special place because it allowed me to observe other educators working with children. I learned so much from the experience and I discovered that my passion was teaching. I began to work towards that goal. This is one story that made me realize that I had a proclivity for the profession.