While it took about two months, I'm happy to report that I've finished Love and Logic. I've {previously shared} that I read the parent edition last summer, but it didn't quite meet my needs as a teacher. This book is often back ordered, but persistence and patience paid off. Amazon delivered the book a few months ago and I've been slowly making my way through the pages.
Most of the book isn't filled with earth shattering revelations, but rather small tweaks to my classroom management and instruction. As a teacher, I've found that one of my biggest challenges is falling into power struggles with students (particularly strong willed, more difficult ones). I'd often find myself frustrated and wanting to have the last word in arguments. This cycle wasn't leaving me very happy as an educator.
So, I sought out solutions. A colleague recommended this book and not wanting to admit defeat with my teaching career, I took her advice, swallowed my pride and read the book (the parent edition) last summer. This year, I've tried some of the strategies (such as choices and consequences with empathy). It's making a difference.
There are still days when I'm frustrated by my students' choices. One of the most difficult things about teaching (that no one tells you) is that I don't get to leave my job at school. Often times, I'll be up tossing and turning, trying to figure out how to deal with a particular student.
One of my students this year has really gotten under my skin. He's not defiant, he's not argumentative, he doesn't shout out. He just simply doesn't do anything. He is not meeting his reading goals, he's not doing his homework, he's not participating in class, he's not doing much of anything. He simply sits all day. Parent contact doesn't help the situation. He's a smart young man and capable of being successful, he's just choosing not to apply himself or try, which is beyond frustrating as a teacher. Writing him up doesn't work. I don't want him to sit out of recess to read, because then he'll associate reading with punishment (which is not what I want). I've tried asking him how he'll solve his problem, but he simply shrugs apathetically. My usual strategies aren't working.
Luckily, Love and Logic had an idea that I'll be trying in the classroom. One of my favorite aspects of this book is the real world scenarios and different suggested lines for discussion. My students have been a little antsy lately (spring fever hit early), so they're going to have a bonus surprise indoor fun break...if they've met their weekly goals and completed all their work.
However, this student (and several others) probably won't be joining. Instead, I'll phrase it that they're fortunate to have some bonus time to catch up on their goals and are welcome to join us once they've met their requirements. It's not recess that's being taken away, but rather a very real consequence to their actions (or rather, inaction). When the complaining starts (as it will), I'll respond with empathy. I'll state that it's a bummer and ask how they intend to solve their situation. I'll state that they're welcome to join us once they've completed the expectations.
Will they be frustrated? Yes. Will they get to uncomfortably experience the natural consequences of their actions? Yes. Will it be a discussion? Nope. I will let them choose to continue to be off task, but also choose the consequence (not participating in our fun activities). I'm okay with them living with their consequences because I'm no longer owning their behavior choices.
Fingers crossed this strategy will be a game changer for my more apathetic students. I don't resort to yelling, consequences (being written up) aren't working, so instead I'll focus on acknowledging the positive choices that others are making.
I frequently need to remind myself that I can do anything, but not everything.
This slipped my mind when I thought the end of the school year was a good time to sign up for another graduate school class. I already have my master's degree in education and am quite close to finishing up my post master's thirty two credits.
A technology class was offered through UNLV and our school district, so I thought, why not?
3 credit hours in four weeks didn't seem like that big of a deal. I signed up along with my partner teacher, Mrs. H. If nothing else, we could rely on each other for motivation.
However, then we went to our grade level planning meeting and realized all the expectations for the end of the year. So we decided to lock our doors to minimize pre-work distractions, make a plan, and crank out the eight projects and papers required for this class.
By sheer motivation, copious amounts of caffeine, and lots of early mornings, we finished our three credit graduate class. Not in the four weeks we were allotted, but in twelve days. Yes, twelve days.
So that, dear readers, is the main reason for the lack of posts in May. Graduate class got in the way and I had to prioritize: sleep, work, grad school. Everything else just fell off my plate for that crazy two weeks. I'm steadily playing catch up with all the great things I have to share on my blog, so please be patient. However, report cards are due Friday and I still have some grading to do...eight days til summer!
Last week, I got two new students.
On the same day.
