Where did Spring Go?

I've been so blasted busy with graduation and job hunting that I've neglected what I swore I would not neglect. The time has come to come back to my blog, which I have missed.

Spring term was both delightful and terribly difficult. I fell in love with my students, and bawled on my last day with them. I keep hoping to catch sight of them out in the community. So far I've seen one of them, and it made my day to see her bright smile again. I know if I ever do get a classroom of my own that the hardest thing for me will be to let my students go at the end of the school year. I was only with this class of students for about 11 weeks, and it broke my heart to say goodbye. One of the students who really cares for me asked me if she could get her parents to hire me as her babysitter. It was a very touching moment. At least I've got pictures! They also signed a sort of end of the school year class book for me.



The quilting continues. I've got new pictures to post (but I'm on the wrong computer to do it) so pictures of the quilt I made for my mother in law are forthcoming. She really loves it, which makes me feel all warm inside. I'm making a quilt for my father's mother, which is nearly finished. Then I think I shall finally make a quilt for myself. Funny how I get so into the giving spirit that I forget often to think of making anything for myself. Well gosh darn it, after three years of quilting, I'm finally going to make a quilt for me!! I've been looking through my quilting books for ideas and I think I've decided on one I like. It will be good for me because it involves applique. I haven't done any of that before, so it will be a good learning experience. I'm aiming for a simple quilt for my first time with applique.

I miss my quilting group. I need to start going back to them again (if they still meet on Weds). I hope they do! I know that they will forgive my absence.


Pictures of lots of things soon.

LadyGrace 

Valentines and Snow Dragons!

I just wanted to share a few images from the past couple of weeks. :-D



Valentines from my students:

 Then later in the week, two of my girls brought me a flower.

.
It snowed a lot last night. Sadly it all melted by the end of the school day. Also all the other school districts but ours were closed. I guess I can't say that we close with a sneeze of snow anymore. I found some local snowmen artists.

I call this next one (from a different house) "Death of a Snowman". Yes, those silhouettes are there all year round. I've got no idea why they have them up, but ... blech.

This final one is very cool. When I saw it from a distance, I thought it was a snow unicorn (which also would have been spiffy). Snow dragon!! Snow dragon says "Rawr!".

Until next time: Take care and have fun!
LadyGrace

Spring Fever, Lockdown, and Student Work

     My mind has been on Spring lately. The weather here has been such a tease. The sun coming out and the temperature warming up one day, and the rain, clouds, and wind coming back with full force. It is funny watching my students try not to be distracted by the weather outside. Sun or rain.

     Thursday before last it was particularly difficult to keep them on task because we had a full on lockdown of the school. They wanted to know what was going on and if there was any scary person in the halls coming to get them. We had to explain that they were safe and we were very confident that nothing bad was happening. We reminded them of a previous lockdown where we couldn't let the kids out due to a chemical accident and air impurities from a factory not to far away.

     When we locked our doors and closed the blinds it was a nervous moment. I'll admit I had a moment of fear trickle down my back accompanied by images of Thurstan High and other school shootings. Working in a title one school we have some pretty tough kids. I doubted that any of them would do something terrible, but then so did the other teachers of the kids who did.

     Turns out my fears were for naught. Though I did text my husband to let him know what was going on. What really happened was some crazy guy on drugs was walking down the sidewalk on the other side of our fence..... wait for it .... completely nude. It was very cold outside, even though the sun was shining and there weren't any clouds to be seen. The brilliant blue sky making for an interesting contrast to the cold temperature. At any rate the guy was collected very shortly by the police.

     When the lockdown ended and we opened our blinds we were greeted by the scene of four police cars, two cruisers and two SUVs kitty corner to our classroom. Apparently they weren't quite done with whatever they were doing. I didn't notice them at first, but when I saw that some of my kids kept looking out the window, I grew concerned. So I looked out too. Next to the police cars were about six police standing around in someone's front yard looking down. At that point I grew proactive and closed the blinds again.

