Farewell, Mrs. F

She was always there. Welcoming me when I first started. Listening without judging. Providing encouragement. Sometimes just nodding and smiling or sending a sympathetic look my way. Leading. lasting. caring. She started her retirement this afternoon and she will be deeply missed not only by her students but by the whole school community as well. She wants to come back to sub so I know its not good bye just farewell for now. I told her she could sub for me anytime.

Many of the more senior teachers in our building have said that it is refreshing to see so many newer teachers in the building recently. Some have said that retirement has approached quickly. Another teacher friend from another district told me that she spent more time in her life as a teacher than in any other role besides from a daughter. This particular woman was a teacher longer than she was a mother or a wife or anything else. That is pretty amazing and I guess its true for me too, though I am no ways near retirement age.

When I talk with other teachers who are at a similar point in their career as I am, retirement seems a whole life time away. An eternity. I cant even really imagine it. I have gone through some motions and with Mr.K1 teacher's help, set up a retirement savings account. But what does my retirement look like? Will I be in good health? Will I still be working alongside some of the teachers I work with now? On a more practical note, will the state run pension system still be operational?

By the way, retiring at this age is not called retiring. Its simply called quitting. Thank you Mrs. F for everything. Enjoy retirement and whats in store for you. Live it up

Looking forward

This week I am looking forward to taking the kids outdoors for writers workshop on Monday. I will be introducing clipboards this week and I hope it goes well. I am also looking forward to our upcoming field trip. We will be exploring a local park and taking a nature walk to observe all the changes that fall brings to our area. (we will revisit this place in the spring to see the differences.) Also this coming weekend is the first weekend in three that I haven't had class on Saturday, and it will be the ONLY weekend in November except for Thanksgiving weekend that I don't have class. Hooray!

building changes

October and the coming months will bring several changes to our building in terms of staff. First and foremost the beloved secretary, Mrs B, left our building for a position else where in the city. She gave seemingly short notice to all of us teachers. That's OK, it is her business. Each of us needs to act, at times, in our own best interest. It is odd not hear her voice in the morning, telling all of us that "it is a lovely day out". When I walk by the office now on my way to the copier, I don't smell the all natural air freshener or hear her humming quietly while she works. The students and other staff miss her too. I know that she is much happier in her new position than she was in the old one at our building and so I wish her well.

A 5th grade teacher in our building will be leaving to begin her retirement this coming Friday. Hooray for making it to the end of one's career. Maybe it is just the end of her teaching career and she is on to other careers. Maybe she is truly going to retire. She is a wonderful teacher who has been very kind to me since I started in the building. Her students will miss her teaching and the building will miss her kindness.

Another teacher will be going out on paternity leave in mid-November and will not be back until after the new year. Hooray for welcoming a new life into this world. This is his third child and he and his wife are expecting a boy.

Finally, one primary grade teacher may be be retiring in December. The details here are still fuzzy though so I will elaborate more when I am sure of the facts.

So this raises the question in my mind about what will be done about these openings. I know I am not an administrator and it is not technically my responsibility to worry about how these vacancies will be filled, but it could impact the climate of the building, which will effect me. If it were up to me, I would give the soon to be 5th grade opening to Mr. Y., who was a long term sub last year in the building. Several teachers thought at the end of last year that Mr Y should have been offered a position for the current school year. Mr. Y worked many of the kids in our building last year as a music sub, a long term 5th grade sub, a science sub and finally a 5th grade sub again. He raised the bar and stepped up to all of the occasions that were thrown at him. His work deserves recognition and he deserves a permanent position in our building.

The secretary position has already been filled, however the new hire is unable to work during all of the school hours.

In terms of the paternity leave, I think it would be reasonable to hire a long term sub for that opening as it will have a shorter duration than the other two positions. Finally, I wonder if the principal is aware that one of the teachers plans to retire in December. If he is aware, he should start looking for qualified candidates now and really should plan on hiring a teacher and not sub.