One boy was moved from another fifth grade classroom and the other was from a neighboring school.
The same day, I had four students who are normally well behaved decide to launch spit balls at one another. This of course, is not okay, so we had to have a stern talk about classroom norms.
I did not scream, shout, or even raise my voice. Instead, I shared how disappointed I was and gave them the opportunity to come forward, which they did. We discussed consequences privately in the hallway and they determined what they thought was fair. They then cleaned up their mess and apologized to the class.
We had a long talk about making choices and taking responsibility. They made a mistake. I told them that yes, they did and they will make more in their lifetimes. It's what they do after the mistake that matters. It's what they learn from the mistake that makes the difference.
Some of my students needed to hear this talk about forgiveness and making amends. They weren't necessarily the ones involved in the mess, but it was a crucial moment for our class. In six years, this was the second time spit balls have been an issue.
I don't know if it's the recent full moon, the two new students, the strange weather, or that winter break is a week away, but I'm having a difficult time with classroom management. Anyone else in the same boat?
It's the end of the year. I'm moving both classrooms and into my first home. The students are becoming increasingly squirrely with each passing day. We have one more field trip and a lot of loose ends to tie up. There is simply too much to do and not enough minutes in the day. It's frustrating that I want to give my students emotional closure on their novels and give them time to finish their books, but I'm at odds with others on this view point. I want to keep teaching as long as possible, but that's not being supported.
Our last day is Wednesday, June 4th. In my mind, that means I can realistically teach up until Friday, May 30th. I can finish novels with students, retest on assessments, and allow them to do some project based learning about their novels. With everything wrapped up by the 30th, that would allow me the weekend to grade their final projects and have scores in by Monday the 2nd. We'd use the last week of school to present our novel projects, sign yearbooks, attend our awards assembly, and reflect upon our learning for the year.
However, this is not what I'm expected to do. Every assessment is supposed to be done, and graded, by the 28th. The 28th is a full week ahead of when report cards go home.
When I expressed how busy the fifth grade has been, my words were shrugged off. In the past few weeks, we've had CRTs (standardized testing), the writing proficiency, field trips, Discovery Education testing, KIC (science inquiry project), Aimsweb end of the year benchmarks and I DRA'd seventy children. Plain and simple, fifth grade had the most work to do. Not complaining, just a statement of fact. We've been quite busy. We were not given assistance like other grade levels because sadly, blatant favoritism exists. I wish it didn't, but the favoritism is running rampant these days and I somehow found myself on the other side. Perhaps it's because I'm leaving schools. Perhaps it's because I speak my mind and stick up for myself. I am not being treated fairly at my work and it's one of the contributing factors for my change in school location. Regardless of how I'm being treated, I'm doing my best to focus on making the best instructional decisions for my students. All my choices are made to best serve the interests of those thirty one rowdy fifth graders whom I teach and adore to the best of my abilities.
I wish there was more understanding. I'm asking for time until the second (which is still days before report cards go home) not because I'm lazy. It's not because I'm being a procrastinator. It's because with everything going on, we didn't want to over test our students. We, as a grade level, felt we would get accurate results by spreading out the assessments (as best we could) and not overwhelm them by testing all day, every day. I'm asking for more time to allow students to finish their novels and give us the chance to meet about the endings. I'm not okay with just taking away their books and saying we ran out of time. That's not fair to my students. I'm not okay with depriving them of an opportunity to share about their novels and reflect on their learning throughout the year. I 'm not okay with skipping the "how we've grown as learners" end of year reflection.
My choice is to keep teaching as long as possible, even if it means I give myself an extra long weekend of grading.
My choice is to provide emotional, literary closure to my students.
My choice is to allow them time to share about their favorite books and engage in conversations about reading.
My choice is, to the best of my ability, wrap up our year together with discussions and reflections to help them grow as readers and learners.
My choice is to provide them time to think, write, collaborate, and discuss how much they've grown this year.
My choice is to allow them to feel accomplished and share their learning with others.
My choices are not approved by certain staff members.
It's disappointing that I'm not supported by fellow educators when I'm trying to make the right choices for my students.
In the end, my students are the reason I'm a teacher. I'm standing by my choices.