      Thank goodness the police around here are on top of things. OH and I guess none of our students saw the naked man, only a few of the aides who had been outside on recess duty for some kindergartners. The second they saw the man they pulled the kiddos inside, pretending that recess was over.


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     On the teaching math front... my kids have been doing fairly well. Though one of two of them don't seem to be getting it at all. It seems like no matter how carefully I teach and reteach the concepts these kids don't get it. I'm planning on some one on one time this next week to hopefully address some of their issues.

   I was extremely proud of the kiddos during my quilt block perimeter lesson. They turned out some nice paper quilt blocks. I plan to glue them together on some butcher paper for a display piece that the kids can be proud of.

    I am particularly fond of the one that looks like an evil beaver with red eyes and red teeth. Turns out it is supposed to be a hamster, according to the artist. The other one I really love is the blue and red one with the funny eyes.

     Then last Thursday I had the kids do an area assignment using Cheez-It's as the unit of measurement. The assignment went over really well. They were all engaged in the lesson and excited about the crackers. My TAG student got super excited over my challenge to the class, which was to find out how many crackers it would take to cover their entire paper. For the record the answer is 93.5 Cheez-Its. Only my TAG kiddo figured out, and he was shaking with joy as he brought over his paper to show me the solution he had figured out. I'm very proud of him.


     Here are some shots I took of the kids working with their Cheez-Its. I only show their paper and their hands to protect their identities and rights.

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     I'm nearly done with my unit and my time in S elementary. I'll miss the kids. I've gotten to know some of them very well, and grown attached to all of them. I've already started going to my new school L elementary. I've started to go there on Fridays, so that I can get to know the group of kids that I will be doing my full time teaching with. These kids are very different from my S elementary kids. The big difference being $$$. L elementary isn't a title one school, so the population and attitudes of the students are very different. More on that later.

   I'm really going to miss my S elementary kids. It is something I'll have to get used to though. Growing to love the kids, to know them well. Then letting them go each year. Part of the price of being a teacher I suppose. I know that some of them will come back to see me from time to time. At least I hope they will. I'll want to know that what I did made a difference in their lives. Just like my teachers made a difference in mine. I may not have always gotten along with my previous teachers, but they almost all of them made a positive impact on my life. What more could a teacher hope for?


Take care and be well,
LadyGrace

Roller Coaster Week

   

  This was a hard week for me. Between a personality conflict with my cooperating teacher and the amount of homework for my college classes. Emotionally this week has been a veritable roller coaster. I think that Monday was the worst day. I thought that I had been doing fairly well in the classroom. But somehow Mrs. T got it into her head that I was “without joy” and not really happy being in the classroom.

When she said it to me, it came out of nowhere. It felt like a lightening strike, or an explosion. It is amazing how much a few words can truly hurt. Essentially she was calling into question or asking me to question if I really want to be a teacher. She made me so angry and hurt my feelings deeply. This woman, whom I looked up to, just ripped part of the curtain of my dream.

     I guess she misread my body language and intent. I'll admit that I'd been a bit wishy washy, but only because I was unsure of the boundaries in the classroom. Mrs. T is a very intimidating person. She is great with the kids, but perhaps not so much with adults. I guess she had expected me to take over or try to take over her classroom, and was disappointed that I had not. If I could have I'd have taken over teaching all day, everyday, but unsure of what was OK or not OK with her, I held back. This is after all my part time teaching term.

 

      Also it is her classroom, and I am a guest in her classroom. So my attempt to be polite backfired into something else.Yeah... I have a serious expression often, when I am not up in front of the kids teaching. I take my student teaching very seriously. I'm busy trying to learn, to gain knowledge of techniques for teaching.

      It wasn't right for her to say the things she did, the way she did. Especially when she told me that I'm not connecting to any of the students. That statement right there just about made me turn into the Hulk.

      So Tuesday, my day of college classes was really tough. I had this miasma of self doubt and disappointment hanging over my head. The feeling and thoughts of “What is the point?”. I had let Mrs. T's rancor into my head and heart. It was like I was poisoned.