Update

The student mentioned here on this blog is still in my room. His parents have decided to sign him out of special education but have not yet registered him for a new placement. I worry about him both staying in my classroom and not getting what he needs because, try as I may, it is not an appropriate setting for him and I also worry about him going to yet another classroom this year. I respect the parent's right to choose, but wonder when their rights infringe on the education and overall well being of the child. Where is the line and who determines when that line is crossed?

October is professional development month

Or so it seems. Started an early childhood outdoors writing class, finishing up a math class from this summer and a new math class begins this coming weekend. So yes, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed but I am also really excited to be learning new ideas and continuing my development as a teacher.

The outdoor early childhood writers' workshop class meets on Wednesday. I am really excited about this class because I enjoy writing as an adult and feel strongly that the current curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for students to write to convey meaning. The curriculum seems to emphasize letter formation over story telling and I feel that there is a place for both. So I signed up for this class. I am hoping to learn some new ideas and techniques for inspiring young children to write. How powerful would it be for them to see themselves as writers? If that perception was cultivated and developed from an early age, perhaps there would not be so much anxiety around writing for standardized tests, college applications, written reports later in life. Of course, it would also be wonderful if students chose to write more creatively, for pleasure.

I have posted previously in this blog about my mathematics courses from the summer. The one I am in the process of finishing has a been a wonderful and inspiring class. I actually posted that I thought math was cool, which is a huge shift in my personal thinking. If I am excited about something, I think my students will also be excited about it. The class that begins this weekend will be dealing with shapes and I hope to generalize some specific ideas from the course content for my classroom.

Those classes listed above are in addition to all the school based professional development, which can hardly be called professional. Knowledge of dancing with the stars does not improve my teaching. It is not my month to lead our grade level and professional development meetings but I feel like I do. I am trying to encourage my colleagues to think and share information. I try to ask questions and facilitate conversations. Next week, I am hoping to teach people how to use their digital cameras to document student learning. I wish that the school based professional development was somehow more meaningful and productive, but thankfully I am able to seek out classes that meet my needs and interests.

Need to finish my homework:)

In the best interest of whom?

Apparently, when a parent rejects a current IEP and that IEP also involves a change of placement, the last IEP is the one that is followed. In other words, one of my students from last year was placed in a new setting because he was aging out of my program. It was determined at the meeting that the child still needs services and would benefit from being in a sub-separate classroom. A placement at another school was assigned over the summer, but somehow or another the child showed up here at the beginning of the year and was placed in a regular education classroom. Eventually, this mistake was realized and actions were taking to place the child in the appropriate setting within our building.



The child's parent thinks that placing the child in the recommended setting is ridiculous and he rejected the IEP. He does not think that his child needs services. He feels like he could better educate his child at home, or that a private school would better meet the needs of the child. The parent was advised by the special education liaison in our building to think about the best interest of the child. So the IEP is rejected and the child is placed back in my classroom, making it his third classroom in the first month of school. So whose best interest are we acting in here? Certainly it doesn't make sense to be disrupting the child's education like this, bouncing him from classroom to classroom? It has to be confusing for him as well as possibly creating a sense of personal rejection.

I tried to welcome him this morning as best as I could. I want him to feel comfortable, but on the other hand, I don't know how long he is going to be there, or if he will even be there tomorrow. Its not the child's fault, but he is stuck in this battle between his parents and the school system. I think the child is a wonderful kid, but that doesn't help him too much in the overall scheme of things does it?

Thanks Mom

My mom did not send me to preschool. I went to kindergarten at age 5, I went to kindergarten with knowledge of specific things. For example, I knew what my name looked like in print. I knew that used tissues did not go back in the box they came from. I knew that when I washed my hands, the soap was not for eating. I knew that when it came time to sit at the table, I was expected to eat my food with an appropriate utensil. I knew that licking my food out of the carton it came in was not appropriate. I knew to use please and thank you when I asked for something. If I forgot to use those words and an adult gently reminded me to do so, I didn't scowl at them.

