Conference Time

In a little less than 48 hours, I'll be off to my first conference of the year.  I've had the opportunity to attend several summer teacher conferences, but this weekend will be my first during the school year.

PC: {fellow blogger} 

I'll be heading to Anaheim, California, with my principal and three fellow teachers for the ASCD Empower 17 Teaching Conference.

We'll be in workshops for the better part of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  Luckily I have a pretty awesome sub for Monday, so I'm not worried about my students.  She's the PE teacher often, has subbed my class before, is liked by my students, and most importantly, doesn't put up with their shenanigans (which have been escalating at an alarming rate).

My work wife is picking me up on Friday morning and my husband is taking me (and a co-worker) to the airport so we can catch our 6 pm Friday evening flight.  He had the option to attend (he'd have to pay his own airfare), but chose to stay home with the pets.  Plus our school's first soccer game is this Saturday at four and since he's assistant coach, it's kind of important that he's there.

We'll be back from the conference at some point on Monday (I'm not 100% sure when) and then it's back to work on Tuesday.  

Next week we're also taking our first round of SBAC testing (standardized testing), so there will be a lot of walking on Thursday and Friday. I'd better make sure my Fitbit is ready!

I'm excited for my first real conference (during the school year) as a teacher (it only took eight years).  I know not to have more than one drink at dinner with my principal and have some comfy flats for the day. I'll make sure to look professional and take lots of notes.  Luckily one of my close work friends is also going and has similar interests, so we'll attend some of the sessions together.  I've downloaded the conference app, have a reminder set on my phone to check into my flight, and have at least a mental idea about sub plans for Monday.  I've started packing (basically all Lularoe Carlys, no shame) and have to stop off at the store tomorrow for a few small items. 

(Okay, I have to get snacks and a magazine.  These are crucial items!)

Will I be seeing any fellow DEN members there?

Class Size Inequalities

December is one of the times that class size inequalities really, really stinks.

We are in the process of scheduling parent-teacher conferences, which in itself is a nightmare.  We are granted 1 Monday off for conferences and expected to stay late one evening (as one of our contracted times).  Morning meetings are cancelled...but that actually doesn't leave enough time slots for all my kids.  The hour lunch I'm supposed to have on Monday (since I don't have prep) isn't happening.  I had to schedule conferences and work with other teachers.  Lots of my students have siblings and we try to schedule their conferences as close together as possible to make it easier for families.

 The school district does not give me the time needed to meet with my thirty six students and their families.  Logistically, I've been giving an impossible task if I was to stick to only my contracted, paid hours yet expected to meet the goal of 100% participation rate. 

So I have to come in early each day.  I have to stay late.  I love my students and their families, so I'm flexible with staying late for some evening conferences to  accommodate  their work schedules.  

A good part of winter break will be spent compiling data for report card comments (and again, writing three dozen of them takes a while.  We don't have drop down menus with pre-selected comments.)

None of this is financially compensated.  The more I talk to non-teachers, the more I'm horrified that there's a myth teachers are paid overtime for this sort of work.  Do any of you work in a magical district where this occurs? What I'm feeling in this district is that more and more demands are placed on me as an educator, while my pay and benefits are actually and financially shrinking.

This is one of the times where class size inequalities really, really stinks.

Primary grades (K-2) and third grade have around eighteen to twenty students.  Completely doable within the allotted time parameters.  Upper elementary?  Where each class is approaching forty students?  Not doable in the allotted time frame provided by the district.

But we'll get it done.  We'll stay late. We'll be flexible.  We support our students and their families, so we make the sacrifice of time with our own families to meet with our students.  Our administration is amazingly supportive, but the district officials who make these decisions without processing if it is actually feasible for a classroom? Shame on them.

Progress Reports

I send home progress reports at least once a month.  I teach in an inclusion classroom, which means there is usually a special education teacher in the room with me during core subjects of reading, writing, and math. 

Students get lots of time to ask questions and work with each other.

Students are allowed to retake any summative assessment before or after school.  Summatives are end of unit summaries that make up 90% of their grades.  The other 10% comes from formative quizzes throughout the unit.  I use these quick checks, exit tickets, and quizzes to pull small groups and reteach.

Progress reports are meant to serve as a check in point to show parents where their students are at.

But...then there are the replies, the emails, and the phone calls.