      I guess I just really wanted her approval, her thumbs up. Not getting it was painful, and felt like a failure, or disappointing one of my own parents.

     I talked to advisers on Tuesday, and we decided my full time teaching should be done elsewhere. I was reminded by my professors that I am going to be a great teacher. I was sent down memory lane to the compliments from past professors. I was reminded of my good grades. Of all the effort I've put into my dream of becoming a teacher.

      I've wanted to be a teacher since probably the third grade. I've got proof too... a writing assignment that asked me and my fellow students to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. It has always been a teacher. Though I did pull the freshmen uncertainty movement where I briefly considered other options like History, Art, and even Psychology. After deciding for sure that teaching was it... I finally plunged face first into college full time to do it.

      But I digress. Wednesday morning was just as awful as Monday afternoon. I tried to explain myself to Mrs. T. She had me in tears again. Though she hasn't seen a one. I'm proud of not tearing up in front of her. Essentially I tried to tell her she was wrong (in a nice way) about me. I told her that if I could I would take over he classroom. That I'm happy to be there. That I want to teach. That I love the kids. That I've got connections to them. They haven't been hanging around me because I keep telling them to go back to their desks.

      My friend in the resource room got the crying me for a little, while I waited for copies of a worksheet for my Math lesson later in the day. She calmed me down, and told me if things don't get better to talk tot he principal. I told her I would.

     I never talked to the principal. Mostly because I didn't want to do to Mrs. T what she did to me. Also because I felt it was an issue between the two of us.

      Something happened to Mrs. T between her last bit of yelling at me and me coming back from making copies. Perhaps she had realized that she had been to harsh on me, or had misread me, or misunderstood me. Whatever it was... I came back to our classroom to a different person with a different attitude. It was a turning point of sorts.

      Sadly I didn't notice the change in Mrs. T because I was concentrating on not letting the students see how angry I was. I turned my anger in to energy and bounced around with more energy than usual while I taught our Big Five lesson. (A short math lesson focusing in small reviews of mathematical skills the students know/need to know.) When I was done with the lesson I came back to two hot pink sticky notes on my desk.

Derald (my husband) got to deal with my negative attitudes, and did his best to remind me that I will be a good teacher.

      Thank you, all of you. My self confidence really appreciated the booster shots. <3 I love you guys.

      The rest of my week has been pretty good and productive. Knowing that I'm going on a small trip to visit friends and family about an hour and a half or so away I've been working hard towards getting my homework done in advance, as well as getting the apartment cleaned up.

      I will miss my students from Mrs. T's class when I switch to another school and teacher for my full time teaching in March. I've grown attached to these kids, and their little quirky personalities.

      One of my students, Liz, even made me an early Valentine’s Day card. Funny thing is she gave Mrs. T one, after she gave me mine. /laughs

     Before I leave in March, I think I'll write a letter to these kids, to tell them thank you for teaching me so much. I think I've learned more from them than I have in a lot of my college classes about education.

      I hope they like my Valentines for them. I love Batman, so I bought a box of Batman Valentines. Instead of using the dumb heart stickers that came with it (heart stickers for Batman cards confused me) I used some of my Batman stickers to close the Valentines. I also bought a package of erasers to give out to the kids. I've noticed that most of them don't have any eraser left on their pencils. They wear them out so quickly.

Maybe I'll make the kids some banana bread too. None of them have any allergies... I'll double check that with Mrs. T. 

Well I suppose I've rambled on long enough and distracted myself long enough from my final reading assignment for this week.

The Very Busy Spider (Lesson Plan and Reflection)

     Over all the lesson went fairly well, for a first lesson. I have some good things going for me and some things that I really need to work on. Seeing 31 students looking up at me for instruction was both a realization of my lifelong dream to become a teacher, and one of the scariest things I've ever done. I want to do right by these kids, so that they can take what they learn from me and be able to use it as a building block for future skills.