Its not that my kids have come in this year not knowing a thing, it's just that they are coming into school knowing very different things then I went to school knowing. Its a different time, different families are raising their children differently than I was raised. That is OK. But the question is then what is considered basic information and what is considered cultural differences? Are there skills that are considered basic throughout many different cultures? If so, what are they? Is it a question about skills or expectations? Who is responsible for teaching appropriate manners and behavior in public settings? Who is responsible for the more academic skills like name, numeral, and shape recognition?

I know I try to tell the kids that "in our classroom we do X...". In saying this, I am hoping not to negate any specific things their parents may have told them at home. I don't want to create a contrast and conflict for them between school and home, but on the other hand, there are certain ways of behaving that are not acceptable for a group setting, or that make it more challenging to be part of a group. I think that it is part of the teachers job to explain to children how to function in the world, how to function as a member of a community. Especially as an early childhood educator, I think that I am forever balancing teaching appropriate social skills with teaching academic skills. It is my hope that the social skills and manners taught and practiced in my classroom will serve the children in many settings beyond the classroom walls, but whose to say that I am not just imposing my cultural views on my students?

Sleepy little ones

Parents tell me that their child seems tired. Some children are sleeping on the bus in the morning. Others still have a hard time waking up from rest time in the the classroom. Some kids are so tired in the afternoon that they are not able to participate in the afternoon activities with their peers. Sometimes I think that if I let certain kids sleep after lunch until they woke up on their own, then they would sleep until the end of the school day.



I have talked to a few parents about the seemingly excessive sleepiness of their children. In the few conversations that I have had, I decided to do some research of my own. Some people learn by talking and some people need to read information in order to process it. So I found a few articles on the web that provide specific recommendations on the necessary amount of sleep that children of different ages need. The articles can be found here and here. It is recommended that preschool age children sleep between 11 and 13 hours each day. 11 and 13 hours each day! Wow, I know that there are days when I would love to sleep that much, but thankfully I am an adult and can usually function on much less than that.

Sure it varies by child and some kids totally can function on less sleep. Other may need even more. Parents need to be observant of the child's behavior. Parents need to put children to bed when they are tired, and not when a certain show is over, or a more convenient time arises. Consistently and routines also play a big part in children's sleep. Is bed time at the same time every night? Are there bed time rituals that are in place?

As a classroom teacher I always wrangle with when to wake a child up. Most of the students in my group this year sleep as soon as rest time starts. Should I wake them up or let them sleep when rest time is over? If I let them sleep, will that make them less tired in the evening? If I wake them up, will they be so tired that they wont be able to participate in the afternoon? And so goes the sleep dilemma.

The pasing time and other non-child specific things

It is the first full week of October. Classroom routines have been established. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate this year. As a group, the kids seem to have good temperments. They are a happier group than I had the last few years. They come to school each day and most of them are eager to learn. Perhaps it is the time of year, with darkness coming earlier and earlier. Perhaps it is simply just the week before a long weekend, but I feel as if this week is moving particularly slowly. At the end of the day today I turned to the best para ever and said "Ugh, it is still Wednesday". Its not that I want time to fly away, but I don't want it to drag on either.



Also, new furniture has arrived in the teachers room at school. It is not something I would personally choose for my house, but it is a much needed improvement. It does look nice and many staff members have been excited about it. I cant help but wonder if we as a school have no money for basic supplies, then how was this furniture paid for? I guess not being an administrator means I don't have to worry, but if there was money somewhere for furniture, then is there other money for supplies? Were there trade offs that had to be made in order to get three new chairs and a table in the teacher's room? I personally would rather any extra money in the school budget be used to buy supplies (including tissues and hand sanitizer) for the classroom. I mean I spend my money on classroom supplies anyway, and all I really need in the teachers room is a clean table and a chair so I can eat my lunch.

I am very excited to note here that the school parking lot is finally finished. The parking space lines appeared this week. This is a cause for celebration. Parking is limited and the lines in the parking lot provide helpful guidance about where people should put their cars.