Some responses say "I'm worried, how can I help at home?"  which are wonderful! I post review videos and stay after to work with students.  Those families acknowledge that it's a partnership between home and school.  

But then...there are other types of responses.

"Please help ___". 

"Can you explain what ___ is doing wrong?" 

"Why don't you work with ___ in class?"

"What extra credit can ___ do?"

"Why is ____ getting a C in ____? The last test was an A. Are you grading right?" (The first two tests were Fs, so the A brought the overall grade up to a C.  That wasn't a sufficient response.)

One, I do my best to help every student. Every day. I do my best to work with them in small groups and individually, every day. I pull small groups.  Other teachers pull small groups. They have extra review opportunities online available at any point.

It's frustrating (and a bit insulting) when parents don't realize I'm doing everything possible to help their students.

But when students don't read or follow directions? When they don't ask questions? When they skip entire pages on the test? When they zone out during an entire lesson, draw pictures, talk to their neighbor, then complain they don't get it...it's frustrating.  

At what point do students start owning their grades?  At what point do I stop becoming the bad guy?

Thankful November, day 14

That {parent-teacher conference} I shared about yesterday?

Not only did it go wonderfully, but the mom brought me hot chocolate:

Score! It's nice to feel appreciated.  It was a very positive conference.  The student took responsibility for his actions and we talked about ways to help him improve.  It was presented as a united front, she told him she was proud of him, and thanked me for my hard work with him.

I wish all my parent teacher conferences were like that: parents working with me, supporting their kids, appreciating my efforts, supporting education at home.

Most are like that...but there's a few hostile ones I dread.

Good thing parent-teacher conference day isn't until December!

Changes for next year

Week one of summer and I'm already thinking about some small changes for next year. Overall, I'm really pleased with how year six unfolded.  That being said, there will be tweaks for next year.  I don't ever want to do things exactly the same with my students because that means there was no growth for me as an educator. 

One of the changes is keeping a binder of communication notes from parents, including absence notes.  This year I learned a little too late that the school district wanted all of them saved. I'd already begun the end of year purge, but luckily my office clerks were very understanding.

Next year, I'll simply have a binder with page protectors where I file their notes in accordance to student numbers (alphabetical order).

I'll probably even have this be a student's job.

I'll also be doing a citation (write up) log along with keeping track of the number of times students don't complete their work.  I want to have proof for when parents question their grades (E/S/N) for responsibility.  I'm hoping next year will bring less citations because I've got some new ideas for rewarding students who do their work...stay tuned!

I'm also really excited about rearranging my classroom. I got a second wardrobe the last week of school and a new bookcase, so I need to rearrange some furniture.  Last year I had thirty students but I'm looking at around 35 next year, so I'll need more space for table groups.  Fingers crossed that the rumors are true and our projectors are being mounted in the ceiling!  That would free up so much space in the classroom. 

I'll also be using this for no names:

I found the clipboard in the $3 bins at Target and used a white chalk board marker to do the lettering. 

I also found this at Target and will be using it for my writing conferences.

I'm not pleased with the limited number of writing conferences I did last year, so I'm thinking this will be an easy way for me to keep all the information in one place.  I'll be putting a schedule on the front so I can be accountable to myself for meeting with all students on a frequent basis.

I'll be using post-it tabs to put students' names down the side and taking anecdotal notes on the pages.  Plus there are pockets to keep information in, which will help me stay organized (one of my big goals for next year!)

I also found pink and gold polka dotted and teal and gold polka dotted versions of this portfolio, so I'll be using one for my Reading Rangers conferences and one for my teacher meetings. I also bought a new pink planner, so I'm excited to start the year off correctly!

What new changes are you making for next year?

Conferences

My oh my, it's been a busy few days.

We've had parent-teacher conferences, which means I had a lot of prep work.  I like to be super prepared and while I know I made more work for myself, they have gone really well.

It's not an understatement when I say I spent all of last week working and grading.  I set up a fortress of papers at Panera and camped out for the afternoon.

I had one conference on Monday's schedule, but I had the surprise of one of my favorite students withdrawing.  She's moving out of zone so we had her conference after school. 

Tuesday I had conferences before school and until 7:30 that evening.  Today my first conference was at 7:30 am and went until 5 pm.  Tomorrow and Friday I have conferences at 7:05, then have full days of teaching.  We didn't have kids today to accommodate parents' work schedules.