      What went well in this lesson, was that I was able to get most of my students to grasp the basics of the idea of what perimeter is and how to find it on basic shapes. I did manage to fulfill my lesson objectives, for the most part. I was able to tell that my students fulfilled these objectives based on student participation and the results of the four spiderweb problems that they completed. Some reteaching of the concept will be needed, mostly for review and clarification. While not completely confident of myself, I at least was able to project my energy and excitement about the subject and about teaching.

      Teaching this lesson was a lesson for myself as well as for my students. I came away with several very important realizations about teaching:

1. Less is more - don't be afraid to split a lesson up if needed.
2. Clear instructions are priceless.
3. Model, model, model.

      Looking back over the my experiences teaching my first lesson, I realize that partway through our hour of math I started to rush the lesson, trying like crazy to fit the whole thing into an hour. What would have worked better for both myself and the students, was that the lesson should really have been two lessons. The first lesson being the book, the discussion of the concept and some practice problems. The second being a review of the concept, and the spiderweb perimeter activity. This would have given the students more time to let the concept sink in, without confusing them with too many instructions too far apart, as well as allow for better artwork results. What I ended up with was a lot of pencil drawings, without the connected mathematical portion that I wanted. What I should have done was to provide the students with a clear example of a polygon spiderweb drawing. Had I provided such an example, the students would have been able to absorb a visual representation of my expectations for their final products.

Student work: 

      Having the instructions up on the board along with the definition of the concept of perimeter would have been a good way to go as well. Towards the end of the lesson there seemed to be confusion on the part of the students as to what they were supposed to do. So many of the questions I got from them had to do with what was supposed to happen next, rather than being related to the actual math.

      Next time will be better. The time after that will be even better. As Dori the fish, from Finding Nemo, says “Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Swimming, swimming, swimming!”

Lesson One

Title: Introduction to Perimeter

Grade: 4

Time: 1 hour

Materials:

• A copy of the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle author and illustrator.
• SmartBoard for practice problems.
• Graph paper for the students.
• Spiderweb worksheet.
• White paper.
• Art supplies such as crayons or colored pencils.

Lesson Design:

This lesson is based off of a pretest that the students took, as well as from information provided by their teacher, Mrs. T's previous knowledge of their mathematical skills. The pretest showed that very few of the students knew what the terms perimeter and area meant, let alone how to solve mathematical problems for either.

Prerequisite Skills:

Before students can learn about perimeter, they must first have a few essential mathematical skills. At the very least students must be able to:

• Use addition.
• Use Multiplication.
• Understand simple measurement abbreviations, such as in. and ft.
• Be familiar with basic geometric shapes, such as squares, triangles, and rectangles.
• Know what a polygon is.

Oregon Education State Standards:

• Math: 4.3.7 Solve problems involving perimeters and areas of rectangles and squares.
• Art: AR.05.CP.01 Use experiences, imagination, observations, essential elements and organizational principles to achieve a desired effect when creating, presenting and/or performing works of art.

Lesson Objectives:

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

• Define the meaning of the word perimeter.
• Find the perimeter of basic geometric shapes such as triangles, rectangles, and squares.
• Design and draw their own spiderwebs, after finding the perimeter of several polygons.

Anticipatory Set:

1. Introduce the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle to the class. Tell the class that the book was written and illustrated by one of my favorite authors when I was a child. Advise the class that the author has also written other books that they may have read, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Grouchy Ladybug.
2. Read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle to the class.
3. Pause at key points in the story to further engage the students in the story. These key points are:

• After the first page with the picture of the sun, ask the class “What do you think the spider will do now that she has arrived at the farm?”
• Stop on the page with the pig asking the spider to roll in the mud. Ask the students “Do you think a spider is likely to roll in the mud?” and after a few brief answers ask “Why do you all think that the spider is busy spinning a web? What could the web be for?”
• Stop on the page with the rooster. Ask the class “What do you think the spider will do next, now that she has finished her web and caught the fly?”

4. Objective for reading the book to the class: The purpose of reading this book to the class is to give us an interesting way to introduce to the students how to find the perimeter of polygons. The students will be provided with perimeter problems to complete, and will be doing so to help the spider find a new place to spin her web.
5. When the story is over, discuss with the students that the spider in the book is very picky about where she spins her webs, but she is too tired to design and create her own spiderwebs right now. Advise the class that the spider only likes to spin her webs in triangles, squares, and rectangles, and only then if their perimeter is greater than 110in. but less than 193in.
6. Bring up the spider again. As a class we are going to help her out by picking shapes that she likes, and finding the perimeters of those shapes for her. Then we will design/draw different spiderwebs to fit inside the shapes that we know are to her liking for her to spin later. In order for us to help the spider we will need to learn more about perimeter.
7. Ask students what they know about perimeter. Write key points on the board. Key points should include: 1. Definition of the word. Perimeter- The border or outer boundary of a figure/shape. 2. To find the length of the perimeter of a figure/shape find the sum of the lengths of the segments that form the sides of the figure/shape. If students are unable to provide key points after a certain period of time, provide the key points for them.
8. Verify student understanding of the term polygon, and of basic shapes: triangle, square, and rectangles. (Polygon – a closed figure, having three or more usually straight sides.)

Procedure:

1. Talk about the word perimeter with the students. Discuss that the word indicates a meaning similar to the word around, but that it is more precise. Draw a figure on the board (rectangle or other polygon) and trace the perimeter of the shape.
2. Have the students trace the perimeter of their desks to fix the idea that perimeter is associated with the idea/concept of around the outside.
3. Talk about how to find the perimeter of a shape. Provide a few examples on the white board.
4. Move to the SmartBoard, bring up a blank graph paper background to use for working some examples on the board. Draw several squares, rectangles, and triangles on the board. Work the problems with the class.
5. Clear the board and create three to four new problems for the students to work with on their own, using scratch or graph paper. Have students work on their own to find the perimeters of the shapes on the board.
6. When the students are done working the problems on the board ask for volunteers to come up to the board to solve the problems for the class.

Assessments:

I will know that the students understand the concept of perimeter and have met the objectives that I have created in correlation to the Oregon Education Standards for this lesson, because they will:

• Use the the vocabulary correctly throughout the lesson.
• Find the perimeters of basic polygons.
• Find the polygon with the perimeter that fits what the spider wants.

Formative:

• Students will show how they solved the problems presented to them on the board and or on their paper. This will provide a further avenue to further instruction and guidance, as well as a way to observe and gauge the students' level of understanding.
• Walk around the classroom during the student's seat work time and observe student activities. Be prepared to answer questions, ask questions, and help keep students on task. Students will show that they are fulfilling the lesson objectives/benchmarks by their participation, conversations, and actions. If needed the lesson will be adjusted to compensate for student misunderstandings or confusion.
• Prior to the lesson a checklist will be made up, to keep on a clipboard while observing the students in action. This will assist with assessment of students during their seat work time. The checklist will include boxes for student participation, and understanding of the math concepts/vocabulary.

Summative:

The summative assessment will tell me if the students understand the concept of perimeter and how to find the perimeter of basic polygons.

1. After the problems on the board have been solved, pass out the handout with the four shapes the spider is interested in, and have the students find the perimeter of each of the shapes. There will be a total of four shapes on each page, two on the front and two on the back. Each shape will take up half a sheet of paper. The spider will only want a perimeter that is greater than 110in. And less than 193in. Only one of the shapes provided to the students will be what the spider wants.
2. Students will be asked to show their work for each shape.
3. Students will get shapes with different measurements so that they will not all have the same solution. This will keep the students from copying each others work, and provide a clear understanding of where the student stands with the concept of perimeter.
4. Once the students find out which of the four shapes the spider would prefer, they will be able to move onto the art portion of the lesson. On a blank piece of white paper the students will draw the shape that they found the spider would prefer, and then design their own web to fit inside the shape. On the outside of the shape they are to label the perimeter. Once the web is drawn they can embellish the picture however they wish.
5. If there is time: On the back of their drawing the students are to write a brief sentence explaining how they found the perimeter of the polygon they picked for their spiderweb.