I had two no shows, one of them was a student who has been out for two days.  If he's truly that sick, I'm glad he stayed home!

Almost every conference was extremely positive.  I heard that my students adore me (score) and I got to share the progress they've been making.  Most of my students came with their families, so they got to lead the part of their conference where we discussed data and growth.  They also got to share the reading goals they set for themselves, which is great.

I had one parent compliment my nails (woo!).  Many shared that their kiddos were feeling more successful this year and thanked me for making a difference.

This is why I teach.

In the words of one of my teacher friends, "Do what's best for students and the rest will fall into place."

Simplicity part 1

I'm always looking for ways to make teaching just a little bit easier.  Some of the grand ideas on pinterest seem wonderful but when I start them, I quickly realize that these ideas simply won't work for me.

After sifting through hundreds of pins (hey, it's summer!), I found these three gems that I can easily implement next year:

Idea One: Sticky Labels

Now, I love sticky labels but didn't think to use them this way for grading.  I think this would work best for grading writing but I'm excited to adapt it for other subjects.  It would also be easily modified to include the standards at the top of the assignments.



Idea Two: Math for the First Day(s) of School

The first week is dedicated to establishing routines, setting up notebooks, practicing procedures, and building a supportive classroom culture.  One of the things I struggle with is incorporating math into the read alouds, team building, and getting to know each other activities.  This gem fits right in with the first week vibe:

I also think it'd be especially helpful this year at my new school.  I think this thirty minute activity could be great for not only introducing me to my class but helping them see how math is incorporated into every day life.

Keeping in mind with the first week theme, I liked this idea from pinterest as well:

Idea Three is enabling students to be problem solvers when they're in small groups and I'm conferencing with students.  I would type up these "what if" scenarios and have table teams brainstorm how to solve these problems, then open the discussion up for a class debate.  In doing so, they are creating their own norms and thus have more of a "buy in".

I'm excited to try these three simple things in my classroom next year!

Impromptu Parent Teacher Conferences

When I dismissed my kiddos on Friday, I had a parent waiting by the door wanting to chat.  This wasn't a scheduled meeting, but the look on her face said it was urgent.  So I asked her to wait a few moments while I took care of some last minute end of the day issues (calling another parent, printing report cards for magnet school applications and dealing with another upset student).  She gladly waited and politely looked the other way when some choice words were used by an upset ten year old.

She came in and expressed her concerns about her son's math performance.  My neighbor, his math teacher, popped right over (without me having to ask, because she's amazing like that) to join the conversation. 

She expressed all the strategies she was trying to use at home and we talked about the strategies we're using in school, including changing his placement during our intervention/extension portion of the day to allow for more math support.  We talked about the importance of bringing home the math notebook and having her son talk through the math strategies we go over in class.   

It was a short, very positive conference.  My student was there and we all clarified that he wasn't in trouble, we (family & teachers) just wanted to work together to help him succeed.  They left feeling confident and armed with ways to support learning at home, which is wonderful.  I made sure to let her know how much I appreciate that she was concerned and wanting to help her son do his best.

While it wasn't a planned conference, I love that my students' families know I have an open door policy and that the whole fifth grade team supports their children.  I love that they know it's perfectly acceptable to come talk to us about ways to help their kiddos.  At the end of the day, we're all on the same side with the same goal: helping students grow academically and become successful, confident young scholars.  It's nice to have support at home! I'm glad my student's family cares so much for him and isn't afraid to ask for help!

Well that would be helpful...

I set up my Aimsweb progress monitoring schedule this weekend and oh man, is it overwhelming.  I have the high kids so most need to be progress monitored once a month and given the MAZE comprehension test once a month.  Well, I have over seventy students in my reading classes so that's a lot of progress monitoring!  I've been thinking about how I want to set up a system (I obviously need a system) and then I stumbled upon this image:

So simple and straight forward.  So easy for the kids to help keep me accountable!  My goal is to create the schedule for Monday through Thursday, leaving Fridays for catch up if students were absent or if we had a weird 4 day week.  I would color code by am/pm and that'd be it :)

I could also use this for setting up writer's conferences since that is clearly the intended goal for the orginial post.

Hooray for meaningful organization!