Differentiation:

• Real world applications of the concept will be discussed.
• The vocabulary words will be posted on the board.
• Students with learning difficulties will be provided with less difficult problems.
• More advanced students will be provided with more difficult problems.
• Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners will be engaged throughout the activities in the lesson.

ESOL Adaptations:

• Definitions written on the board.
• Students will be asked to trace with their fingers, the perimeter of their desks to provide a concrete meaning to the concept.
• Provide students with a more simple word that they already know with a similar meaning to perimeter. (Perimeter = Around)

Educating and Being Educated

I must say that going through the double degree program in my college has oftentimes made me feel as though I were an animal being trained and asked to jump through numerous hoops of varying degrees of difficulty. I worry that the program I've gone through hasn't really equipped me to deal with my chosen profession. Stepping into the classroom two weeks ago, as a brand new part time student teacher, I felt completely lost and unsure of myself. So far the best teacher and preparer for myself has been the fourth graders that I've been working with and of course my cooperating teacher. 

I worry about these kids and their futures. Some of them are so bright, but just don't care to do anymore than the bare minimum of what is required of them. These kids are amazing beings, full of energy. They wiggle and giggle, squirm, whisper, chatter, distract each other, and sometimes... sometimes deign to do their work. When they do I am amazed at how quickly they pick up a concept. 

It is funny to watch them struggle to get out of work. It is even funnier to watch as they are motivated with the threat of missing out on recess how quickly and well they are able to accomplish what just five minutes earlier they claimed not to be able to do. Fourth graders are tricky.

Sometimes it feels like I am trying to herd a group of 31 chickens. 31 brutally honest chickens who have no reservations (at all) about telling you that you made a mistake, or that your hair looks funny, or that they just don't care. 

I've even had one of them stolidly advise me that his brain is out on rental, to try and get out of a math lesson.

It was hard not to laugh at his excuse.

The daily antics of these busy little chickens is an endless source of amusement and sometimes of hair pulling frustration. One of my favorite antics comes each day when Mrs T, my cooperating teacher, finishes reading aloud to the class. The moment she places the rough worn purple bookmark into the book, and tells the class that that is all for the day, an almighty high pitched chorus of "Nnnnnnooooooooooooo!" and "Just one more chapter pppplllleeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee!" bounces throughout the room. Pausing only when the kiddos run out of breath. Stopping only when they receive The Look from Mrs. T.

If any of this makes it sound like I'm unhappy in the classroom, I'm not. I love it. I love working with the kids. I am in the right profession.

So Many Quilts, So Little Time

    My first quilt came about because of a whim. Because of that whim I stepped into a new hobby that has become an obsession. Fortunately my husband is a very patient man. He doesn't seem to mind the mounds of fabric that have slowly taken over our dining room, or the various swear words that occasionally slip past my lips when working on a piece. 

     It started innocently enough, when I sewed some small bags to sell at a convention for some extra cash. (Some of which are in the photo below.)

      While experimenting on a new design for a bag, the very center of my first quilt emerged. I liked it too much to turn it into a bag. Instead it grew into a quilt. I had no real idea of what I was doing as my quilt top grew. There were moments when I almost gave up, mostly due to frustration because I didn't know what I was doing and because I had no one that I could turn to for help. 

     

     With some help from the internet and my local library I figured out how to finish my quilt.  Seeing the look on my mother's face when I gave it to her at Christmas 2009 was priceless. It also acted as fuel for future projects. Some of which I am still working on and hope to finish soon.

 

My other finished quilts:

Severne's Tea Time Quilt:

Bob and Ellen's Star Log Cabin quilt: